NAD+, Nicotinamide Riboside, and Nicotinamide Mononucleotide with Rhonda Patrick

In an 8-week week long, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study involving 120 healthy adults between the age of 60 and 80-years-old, a 250mg daily dose of nicotinamide riboside and pterostilbene (a natural compound found in blueberries that activates sirtuin similar to resveratrol) increased participants' whole-blood NAD Levels by 40% compared to their baseline levels just after 4 weeks. Participants' whole-blood NAD levels increased by 90% when taking a double, dose which was 500mg.

The most extensively studied NAD booster is nicotinamide riboside. Several animal studies have shown that when nicotinamide riboside is orally administered at high doses, it can counteract an obesogenic diet by improving insulin sensitivity; it can improve endurance and strength. Another animal study showed, at high doses, nicotinamide riboside could reverse mitochondrial damage, it could increase mitochondrial biogenesis, and reverse muscular atrophy in animals that had a severe muscle-wasting disease.

It is noteworthy that head-to-head comparison of identical doses of injected nicotinamide riboside and nicotinamide mononucleotide produced more NAD made directly from nicotinamide riboside in the liver, kidney, and particularly in the muscle tissue compared to nicotinamide mononucleotide.

As I mentioned before, NAD depletion has been associated with the hallmarks of aging, such as decreased autophagy, increased DNA damage, increased mitochondrial dysfunction, and dysregulated metabolism. Depletion of NAD may predispose organisms to the development of a variety of age-related diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, cardiovascular disease, and muscle atrophy.

PARP-1 activity has also been correlated with maximum lifespan in mammals. The higher the PARP-1 activity, the longer the lifespan. For example, the activity of PARP-1 was measured across multiple mammalian species, and the difference in PARP-1 activity between the longest-lived mammals tested, which were humans, and the shortest-lived mammals tested, which were rats, was fivefold.

Resveratrol, a naturally occurring compound found in red grapes and other plants, is a potent sirtuin-activating compound, and it's beneficial effects on healthspan, some of which [are] now showing up in human research, are thought to result from sirtuin activation.

NAD levels decrease with age, and a decrease in NAD levels across a variety of types of tissues is associated with many—and I mean many—hallmarks of aging.

NAD is required to activate signaling proteins known as sirtuins, which are highly conserved enzymes that play roles in healthspan and longevity in multiple organisms.

Just in case you've never heard of NAD, it's probably one of the most important molecules on the planet—so important, in fact, that without it, life would cease to exist.