NAD+ Is a critical coenzyme naturally found in every cell in our bodies and is involved in hundreds of metabolic processes.

The way our bodies function requires a range of different proteins, vitamins, minerals, nutrients, amino acids, and coenzymes. If certain elements are deficient, then the body's processes can become less efficient, from brain clarity to how well we move our joints.

One such substance that carries major importance is NAD or Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide. NAD is a coenzyme found naturally in our bodies that is responsible for a number of processes, including the creation of energy and the rebuilding and repairing of cells throughout the body.

 Often called the anti-aging molecule, NAD+ plays a vital role in promoting health and prolonging the lifespan. NAD+ levels decrease with age, which leads to the progression of aging and age-related diseases. NAD is found in every cell of the body and helps regulate our metabolism, which is largely responsible for how we process and digest food and whether we gain weight. NAD’s primary function is to create energy for our body, which is vital to everything else functioning properly. When you're born, you have an abundance of NAD production in your body, but as we age, it starts to become more depleted, which may cause an increased risk in chronic comorbidities such as cardiovascular disease and obesity.

How does NAD+ Work

NAD molecules bind with certain molecules in your body to create active enzymes that your body uses to metabolize fuel and revitalize cells. The NAD coenzymes combine with other elements to become niacin vitamin B3, and it’s this vitamin that’s responsible for revitalizing cells from the inside out.

NAD acts as a regulator by controlling the transfer of energy from cells throughout the body by the process of cellular synthesis. Cellular synthesis is essentially the bonding of different substances together to create new ones that are critical to certain functions in the body. NAD as a coenzyme is able to facilitate cellular growth because it is present in every cell of the body. In short, NAD is the vehicle that drives energy production in the cells because, without NAD, the electrons necessary to create energy would not be present. This is why, as we age and the amount of NAD found naturally in our bodies is reduced, we have less energy. Cellular energy at its most basic level is the energy needed by our cells to do work. The processing of waste, the creation of new brain and blood cells, sending pain signals, and any and everything you can think of that your body does on a cellular level are directly tied to cell respiration and the creation of energy, all in which NAD plays an important role in. 

Benefits

• Promotes healthy brain function

• Reduces internal inflammation

• Slows down body’s aging process

• Eliminates chronic fatigue

• Boats metabolism

• Aids in overcoming anxiety, depression and addiction

Supporting Addiction Recovery

Addiction to drugs or alcohol changes the way your brain works. These changes in brain chemistry are one of the reasons that up to 60% of people in rehab relapse. Despite your best intentions, suffering from addiction means that resisting cravings can sometimes feel impossible.

NAD IV therapy accelerates healing within your brain, which means that you’re less likely to experience cravings, withdrawal symptoms, and the temptation to use. As part of a comprehensive recovery program, NAD IV therapy could reduce withdrawal and other negative symptoms by up to 70% without the need for  narcotic medications.

Clears brain fog

Brain fog is the term used to describe difficulty in achieving clear, focused thoughts. Maybe you feel like you can’t concentrate on a specific task, or perhaps you’ve noticed your productivity declining at work or School. NAD IV therapy combats brain fog by saturating the cells in your brain with the nutrients it needs to perform better. NAD boosts cognitive function and clears away that hazy feeling so you can focus on the task at hand. Helps manage chronic conditions NAD IV therapy offers a host of benefits for the mind, but it also offers plenty of benefits for the body. The NAD coenzyme plays an essential role in activating antioxidants and reducing inflammation, which both work to reduce pain.  NAD therapy can be a beneficial treatment for people with chronic pain and it can reduce symptoms of diabetes. Because NAD therapy increases serotonin levels, the infusion acts as a mood stabilizer and can be helpful for people suffering from depression.

Physical Benefits

NAD+ may protect brain cells from oxidative stress and impaired mitochondrial function by controlling the production of PGC-1-alpha. Reducing oxidative stress on brain cells may delay or prevent the development of changes seen in the nervous system due to aging. More research is needed to determine whether NAD+ supplementation can improve symptoms of age-related brain disorders. However, based on animal studies, researchers believe that impaired mitochondrial function and oxidative stress are linked to neurologic conditions such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.

NAD+ is a proven antioxidant that reduces skin inflammation and increases ceramides. For this reason, many people use NAD+ face cream to reduce skin damage, inflammation, and disease. NAD+ prevents actinic keratosis (a precursor to skin cancer) and mitigates the effects of UV radiation on the skin. Reducing the negative effects of UV radiation on the skin may be by improving PARP function. NAD+ is also used to treat psoriasis, a skin condition that results from abnormal skin cell division.

Researchers are exploring the potential benefits of NAD+ on body composition. The research is inconclusive. Some studies show an improvement in cholesterol and lipid profile, exercise capacity, and muscle fiber composition after supplementing with NAD+, while others show no benefit in terms of improving insulin sensitivity and decreasing the risk of Type 2 diabetes.

Several clinical trials (36 completed) have assessed the effectiveness and safety of NAD+ use for treating symptoms associated with aging and aging-related disease. No study reported severe side effects which support the safety of NAD+. Therefore, NAD+ is considered “likely to be safe.” However, there are some concerns that NAD+ supplementation may contribute to cancer growth, and these need to be further explored using well-controlled clinical trials.

