Much of what comprises this industry, however, simply hides aging from the outside—it doesn’t actually counter the aging process on a cellular level from the inside out. There’s no “fountain of youth” pill just yet. NAD+ is a coenzyme found in all living cells, and it plays a vital role in energy metabolism and maintaining proper cell functioning. Levels of NAD+ also happen to decline significantly as we get older, and these declining levels apparently drive the aging process. Here, learn about the fascinating connection between NR and NAD+, the potential benefits of taking an NR supplement, and more. The good news: If you support normal levels of NAD+ in the body by supplementing with a precursor like NR, you may be able to maintain mitochondrial functions—and thus promote healthy aging. That’s because NAD+ seems to exert some of its health-promoting properties by helping sirtuins do their job1. Sirtuins are a class of proteins that regulate biological pathways, turn certain genes on and off, and help protect cells from age-related decline. For example, NAD+ increases the activity of SIRT12, which has been found to induce the formation of new mitochondria and extend mitochondrial life span. In another mouse study, supplementation with NAD+ precursors led to DNA repair and an improvement in the health of muscle tissue within the first week—to the point where researchers couldn’t tell the difference between the tissue of a mouse that was two years old versus a mouse that was four months old.
