Study Shows NAD Levels in Healthy Adults Do Not Decline With Age

Healthy adults do not necessarily need to take popular anti-aging supplements to boost their body’s nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide levels, a study has found.

The research indicates that blood NAD levels do not decrease with age.

The findings stem from a study conducted by researchers at Vilnius University in Lithuania, who examined blood samples from 1,068 people. The study was published in the international journal Nature Metabolism on November 4.

According to the researchers, NAD is essential for cells to produce energy and repair damage, making it a focus of aging research. The health functional food industry has previously marketed oxidized NAD (NAD⁺), along with NMN (nicotinamide mononucleotide) and NR (nicotinamide riboside) which help produce NAD, under the rationale that natural NAD levels decline with age and require replenishment.

However, the study contradicted existing beliefs by showing that NAD levels in healthy adults did not decrease with age. Men maintained relatively consistent levels regardless of age, while women showed a slight increase as they aged.

Individuals with notably low NAD levels shared a common factor unrelated to age: their health status. Specifically, people with cardiovascular disease had lower blood NAD levels, with the difference being more pronounced in those with hypertension.

Researchers said they do not know if low NAD levels cause cardiovascular disease or if the disease reduces NAD levels, and they called for more studies to confirm causality. The team also said that because the study focused on blood NAD levels, whether the same patterns occur in other tissues such as muscles or the brain requires further investigation.