NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) is a coenzyme found in every living cell, essential for the mitochondrial energy production chain, the activation of sirtuins (proteins that regulate gene expression and DNA repair), and the activity of PARP enzymes that respond to and repair DNA strand breaks. A 60-year-old has approximately half the NAD+ of a 20-year-old. This decline corresponds with reduced mitochondrial efficiency, impaired DNA repair capacity, declining sirtuin activity, and accumulating epigenetic dysfunction.
Exercise is not just exercise. It is the most accessible NAD+ synthesis stimulus available, and its effects compound across decades.
Raising NAD+ Levels
- Exercise is the most robustly supported intervention for increasing NAD+ biosynthesis
- NMN (nicotinamide mononucleotide) has clinical trial evidence for raising blood NAD+ levels in humans
- NR (nicotinamide riboside) is a well-studied alternative precursor
- Avoiding alcohol — chronic alcohol consumption dramatically accelerates NAD+ depletion
- Reducing sedentary behaviour — inactivity suppresses NAMPT, the rate-limiting NAD+ synthesis enzyme
NAD+NMNcellular repairsirtuinslongevityDNA repairageing