NAD+: The Essential Coenzyme for Energy, Aging, and Health

Key Takeaways

• NAD+ is a crucial coenzyme for energy production, cellular repair, and healthy aging.
• NAD+ naturally declines with age, but you can boost your levels through fasting, calorie restriction, exercise, and NR supplements.
• We still need more long-term clinical trials to support the potential benefits, but early results are promising.

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You might've heard of NAD+ if you're minimally interested in biohacking. While this important anti-aging enzyme is making headlines recently, it was discovered over 100 years ago. And since researchers have tried to demystify its potential in reversing disease and improving lifespan and healthspan. So far, research shows that boosting levels of NAD+ may help support cognitive function, heart health, energy, and even help stave off age-related diseases. ¹ 

Here, we break down NAD's impact on aging and overall health, and how to increase our levels. 

What Is NAD+? 

NAD+ stands for Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide, one of the most important metabolites in your body. It’s a coenzyme, meaning it helps enzymes do their jobs, and its main role is in redox reactions, which are chemical reactions where electrons are transferred between molecules. The novo synthesis pathway uses tryptophan (an amino acid) to generate NAD. This process is crucial because it’s how your cells produce energy from the food you eat.

When your body converts carbs, fats, or proteins into usable energy, NAD+ shuttles electrons around to keep the system running. NAD+ is involved in hundreds of metabolic reactions and cellular processes, and it's found in every living cell. Without enough NAD+, your cells can’t generate the energy they need to function properly, which affects processes including muscle performance, brain health, and aging. ^{2 3 4}

The Role of NAD+ in Cellular Energy Production 

NAD+ is how your body turns food into usable energy. When you eat, your body breaks down nutrients like glucose and fatty acids. NAD+ helps capture the energy from these molecules by collecting and carrying electrons to the mitochondria, aka the "powerhouses" of your cells.

Inside the mitochondria, NAD+ drops off these electrons at the electron transport chain, a series of reactions that produce ATP (adenosine triphosphate), your cells’ main energy source. Without NAD+, this energy conversion process would stall, and your cells wouldn’t get the fuel they need to survive and function.

This makes NAD+ essential for staying energized and basic cellular operations like repairing DNA, regulating metabolism, and supporting brain and muscle performance. Think of it this way: ATP is the energy, and NAD+ is the delivery system that makes it possible. ⁵

NAD+ and the Aging Process 

Our bodies naturally produce NAD+. So as we age, NAD+ levels naturally decline. Lower NAD+ means less efficient energy production, weaker cellular repair systems, and more oxidative stress, all of which contribute to the aging process on a cellular level. 

Research has linked reduced NAD+ levels to a range of age-related health issues, including metabolic disorders like obesity and type 2 diabetes, as well as neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Scientists believe this age-related decline may play a role in why our bodies become more vulnerable to disease and slower to recover as we age. Boosting NAD+ levels is now a major focus in longevity research, with studies exploring how restoring this coenzyme could support healthier aging. ⁶

Health Benefits of Maintaining Optimal NAD+ Levels

Keeping NAD+ levels up helps support energy and long-term health. Research shows that maintaining or boosting NAD+ can support key bodily functions, such as DNA repair and brain protection. Here’s how optimal NAD+ levels may benefit your health:

• Better DNA Repair: Our cells experience DNA damage every day from stress, toxins, and normal wear and tear. NAD+ activates enzymes called sirtuins and PARPs, which help detect and repair this damage. Without enough NAD+, this repair process slows down, leaving your cells more vulnerable to aging and disease.

• Improved Mitochondrial Function: As we age, our bodies produce more harmful molecules called reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can damage DNA and interfere with how our cells, especially the mitochondria, work. Mitochondria rely on NAD+ to convert nutrients into ATP (the energy that powers every cell). Higher NAD+ levels mean your mitochondria can work more efficiently, which supports physical performance, brain function, recovery, and more.

• Neuroprotection: NAD+ helps protect brain cells from oxidative stress and inflammation, two key drivers of cognitive decline. It also supports healthy signaling between neurons. This makes it a promising focus in research on conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. ⁷

• Metabolic Regulation: Obesity, insulin resistance, high blood pressure, and abnormal cholesterol are all metabolic disorders that can lead to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. NAD+ levels are key in how cells manage energy and respond to nutrients. By supporting enzymes involved in metabolism, NAD+ helps regulate these processes, and boosting NAD+ may help treat conditions like obesity, fatty liver disease, and type 2 diabetes. Higher levels of NAD+ are linked to better metabolic health and a lower risk of disorders, including obesity, fatty liver disease, and type 2 diabetes.

How to Support and Increase NAD+ Levels

While NAD+ naturally declines with age, there are some proven ways to help your body maintain or even boost its levels. Here are some science-backed strategies that can help with NAD+ decline and promote better energy and cellular health.

Change Up Your Diet

No foods naturally significantly increase NAD+ levels, but certain dietary changes might help boost levels of this important molecule. For starters, you'll want to prioritize eating nutrient-dense whole foods. Eating a diet high in fat and sugar (which are often found in processed foods) can overload your cells with energy (calories), which lowers NAD+ levels and disrupts the balance between NAD+ and NADH (the reduced form). This often happens when you eat large amounts of calorie-dense foods. The result is higher blood sugar and insulin levels, more oxidative stress, and greater cell damage after meals.⁸

Exercise Regularly

Exercise stresses your cells in a good way because it encourages them to become more efficient. Physical activity has been shown to boost NAD+ biosynthesis, which applies to many workout modalities. Research shows that aerobic and strength training can help reverse the age-related drop in NAD+ production in muscles by boosting levels of an important enzyme called NAMPT. And this increase was seen in both young and older adults.⁹

Try Fasting or Calorie Restriction 

Intermittent fasting or eating fewer calories without malnutrition has been linked to higher NAD+ levels. These practices activate enzymes such as sirtuins, which depend on NAD+ to help regulate metabolism and protect cells from stress. Fasting also reduces the breakdown of NAD+, helping levels stay higher.

Try a Supplement

Technically, NAD+ supplements aren't a thing. The actual NAD+ molecule can't pass through cell membranes, so it has to be broken down. That's why dietary supplements contain smaller NAD+ precursors instead. These include:

• Nicotinamide Riboside (NR)
• Nicotinamide Mononucleotide (NMN)

Both have been shown in studies to raise NAD+ levels in humans, but NR, a special form of vitamin B3 (niacin), seems to be more effective. Unlike other options, NR has higher bioavailability, easily enters cells, and is quickly converted into NAD+, making it more efficient than NMN (which is too large to enter cells). NR also has fewer side effects.

While more long-term clinical trials are needed, early results of NAD supplementation are promising.

The Bottom Line

NAD+ is a vital coenzyme that powers energy production, supports cellular repair, and plays a key role in healthy aging. As NAD+ levels decline with age, maintaining or boosting them through lifestyle habits like fasting and calorie restriction, regular exercise, and supplementing with NR can have major health benefits. 

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