NAD+ and Aging
It is well established that one of the strongest causes of biological aging and the symptoms associated with it is the decline in cellular NAD+. Physical signs such as lower energy levels, reduced strength, slower cognitive function, longer recovery times after injury and increased oxidative damage are likely to be due to the falling levels of NAD+ associated with increasing age.
In fact, cellular NAD+, which is responsible for so many fundamental biological functions, reduces by an average of 50% every 20 years.
It is possible, however, to make interventions to help boost NAD+ but, like with many cellular systems in the body, the biology is complex involving a network of different pathways and enzymes. It is, therefore, important to understand the NAD+ system as a whole in order to identify the most effective and sustainable way to boost NAD+.
NAD+: Critical for Health, Essential to Antiaging
NAD+ is a natural molecule found within every cell of the body and it plays a crucial role in many biological processes that maintain health throughout life. In particular, it plays a major role in both cellular energy production and repair. Acting in the mitochondria, it helps produce the energy that cells need to function. NAD+ also acts as a signal to switch essential DNA maintenance and repair processes on and off in response to cellular damage and oxidative stress.
However, as NAD+ levels decline with age it makes it harder for cells to continue these vital processes and, if low NAD+ levels persist over time, this results in an accumulation of damage that leads to many of the symptoms, and negative health consequences, associated with ageing.
Many scientists believe that maintaining high levels of NAD+ as you age is one of the most promising ways to combat the ageing process.
Boosting NAD+: The Scientific Research
Scientific evidence has consistently demonstrated that boosting NAD+ levels in humans could have incredible health benefits as we age.
Studies have shown that increasing NAD+ levels can:
Improve cellular energy levels
Restore muscle function
Improve cognitive function
Repair damaged DNA
Increase insulin sensitivity
Improve vascular function and cardiovascular protection
In fact in some key studies, scientists working with NAD discovered that by replacing NAD in aged cells and tissues they could reverse age-related damage back to a youthful state, in other words they could no longer tell the difference between the old and young tissues
However, the production of NAD+ in the body is complex so it is important to approach it in the right way.
NAD+ Production: Complex Biology, Multiple Pathways
Because the NAD molecule is too large to enter the cell from external sources, the cell relies mainly on making NAD itself. This vital production of NAD+ within the cell is associated with a whole network of pathways with different interactions and relationships between them; there are multiple precursors from which NAD can be made, multiple enzymes that fuel the biological processes and multiple pathways that simultaneously make, recycle and degrade NAD+. Not only that but NAD is constantly switching between its oxidised (NAD+) and reduced (NADH) states.
So, to efficiently boost cellular NAD+ it’s essential to understand how these pathways work and interact with each other.
One part of this network that is of particular importance is the cell’s ability to recycle used NAD+ from the waste products through what is known as the salvage pathway. This salvage pathway is significant in context of aging because it is the primary way in which NAD+ is produced in young people and the process that declines with age.
The salvage pathway becomes less and less effective over time because the enzyme it relies on to recycle the waste products reduces with increasing age. This means the cell is not producing enough NAD+ and the waste products that could be recycled are simply eliminated from the body.
A Whole System Approach to Boosting NAD+
The good news is that the cell’s capacity to make NAD+ is not lost but simply deactivated. This means that it is possible to reactivate the production mechanisms and restore the cells’ youthful ability to make their own NAD+.
Specifically, in order to elevate cellular NAD+ enough to re-start natural self-repair, it is critical to restore the mechanisms that enable the cell to efficiently produce its own NAD+ in the long term.
After years of research into the interactions within this biological network, scientists have identified the optimum combination of interventions that will have the most efficient and sustainable impact on the network associated with NAD production. This includes restoring the internal processes that enable the cell to make and recycle its own NAD+ and goes beyond simply providing the cell with precursor ingredients.
This new whole system approach has identified ingredients that can:
Restore the cell’s youthful ability to recycle used NAD+
Increase the cell’s ability to make new NAD+
Provide the raw, precursor ingredients available to the cell for making NAD+