- Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) is a molecule derived, among others, from vitamin B3.
- Recent studies have highlighted the role it plays in maintaining body systems ‘youthful’, which has led to the suggestion that NAD supplementation could help slow down aging and boost longevity.
- But how much truth is there behind these claims? Longevity expert Şebnem Ünlüişler weighs in.
Recent studies on aging have latched onto a “player” in longevity that had hitherto received little attention: nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, or NAD for short.
NAD is a molecule sometimes derived from vitamin B3, also known as “niacin,” and it occurs in every living cell of the human body.
It plays complex roles for health but the latest research — including a study published in the journal Nature Metabolism in December 2024 — emphasizes the role that NAD depletion plays in aging, further suggesting that replenishing NAD stores may help slow down aging processes.
This has raised questions about whether NAD+ dietary supplements could be an effective tool for boosting longevity.
To find out what roles NAD actually plays in the body, and whether or not supplements could really help in the quest for rejuvenation, Medical News Today quizzed Şebnem Ünlüişler, Chief Longevity Officer and genetic engineer at the London Regenerative Institute.
“Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) is a central cellular coenzyme required for mitochondrial energy production, DNA repair, and regulation of stress response pathways including sirtuins and PARPs,” Ünlüişler told us.
This makes it extremely important for cellular health, given that mitochondria, commonly referred to as “the powerhouses of the cell,” are what provides each cell with energy, and are also crucially involved in cell signalling — the communication between them — and eventually cellular death.
Furthermore, sirtuins are proteins that play key roles in inflammation and DNA repair, and PARPs, which is short for poly(ADP-ribose) polymerases, are similarly involved in the regulation of immune responses and maintaining cellular health.
Given that NAD is so intricately involved in cellular processes and cellular health, it follows that it is also a key factor in the most basic aspects of aging processes.
In the body, “NAD+ levels decline with age, and this reduction is associated with impaired mitochondrial function, reduced genomic stability, and increased cellular stress, all of which are linked to biological aging processes,” explained Ünlüişler.
But what does this mean in terms of replenishing NAD stores? Is it possible to easily reverse this natural process?
The longevity expert noted that this molecule is not one that we can easily obtain from food, which complicates matters.
“NAD+ itself is not significantly absorbed from food, but the body synthesizes it from dietary precursors such as tryptophan and vitamin B3 forms including niacin, nicotinamide, and nicotinamide riboside,” she explained.
“Although NAD+ is continuously recycled in the body, aging, inflammation, and metabolic stress can lower its availability,” detailed Ünlüişler.
Dietary supplements that are a source of NAD, namely forms of vitamin B3, could indeed help boost the availability of this key molecule in the body, said Ünlüişler:
However, some caveats remain.
There is no “miracle cure” for aging, and while vitamin B3 supplements can play a positive role in health, we should be wary of treating them as a panacea.
“Current evidence indicates that restoring NAD+ levels may support mitochondrial health and metabolic resilience,” said Ünlüişler.
“However, there is no definitive clinical evidence that NAD+ supplementation slows aging or extends lifespan in humans,” she emphasized.
For those who are curious to try it, “it should be considered a metabolic support strategy within a broader longevity framework rather than a standalone anti-aging intervention,” she advised.
