Comparing NAD+ Supplements: What to Look For

• How do NAD+ supplements work? Most NAD+ supplements work by giving your body more of the building blocks it needs to make NAD+, in the form of NMN or NR, which the body then converts into NAD+. Both have solid evidence behind them and can raise NAD+ levels. The catch is that as we age, the enzyme that does this conversion, called NAMPT, becomes less active. A supplement that also helps restore NAMPT is doing more than one that only adds building blocks. Check our page on what NAMPT is and why it declines.  

• What clinical evidence should a NAD+ supplement have? "Clinically studied" gets used loosely. It can mean a lab study, an animal study, or a human trial. What you want to see is a human trial, ideally one that is randomized and double-blind, measuring something meaningful like actual NAD+ levels in the cells not just in the blood. If a brand cannot point you to that, the claim has no real basis.   
• Does the supplement address the root cause of NAD+ decline? NMN and NR give the body more of what it uses to produce NAD+, and human trials show both can raise levels. The conversion still depends on NAMPT, however, an enzyme whose activity naturally falls from the mid-30s. As NAMPT declines, the return from precursor supplements diminishes. A product that also restores NAMPT activity works on a different level entirely. See how NMN and NR compare  

These are worth knowing before you buy:

• "Clinically proven" with no study linked. If a brand cannot point you to a specific trial, the claim is unverifiable. Ask for the study. 

• Lab or animal studies passed off as human results. What happens in mice does not always happen in people. Human trial data is the most meaningful measure. 

• NAD+ listed as the active ingredient. Your gut breaks down NAD+ before it reaches your cells. Products built around oral NAD+ are unlikely to deliver much. 

• No explanation of how it works. If a product cannot explain its mechanism, or hides behind "proprietary blends," there is no way to assess whether it does anything. 

• Very low doses. Human trials on NMN and NR have generally used 250mg or more. Products with much lower doses sit outside the range where results have been seen. 

A trial worth paying attention should tick these boxes: 

• Randomized: participants are assigned to the supplement or a placebo at random. 

• Double-blind: nobody in the trial, including the researchers, knows who is taking what. 

• Placebo-controlled: in the strongest studies, participants take both the dummy pill and the real treatment at different points, meaning each person is compared to themselves. This helps account for natural differences between people and gives a clearer picture of what the treatment is really doing. 

• Measuring something meaningful: ideally NAD+ levels in cells, or a real-world outcome linked to NAD+, such as changes in repair pathways, inflammation, and biological age. 

• They tested the final product: make sure the trial was conducted on the final product being sold, not just referencing someone else's study on one of the individual ingredients. 

Nuchido TIME+ was tested in a trial meeting all four criteria, and the results showed both a significant increase in NAD+ levels and evidence that the body's own NAD+ production had been restored. You can read the full data on our clinical evidence page.

NMN and NR raise NAD+ levels, and the evidence supports this. What neither address is why NAD+ declines in the first place, namely the body's declining ability to produce and recycle NAD+ on its own, and the increased demand placed on it as we age.  

Nuchido TIME+ is the only NAD+ supplement clinically proven in a human trial to restore that production pathway. Explore the full ingredients and our science.