The world of NAD+
Every cell in the body utilises NAD+ to carry out somewhere between 400 – 500 crucial cellular reactions required for life. For this reason, NAD+ is often described as the “central control molecule” in our cells. However, it’s only recently that scientists have begun to truly understand the importance of NAD+ and that it declines with age and when in high demand during times of illness, injury, stress or when needed to repair cellular damage.
The available NAD+ pool within our body is in a constant state of flux. We get our NAD+ stores through cellular recycling pathways which are thought to become less efficient as we age. We also get small quantities of NAD+ through our diet from nutrient precursors found in some foods we eat.
In the past decade, Prof. Charles Brenner, the world’s foremost authority on NAD+ metabolism and Chair at City Of Hope National Medical Hospital in California, discovered that the body’s naturally preferred NAD+ precursor was a nutrient called nicotinamide riboside ( NR). A nutrient precursor means that when ingested orally, it’s converted naturally into another active substance. In the case of NR, that means its converted into the “central command molecule” NAD+.
After years of scientific research and rigorous testing at some of the top research institutes around the globe, NR has been patented NIAGEN ® and is the active ingredient in the dietary supplement Tru Niagen ® which has been shown to support healthy NAD+ levels.
NAD+ metabolism is such a big topic that scientists have coined the term “NAD+ WORLD” to describe the 400+ cellular processes it supports within our body. Here are examples of just a few:
• Converting what we eat and drink into cellular energy and enabling our cells’ engines ( mitochondria) with that energy
• Enabling repair enzymes to maintain our DNA strands
• Keeping all of our important organ, brain, eye, muscle, nerve, blood vessel, skin immune and hormone producing cells energised, in good repair and in a state of harmony called homeostasis
So it’s not surprising that as we age and our NAD+ levels become compromised that our health and wellbeing may suffer. Many scientists now believe the decrease in NAD+ levels is closely associated with age related decline in many of the systems in the body.