Enhances overall well-being

Because NAD IV therapy revitalizes your body beginning with individual cells, it offers whole-body benefits that almost anyone can enjoy. Increased energy levels are one of the most common reasons people seek out NAD therapy. Increased energy can lead to increased performance in athletes, and NAD IV therapy also improves your body’s metabolic processes. This can help you reach or maintain a healthy weight, particularly when combined with healthy diet and exercise

Biological Processes aided by NAD+:

• Repairing DNA

• Protecting DNA

• Extracting cellular energy from nutrition

• Maintaining mitochondria function

• Chromosomal integrity preservation

• Calcium signaling

NAD+ depletion is detected in major neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, cardiovascular disease, and muscle atrophy. NAD+ deficiency has been identified in the skin, muscle, and brain tissue.NAD+ supplementation can improve energy metabolism and insulin sensitivity, as well as protect against neurodegeneration and improve cognitive function.

To boost NAD+ levels naturally:

• Talk to your doctor about intermittent fasting and calorie restriction, strategies that some people find helpful to boost NAD+ and help with weight management

• Eat a healthy diet high in tryptophan, such as meat, fish, dairy products, and vegetables

• Engage in physical activity to boost NAD+ levels and improve overall health

The Research Behind NAD+ Supplementation

The NAD+ salvage pathway using NAD+ precursors is the primary way NAD+ is supplemented. Both nicotinamide riboside (NR) and nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN), two forms of water-soluble vitamin B3, have been studied as supplements to treat disease in humans. Research suggests that either NR or NMN supplementation could increase cellular NAD+ levels in a dose-dependent manner.6-8 A quick search on ClinicalTrials.gov yields over 1,000 clinical trials investigating the role of NAD+ in preventing and treating disease. Researchers are studying the many potential health benefits possible with NAD+ supplementation.  ” NMN could open up a new horizon in modern therapeutics.”Poddar et al. (2019)

NMN has shown promise in treating:

• Diabetes

• Muscular weakness

• Aging

• Obesity

• Heart failure

• Alzheimer’s disease

• Cardiomyopathy

• Blood vessel disease

• Age-related cognitive impairment

• Eye disease

• Alcoholic liver disease

• Depression

• Anxiety

• Post Covid Long Haul/ Chronic Fatigue

• Supports athletic performance/decreases lactate

NMN supplementation improves physical activity, energy expenditure, and neuronal (brain cell) function in a dose-dependent manner by increasing NAD+ and SIRT signaling. Exercise improves aerobic capacity, cardiovascular health, metabolic health, and physical function. Many of these benefits may be NAD+/sirtuin-related. Exercise increases the expression of nicotinamide phosphoribosyl transferase (NAMPT), the rate-limiting enzyme in the NAD+ salvage pathway, as well as NAD+ levels and sirtuin activity.When comparing NAD+ levels in middle age and college adults before and after ten weeks of training, Lamb et al. (2020) found that resistance exercise:

• increased strength and localized muscle hypertrophy

• robustly increased muscle NAD+ and NADH concentrations

• modestly (but significantly) increased NAMPT protein levels and global SIRT activity

• robustly increased citrate synthase activity levels in muscle, suggesting mitochondrial biogenesis occurred.

In another study, researchers compared aerobic capacity in middle-aged and young recreationally trained runners taking various doses of NMN. The four groups in the study included:

• the low dosage group (300 mg/day NMN)

• the medium dosage group (600 mg/day NMN)

• the high dosage group (1200 mg/day NMN)

• and the control group (placebo)

The results suggested that NMN increased the aerobic capacity of humans during exercise training in a dose-dependent manner. This effect is likely because of enhanced oxygen utilization.

Results reported from an animal study suggested that using an 18-day series of NMN injection or nine weeks of exercise had similar benefits for reversing metabolic dysfunction and showed that NMN had stronger effects on liver fat metabolism than did exercise.

How much NAD+ do you inject?

The amount of NAD+ that is injected will depend on the specific treatment being used and the individual needs of the patient. NAD+ is being studied as a potential treatment for various conditions, including addiction, depression, and age-related cognitive decline.

In general, NAD+ is administered through intravenous (IV) infusions, in which the NAD+ is injected into a vein using a needle. The typical dosage of NAD+ used in clinical studies ranges from 100 to 300 mg per day, given as one or more infusions over a period of several days.

Can NAD be injected subcutaneously?

Subcutaneous injection, which is the injection of a substance just under the skin, is an alternative method of administering NAD. Subcutaneous NAD+ injections require a prescription. The injections are self-administered and are similar to insulin injections. The dosage range varies but is typically between 20 mg and 200 mg NAD+ at a time. 

Contraindications/Precautions

There are currently no reported contraindications/precautions for NAD+ injection. Individuals with known allergy to NAD+ injection should not use this product. There has been controversy regarding NAD administration in patients who have active cancer or those who have not yet been in remission from a malignancy for at least 5 years given NAD’s reactivation/regeneration/cellular repair mechanisms, however, the data is not well supported or clearly defined at this time. Because of this, we err on the side of caution and would advise a thorough risk vs benefit analysis of each client for best customized care. 

Pregnancy/Breastfeeding

The safety of NAD+ injection has not been evaluated in pregnant women. Due to this lack of safety data, pregnant women should avoid NAD+ injection.The safety of NAD+ injection has not been evaluated in women who are breastfeeding or children. Due to this lack of safety data, women who are breastfeeding and children should avoid NAD+ injection.

Potential side effects of NAD+

Pain or redness at the injection site,   Nausea, Headache, Shortness of breath, Constipation, Liver injury

Even if you are healthy, you can benefit from increased energy, better sleep, faster healing, and improved cognitive performance. 

If you are interested in any studies, please dont hesitate to ask!