One of the most exciting fields of current scientific study is undoubtedly longevity research. The more we discover about the science of healthy aging, the more accessible that knowledge and related therapies become for all of us— not just those who can afford cutting-edge treatments.
Supplementation to boost cellular NAD is a great example of a longevity treatment that has become more accessible. NAD, or nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, is a molecule that plays a key role in several important processes relating to mitochondrial production of energy, DNA integrity, and our cells’ ability to defend against damage. NAD declines with age (a pretty sharp drop off between youth and middle age), resulting in a body that has a more difficult time bouncing back from everyday wear and tear, including metabolic and environmental stressors, overtraining, and viral exposure. When damage outpaces your body’s repair abilities, you begin to see and feel the effects of aging.
Raising cellular NAD levels is a powerful intervention for healthy aging that boosts production of ATP (our cellular energy), enhances cellular repair, improves glucose metabolism, and even supports our adaptive immune response. NAD address all 12 hallmarks of aging, including oxidative stress, DNA damage, mitochondrial dysfunction, and protein damage. It’s something that you, or older adults in your life, may want to consider too— now or in the future.
David Sinclair’s celebrated book Lifespan , shared that restoring levels of NAD improves how the body defends itself against aging stressors.
How do NAD+ supplements work?
The body makes most of its NAD from two sources: tryptophan and vitamin B3. While niacin and nicotinamide are among the most popular forms of B3 used in common vitamin supplements, a third form of B3 — nicotinamide riboside or NR — converts into NAD+ more efficiently in the body.
But NR doesn't just magically become NAD+. It first makes its way into your cells and becomes nicotinamide mononucleotide or NMN. NMN then becomes NAD+. That's the purported advantage of NMN: it's one step further along the path to becoming NAD+.
NMN vs. NR
So, if NMN becomes NAD+ more directly than NR, why bother with NR at all? Until recently, research showed that exogenous NMN had to become NR to enter human cells before it could go back to NMN and eventually NAD+. That would be relatively inefficient.
More recent studies have shown that there is a specific amino acid and polyamine transporter that's extremely selective for NMN and allows it to enter a cell without first becoming NR.
Concentrations of this transporter in the guts of mice appear to increase with age, suggesting that the body tries to get extra NMN from its food supply to compensate for deteriorating levels of NAD that coincide with age. It also indicates that NMN's NAD+ production may be more closely tied to the activity and health of the microbiome than was previously thought. But proving this requires a tremendous amount of additional research.
The bottom line is that both NR and NMN can increase levels of NAD+ in the human body. Which one you ultimately choose may have to do with your tolerance for either. If the body becomes better able to absorb NMN directly as it ages, older individuals might want to consider NMN over NR.
We believe NMN has a slight advantage based on the research we've reviewed and our own internal usage. But, again, you may find more pronounced effects from NR, as the differences may come down to individual factors like genetics and age.
How NAD+ supplements absorb
Absorption can dramatically affect the power of an NAD+ supplement. Some companies use traditional capsules filled with a dose of NMN or NR in powder form. Others compound their supplement powder with liposomal technology that uses fats to protect it from degradation in the GI tract. And still others use sublingual powders, drops, lozenges, and even nasal sprays to increase absorption.
Those more efficient delivery methods tend to use lower doses than capsule powders since your body is likely going to get more out of them. When you compare a 500 mg capsule to a 50 mg sublingual drop, the 50 mg drop isn’t necessarily inferior. Unfortunately, the precise compounding process for that liquid is unique to each company, so determining the exact difference in efficacy is impossible without obtaining proprietary information.
One example of NAD is:
Ingredients
NMN (nicotinamide mononucleotide), apigenin (98%), green tea extract (contains 20% l-theanine), resveratrol (98% transresveratrol), green coffee beans (contains 10% caffeine), vegetarian capsule (hypromellose).
Apigenin is the ingredient you're least likely to see in most supplements. It's a flavinoid you can find in many plants including chamomile. It has sedative properties, decreasing your overall stress levels that can also hack away at years of your life. At least one study suggests apigenin could play a critical role in preventing and treating diabetes, amnesia, Alzheimer's, depression, and even cancer.
You deserve a better life!!
Gabriela Ana
Coach de Salud Holística
+34 604 398 948
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