NAD, or Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide, is a vital pyridine nucleotide found in every cell in the body. Besides preventing the hastening of cellular aging, it may play an essential role in generating energy and building and repairing molecules that make up the human body.
NAD, colloquially referred to as NAD+serves some of the most critical cellular procedures, like DNA repair; ATP production; oxidative phosphorylation; intracellular calcium signaling; epigenetically modulated gene expression, and several immunological functions.
Today, advanced NAD research has helped individuals learn more about NAD depletion and its effect on psychological stress, age, and diseases. Further research examines the potential advantages of boosting NAD levels with supplements to benefit cellular and whole-body well-being. Have a look at a few NAD benefits below:
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May Improve Neurological Health
With age, the human brain loses its mental sharpness, thus impairing speed and memory recall. Chronic damage of the nerve cells and DNA increases the chances of diseases like Parkinson’s and dementia.
Several clinical trials show that NAD can improve memory consolidation and learning curves by repairing the damaged DNA of the nerve cells and the brain. NAD supplement also turns on several proteins that safeguard the human brain from oxidative damage.
Further, a 2021 study concluded that NAD supplementation could preserve brain functions in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Additionally, a study in 2023 suggested that NAD may play an important role in improving the neurological health of Alzheimer’s patients.
Recent studies further show evidence of improved blood circulation to the brain with proper NAD supplementation.
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Better Metabolic Health
The liver is a metabolically active tissue that filters blood, processes medicines, metabolizes nutrients from food, and detoxifies chemicals. Cellular metabolism entirely depends on NAD levels in the body, with the liver being extremely sensitive to low levels of NAD. Studies in this line show that higher NAD levels may help with optimum liver function, especially when it is metabolically stressed due to alcohol overconsumption or over-nutrition.
Genetic or pharmacological inhibition of NAD-degrading enzymes, transgenic over-expression of NAD-generating enzymes, and external supplementation of NAD precursors may improve metabolic health. Increased NAD levels may also improve glucose tolerance in diabetic individuals while counteracting the metabolic consequences of a high-fat diet.
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May Improve Psychological Health
Studies investigating the link between the brain and gut microbiota suggest that increasing NAD levels through supplementation could improve alcohol-induced depressive behavior. Increased NAD levels through NR or Nicotinamide Riboside supplementation may also decrease levels of anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory cytokines or small proteins in cell communication.
This indicates NAD’s anti-inflammatory role in people suffering from brain inflammation that further causes depression and various other psychological issues.
Though further research is required in this field to understand how increased NAD levels can improve health results in humans, collectively, the examples above demonstrate how increasing or maintaining NAD levels may improve tissue and cell resilience under psychological stress and other diseases.
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May Have Positive Effect on Heart Health
Constantly on its work, the heart needs a lot of cellular energy to remain active. Metabolically active, the heart contains more mitochondria than all other bodily tissues, and even a bit of overworking can make it go into metabolic overdrive, thus degrading the health of its cells and mitochondria.
As per studies, increased NAD levels may improve cardiac and mitochondrial function in people with heart failure.
Further, while beating continuously, the heart forces blood through the vascular system or an extensive network of veins, capillaries, and arteries. And by doing so, it delivers blood to all the bodily tissues.
Studies in this line suggest that increased NAD levels can support a healthy vascular system that optimizes blood flow, thus decreasing arterial stiffness and blood pressure in people. However, more research is required to support these initial results.
NAD pools decline with age, hypertension, and obesity, all risk factors for heart disease. Proper replenishment with NAD supplements reduces blood pressure, avoids metabolic syndrome, and improves varied heart failure modalities, like ischemic, atherosclerosis, arrhythmogenic, diabetic, dilated, or hypertrophic cardiomyopathies.
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May Safeguard Muscle Health
The muscles, specifically skeletal muscles, require healthy mitochondria to generate the energy needed for relaxation and contraction. As per studies, proper NAD supplementation can improve skeletal and mitochondrial muscle function in patients who have muscular dystrophy.
Further research on mice with decreased endurance and muscle mass and reduced mitochondrial functionality show that NAD supplementation can reverse such symptoms.
NAD may also aid muscle metabolism in obese or overweight men and women. It brings about small beneficial changes in the body composition, like reduced fat mass and increased lean mass. Also, it elevates the amount of skeletal muscle acetylcarnitine, or a molecule that fuels the mitochondria.
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Can Help People with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Several studies also discuss the positive effects of NAD on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, where an individual feels constantly exhausted regardless of how much rest they get. Reduced ATP production, a significant cause of this condition, can be improved magically through NAD supplementation.
In people with CFS, NAD works by optimizing the procedure of transforming food into energy, the most important being ATP or adenosine triphosphate. NAD also improves the production of neurotransmitters, like serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine, that support brain communication.
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May Improve Athletic Performance
Sports individuals are always looking for competitive and safe advantages, and NAD may be worth considering here. A study that focused on the effects of NAD supplementation on runners shows that NAD leads to increased aerobic potential in runners by increasing the oxygen use of their muscles.
The same study also shows that higher doses of NAD may produce even better results without causing any dangerous side effects. However, more research is required in this field.
Conclusion
So, there you go! NAD replenishment through supplements may be beneficial for varied conditions beyond aging. It may help prevent several conditions, like diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and obesity, associated with low NAD levels. However, since this is just the infancy of learning about the notable benefits of NAD for cell health beyond aging, more research is needed to gain solid ground.