As a professional who wants to keep up with the latest science and innovation and pass that knowledge along to your clients, you need to become familiar with NAD+. The latest breakthrough in longevity science, NAD+ supplements can provide benefits to your clients so they can age well from the inside.
NAD+ has been hailed as ‘the anti-aging molecule’, ‘the fountain of youth’, and ‘the golden nucleotide’ but what is NAD+ and why should your clients want to boost their NAD+ levels?
NAD+ is critical for cellular health
NAD+ stands for nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide and it is a natural molecule found within every cell of the body. It is a coenzyme and is estimated to be involved in over 500 chemical reactions in your cells. Put plainly, without NAD+ we would be dead in 30 seconds.
That’s because NAD+ powers many vital reactions which regulate cellular health. Two of the most important roles are:
1. Energy Production - NAD+ is an essential part of metabolism (the reactions that turns food into the energy that cells need to maintain their vital functions).
These metabolic reactions take place in the mitochondria which are the energy powerhouses of cells. Therefore, any drop in NAD+ will mean these mitochondria powerhouses won’t function as efficiently and there will be a decline in cellular energy.
2. Cellular Health - NAD+ also acts as a signal to switch on maintenance pathways and mechanisms in the cell that repair damage caused by things like oxidative stress. NAD+ does this by activating a group of proteins called “sirtuins”.
Known as the “longevity genes”, the sirtuins are increasingly recognised as crucial to aging well. In fact, these proteins are nicknamed the “guardians of the genome” because of the key role they play in maintaining cellular health and supporting healthy aging. However, these proteins are entirely dependent on NAD+ for their activation. In other words, sirtuins do not work without NAD+.
But....
NAD+ declines with age
This has led to an abundance of scientific research into boosting NAD+ as an anti-aging strategy. With many studies showing boosting NAD+ levels back to youthful levels as we age has many positive impacts including:
- Increased energy production
- Supporting DNA health
- Promoting cellular defence
- Maintaining cellular health
Increasing NAD+ requires a multitargeted approach
Now the positive benefits of boosting NAD+ are becoming well known there are many methods being investigated to do this. However, boosting NAD+ isn’t as simple as just giving cells more NAD+. This is because NAD+ is a large and unstable molecule so it struggles to cross cell membranes.
That is why the cell needs to produce its own NAD+. To achieve this there are several pathways inside the cell to manufacture and recycle NAD+. With three different synthesis pathways and numerous different enzymes involved, NAD+ biology is very complex. However, years of scientific research have established the precise parts of the NAD+ production network that have the biggest and most sustainable impact on boosting NAD+.
Research has shown the most effective method of boosting NAD+ is to target multiple parts of the NAD+ production network which are known to become less efficient with age. A combination of approaches provides the most robust increase in cellular NAD+ levels and supports healthy aging from within.