NATURAL WAYS TO BOOST YOUR NAD+ LEVELS

We often talk about the benefits of increasing your NAD+ levels, so what exactly can you do to support your cellular health and increase NAD+? 

Research show that NAD+ levels are heavily influenced by lifestyle factors, meaning that daily habits such as sleep, exercise, diet and stress management can all play a role in boosting your  NAD+ levels  

In addition to these lifestyle practices, an NAD+ supplement like Nuchido TIME+ can further support your cells.  

As with many aspects of biology, using multiple complementary strategies will provide the greatest benefits, and each of these habits has many other beneficial effects beyond just NAD+ restoration. 

One of the most important functions of NAD+ is powering DNA repair, as excessive DNA damage can accelerate cellular aging. When DNA damage occurs, enzymes such as PARPs use NAD+ to repair this damage. If DNA damage becomes excessive, large amounts of NAD+ can be consumed.  

Therefore, unnecessary DNA damage can deplete NAD+ levels leaving other important functions without sufficient NAD+. 

Many factors can damage DNA including alcohol, smoking, pollution, and sunburn. Trying to limit DNA damage where possible can help to maintain NAD+ levels. 

NAD+ production is linked to the circadian rhythm, the internal body clock which regulates several biological functions including sleep/wake cycles, hormone production, energy production and metabolism. The circadian rhythm helps regulate daily fluctuations in NAD+ levels and the activity of enzymes involved in cellular metabolism. This means NAD+ levels naturally fluctuate throughout the day. 

The functionality of your circadian rhythm is impacted by several factors, particularly sleep habits. Therefore, ensuring you get sufficient quantity and quality of sleep can support NAD+ production. Interestingly, NAD+ has been found to help regulate your circadian rhythm which is why boosting your NAD+ levels can support restful sleep. 

When cells undergo a period of stress i.e. during fasting when no external energy (food) is put into your body, cells enhance their own energy production pathways and turn up cellular maintenance pathways to survive the period of stress. Both energy production and cellular repair require NAD+, so its production is also increased.   

To do this, all cells have a ‘starvation sensor’ called AMPK. Fasting activates the AMPK pathway which leads to increased NAD+ levels in the cell. 

This rise in NAD+ occurs through two main mechanisms. First, AMPK boosts levels of a critical enzyme that makes and recycles NAD+ called NAMPT. Second, your body switches from burning carbohydrates to burning fat, which increases the NAD+: NADH ratio. 

If you practice intermittent fasting in combination with Nuchido TIME+ to boost NAD+ levels, we recommend you take your Nuchido TIME+ within your feeding window to avoid breaking your fast and extend the benefits, as Nuchido TIME+ maintains high NAD+ levels and AMPK activation upon refeeding. 

Regular physical activity has been shown to stimulate several metabolic pathways that increase NAD+ production. This is because exercise creates a beneficial type of energy stress within the cells which activates vital repair pathways. Exercise and other types of good stress such as cold therapy or saunas also activate the AMPK pathway described above to stimulate NAD+ production. 

During exercise muscles signal that they need more energy and this in turn increases NAD+ production (as NAD+ is critical for energy production by the mitochondria) to keep up with the energy demand. 

Increased NAD+ then activates a critical survival protein called SIRT1, which is responsible for many of the beneficial effects of exercise. SIRT1 activates many downstream processes which promote cellular health including cellular maintenance, recycling of damaged cellular components, and activation of longevity pathways. 

Short periods of stress such as a cold shower or exercise are good for your cells and NAD+ levels, as they stimulate repair pathways. However, long term chronic stress can be damaging to your cellular health. This is because continuous stress increases inflammation in the body, which can accelerate aging, damage tissues and waste huge amounts of NAD+. 

Chronic inflammation increases CD38 in the body, which is known to be the largest consumer of NAD+, consuming over 100 molecules of NAD+ for each reaction it performs. Incorporating stress management techniques such as meditation or breathwork, can therefore support your NAD+ levels.  

Supporting your cellular health with a NAD+ supplement can be a valuable addition to a healthy lifestyle, particularly, during periods of high stress in which you know your lifestyle habits will be impacted e.g. during travelling, preparing for exams or celebrating the holidays. 

While lifestyle habits that support NAD+ levels are highly beneficial, it is also important to recognise that NAD+ levels naturally decline with age, making additional support increasingly relevant over time. 

Nuchido TIME+ is designed to support the body’s natural NAD+ production pathways. The formulation targets multiple biological mechanisms involved in NAD+ metabolism, including: 

By targeting these pathways, Nuchido TIME+ n complements lifestyle strategies such as fasting and exercise. For example, it may help extend the benefits of fasting by supporting AMPK activation, and support recovery from exercise by enhancing cellular repair processes. 

Supporting your cells NAD+ production with a supplement such as Nuchido TIME+ which has been shown to increase NAD+ levels and increases your body’s own ability to make NAD+ naturally, can support your cellular health and your lifestyle.