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Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) is a coenzyme that has many beneficial effects for your body. It supports many processes, including cellular metabolism, energy, and other cellular functions, as well as DNA repair. Keeping your nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide levels in your body is vital, but it becomes more and more difficult to do this as you get older. Your NAD levels will naturally drop as you age because your body uses more of it to keep you healthy.
As you might imagine, this natural decrease can come with some uncomfortable side effects. Some examples include aging faster and age-related decline. As a result, NAD supplementation has gained attention and is becoming another common healthy lifestyle recommendation from many health professionals. You can reap more benefits from this supplementation than you may realize, such as supporting cellular, metabolic, and cognitive health.
Maintaining healthy NAD levels offers a variety of health benefits. Many of these benefits begin in the cells, and the biggest boon is that NAD supports DNA repair. A cell with undamaged DNA will be more resistant to damage overall and perform its necessary functions better. The latter will also be achieved thanks to the fact that optimal NAD levels also aid in energy metabolism and mitochondrial function. All of this helps you out because if your cells are healthy and have a lot of energy, then you will, too.
These aren’t the only benefits provided by adequate NAD levels. People who care about skin health and aging will also find value in it. These benefits also apply to skin cells and keeping them healthy. There’s a reduction in the appearance of aged skin as a result. Adequate NAD levels support healthy aging, which will not only make you look better, but feel better as well.
As we age, our NAD levels naturally drop. NAD decline is actually a hallmark of cellular aging. Its decline is associated with a decrease in cellular health and an increase in age-related diseases, ranging from skin disease and arthritis to heart disease and cancer. Restoring these levels has many potential benefits, thanks to the many benefits of NAD, including mitigating how quickly your cells age while encouraging a healthy aging process. Scientists have studied molecular cell biology and discovered that NAD helps with aging and may be a promising therapeutic tool.
Another benefit of NAD is that it can potentially boost cognitive function by supporting energy metabolism and reducing oxidative stress. This can help those suffering from crippling neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Of course, this only works when paired with a healthy lifestyle and a diet that provides good foods that boost metabolism and energy, and also have antioxidant properties.
Adequate NAD levels support enzymes that repair DNA. Damaged DNA increases the risk not only of age-related diseases but also of genetic mutations. This is part of the reason why keeping NAD levels up is so important; the enzymes responsible for DNA and cell repair, which maintain genomic stability, are supported by NAD. Taking NAD precursor supplements can help maintain your body’s levels and keep your cells as healthy as possible. In other words, NAD is vital for promoting cellular pathways associated with longevity and, in turn, your overall health.
For these reasons and more, many are turning to NAD supplementation to both raise and maintain NAD levels. Clinical evidence provides some intriguing insights into how NAD aids the body. Specifically, it improves insulin sensitivity, helps with blood sugar control, and, as you may have guessed, aids metabolic function. Everyone benefits from this, but those with metabolic syndrome reap this latter reward more acutely.
NAD levels can be improved in a variety of ways, with the most popular one being through oral supplements. These supplements don’t always provide nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) directly. Instead, they provide NAD precursors, such as nicotinamide riboside (NR) and nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN).
Nicotinamide riboside (NR) is one of many forms that the vitamin B3 can take. In addition to delivering many of the same benefits as NAD, NR also helps maintain a healthy body composition, which is essential for staying healthy. This makes it one of the more popular NAD precursors to take as a supplement.
Nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) is also a variant of vitamin B3 and has its own unique health benefits. When tested, NMN helped muscles take in more glucose but didn’t have any of the other expected effects, such as aiding blood sugar regulation at a deeper level or promoting healthy aging. These studies are relatively recent, so more clinical trials will likely be done, but the change in muscle insulin sensitivity is already notable.
The best way to restore your NAD levels outside of supplementation is to make healthy lifestyle choices. Make sure you’re only taking dietary supplements recommended for you by a doctor, get adequate sleep each night, eat a healthy diet, and exercise regularly. While all of this will make you healthier overall, it will also help maintain optimal NAD levels, which will help you stay healthy. Usually, a combination of dietary supplements, the aforementioned lifestyle choices, and NAD precursor supplements is best to reap the most rewards.
One simple way to increase NAD levels in your body is to drink hydrogen water from the LV.IQ, which contains NR. This is much easier than it sounds! With LumiVitae’s LV.IQ, you add a hydrogen tablet to your water, let it dissolve, and enjoy. It’s easy, convenient, efficient, and life-changing all at once.