NAD+

Also known as: nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide

Wellness

In plain English

NAD+ is a molecule every cell uses to make energy and run repair processes; its levels tend to fall with age. NAD+ and its building blocks (like NMN and NR) are given by IV, injection, or nasal spray in wellness settings to "boost" NAD+. Taking the precursors by mouth reliably raises NAD+ in the blood, but proof that raising NAD+ improves how people feel or their long-term health is still limited. It is not FDA-approved for these uses.

The science

NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) is an essential coenzyme in redox metabolism and a substrate for sirtuins and PARPs involved in aging and DNA repair. Tissue NAD+ declines with age, motivating repletion strategies. The strongest human data are for oral precursors: nicotinamide riboside safely raises blood NAD+ (Martens et al., 2018) and nicotinamide mononucleotide improved muscle insulin sensitivity in prediabetic women (Yoshino et al., 2021). Direct intravenous NAD+ (and nasal delivery) is popular but has minimal rigorous human trial support, and clinically meaningful outcomes from NAD+ repletion remain unproven. These uses are not FDA-approved.

References

• Martens CR et al., Nat Commun 2018 (NR raises NAD+)
• Yoshino M et al., Science 2021 (NMN)