Youth Restoring Benefits Of NAD+

Science has long sought a way to reverse a mechanism of aging that may not be adequately addressed by healthy lifestyles. Normal aging is accompanied by a noticeable increase in fatigue and loss of motivation. The tiredness we outwardly feel reflects inward impairment of cellular functions critical to sustaining life. NAD+, a compound found in young cells, has been discovered to turn “off” genes that accelerate degenerative processes.

NAD+ is the term used in the scientific literature to describe a cellular compound called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide. NAD+ is found in every cell in the body and is essential to life. NAD+ enables the transfer of energy from the foods we eat to vital cell functions. It is also required to “turn off” genes that accelerate degenerative aging processes.

Nicotinamide riboside is a “next-generation” form of vitamin B3 that supports the vitamin’s functions throughout the body by boosting levels of a key metabolic cofactor called NAD+. NAD+ is found in every single cell in the body, and is an absolute requirement for normal, efficient, and safe energy transfer from food to tissues. New discoveries show that NAD+ is also essential for silencing genes for proteins that accelerate aging, such as those involved in inflammation, in fat synthesis and storage, and in blood sugar management. Supporting NAD+ levels with nicotinamide riboside supplementation extends life span in laboratory organisms, while boosting energy, physical performance, and cognition in aging animals.

As NAD+ levels decline, mitochondrial function is impaired, resulting in fewer mitochondria surviving. This vicious cycle of mitochondrial depletion results in many of the physical symptoms of aging. Compelling research shows that NAD+ has a unique ability to protect tissues, induce DNA repair, and increase life span.

It has long been known that NAD+ plays an important role in transferring energy released from glucose and fatty acids to the mitochondria so that it can be converted into cellular energy. Without sufficient NAD+, energy transfer in the cells breaks down, resulting in age-accelerating mitochondrial dysfunction.

NAD+ is an essential cofactor of key enzymes responsible for longevity called sirtuins. While resveratrol is well known for sirtuin activation, evidence indicates it does so indirectly, whereas NAD+ directly activates sirtuins to regulate the genes of aging. Sirtuins, specifically SIRT1 and SIRT3, are intimately related to longevity through their control of gene expression and require NAD+ for their activity.

Research into the sirtuins continues to yield substantial information on how to control aging. By activating these sirtuins, we’re able to gain control over one of our body’s anti-aging “switches.” SIRT enzymes “turn off” certain genes that promote aging, such as those involved in inflammation, in fat synthesis and storage, and in blood sugar management. SIRT enzymes are activated by calorie restriction, the proven means of reliably extending life span in all organisms. The way calorie restriction activates anti-aging sirtuins is by increasing cellular NAD+.

NAD+ is also required for turning off genes that accelerate aging. From a cellular energy standpoint, lower levels of NAD+ reduce mitochondrial function, with fewer energy-rich ATP molecules being produced, and fewer mitochondria produced. This vicious cycle results in many of the physical symptoms of aging.

The age-related decrease in NAD+ causes defects in both energy- and gene-related functions to accumulate. These defects feed on one another to produce the disorders we typically identify as aging. The consequences of a decline in NAD+ levels and subsequent reduction in SIRT 1 and SIRT 3 enzymes include:

• Neurodegeneration in the brain,

• Vascular inflammation, producing damage to blood vessels that can result in stroke or heart attack,

• Increased fat storage in the liver, which can lead to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD),

• Increased fat production and deposition in white adipose tissue, the primary fat storage form found in dangerous belly fat,

• Insulin resistance, preventing cells from appropriately removing glucose from blood, producing higher blood sugar levels and leading directly to metabolic syndrome,

• Fatigue, loss of muscle strength, and fatty infiltration of muscles, resulting in reduced fatty acid oxidation (“burning”), thereby depriving muscles of their normal sources of energy.

To avoid these degenerative processes, it is essential that steps be taken to optimize the amount of NAD+ in our bodies. By increasing intracellular NAD+ levels, age-related mitochondrial dysfunction can be reversed. One of the ways to accomplish this is by engaging in major calorie restriction, which has been proven to raise NAD+ levels and in experimental organisms tested to date, to extend life span. Unfortunately, most people find significant calorie restriction to be nearly impossible in practice.

