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+?
Studies show NAD+ levels are heavily influenced by lifestyle factors, so there are variety of lifestyle practices that you can implement to boost your NAD+ levels and you can also use an NAD+ supplement like Nuchido TIME+ to further support your cells. As with all things in biology using multiple different tools will provide the greatest benefits, and each of these habits has many other beneficial effects beyond just NAD+ restoration.
Protect your DNA
One of the most important functions of NAD+ is powering DNA repair, as excessive DNA damage can accelerate cellular aging. 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.
Support your Sleep
NAD+ production is linked to the circadian rhythm, the internal body clock which regulates several biological functions including sleep/wake cycles, NAD+ production, hormone production, energy production and 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.
Try Fasting
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 via two 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.
Incorporate Exercise
Exercise is one of the best ways to boost NAD+. 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.
Manage Stress
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 mammalian consumer of NAD+, wasting over 100 molecules of NAD+ for every reaction it performs. Incorporating stress management techniques such as meditation or breathwork, can therefore support your NAD+ levels.
Supplement with Nuchido TIME+
Supporting your cellular health with an NAD+ supplement can be a beneficial tool to support 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 creating habits that enhance your NAD+ levels are very beneficial, age will generally mean that NAD+ levels are declining.
Nuchido TIME+ works to switch back on the cells natural NAD+ production pathways. Our formulation activates several different pathways to promote NAD+ production.
- Switching back on the cells youthful NAD+ recycling pathway called the Salvage Pathway which is the main source of cellular NAD+
- Activating AMPK to further promote NAD+ production
- Preventing NAD+ wastage by inhibiting CD38
- Providing additional raw materials which can be used and recycled into fresh NAD+
Nuchido TIME+ can work to enhance the benefits of your routine such as extending the benefits of fasting by activating the same cellular pathways and supporting recovery from exercise by enhancing cellular repair and reducing inflammation.
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.