Researchers have discovered a form of vitamin B3 that converts in the body to NAD+. Vitamin B3 is involved in over 400 enzymatic reactions throughout the body and is essential for production and management of cellular energy. A new patented form of this vitamin called nicotinamide riboside has been found to increase NAD+ levels and in the process, provide an extraordinary range of longevity benefits that promises to change how we combat aging.

Directly boosting NAD+ with nicotinamide riboside presents a new and effective strategy for preventing the natural decline in cellular energy as we age by promoting youthful vitality. Studies have shown that nicotinamide riboside switches “off” the genes of aging, extends life span, increases endurance, improves cognitive function, activates sirtuins, and enhances cellular energy. These benefits add up to a system-wide slowing and reversal of certain aging processes. Nicotinamide riboside accomplishes this NAD+ boosting effect without the irritating skin flushing and rash caused by the standard forms of vitamin B3.

Nicotinamide riboside is a dynamic compound that works through multiple mechanisms to promote life extension. Most dramatic are its effects on longevity and metabolism, as shown by recent laboratory studies. One critical mechanism in oxygen-consuming organisms is mitochondrial function. Mitochondria, the tiny, intracellular “furnaces” that power cellular processes, are sites of intense electrical and chemical activity. They can readily “burn out,” contributing to the aging of tissues, and hence, of organs and entire organisms.

Nicotinamide riboside supplementation raises levels of the NAD+ needed to safely move electrons through the mitochondria. We have long known that ineffective mitochondrial electron transport is an age-accelerating process. Supplementation with nicotinamide riboside produces a significant increase in essential NAD+ levels, resulting in the activation of the critical life span-extending enzymes SIRT1 and SIRT3. Supplementation with nicotinamide riboside also improved the numbers and function of mitochondria, the intracellular powerhouses that release energy from food; poor mitochondrial function is a known age-accelerator.

Nicotinamide riboside has also been shown to protect brain cells. As cases of dementia and Alzheimer’s reach epidemic proportions in the aging population, pharmaceutical companies are aggressively researching brain protective compounds. Nicotinamide riboside with its ability to directly increase NAD+ is providing promising brain benefits. The mechanisms by which these effects are achieved were found to include significant increases in brain levels of NAD+, and consequently activated enzymes involved in cellular energy production and energy release from glucose.

In a similar study of neuroprotection, nicotinamide riboside was shown to delay the degeneration of axons, the “communication cables” of nerve cells that carry impulses over long distances. When these communication cables deteriorate, tingling, weakness, numbness, and loss of motor function can occur as a result. The mechanism behind this benefit was shown to be a significant 20-fold increase in the enzyme that converts nicotinamide riboside to NAD+.

So, restoring NAD+ by supplementing NAD+ intermediates can dramatically ameliorate these age-associated functional defects, counteracting many diseases of aging, including neurodegenerative diseases. Thus, the combination of sirtuin activation and NAD+ intermediate supplementation may be an effective anti-aging intervention, providing hope to aging societies worldwide.

In summary, researchers have discovered and patented a no-flush form of vitamin B3 that is revolutionizing the field of aging research. Unlike earlier forms of this vitamin, nicotinamide riboside has been found to provide an extraordinary range of impressive longevity benefits that promise to change how science approaches the reduction of aging.

Studies have shown that nicotinamide riboside switches “off” the genes of aging, extends life span, increases endurance, improves cognitive function, activates sirtuins, and enhances cellular energy.

As we age, and our NAD+ levels dramatically decline, we begin to experience fatigue and are more susceptible to neurodegeneration and cellular dysfunction. What makes the nicotinamide riboside form of vitamin B3 so unique is that once it is processed by the body it immediately converts into the powerful molecule NAD+.

Nicotinamide riboside accomplishes this NAD+ boosting effect without the irritating skin flushing and rash caused by the standard forms of vitamin B3.

If you feel increasingly lethargic or unmotivated as you age, you can probably blame your falling NAD+ levels, which result in reduced cellular energy production.

Directly boosting NAD+ with nicotinamide riboside presents a new and effective strategy for preventing the natural decline in cellular energy as we age by promoting youthful vitality.

adapted from article by Scott Rahway at LifeExtension.com in the November 2014 magazine issue