Scientists are discovering new ways that NAD+ facilitates healthy longevity.
NAD+ levels markedly decline with age, creating an energy deficit that decreases the body’s ability to retain youthful function.
To give you an idea how impactful NAD+ can be, by age 50 a typical person may have only half the NAD+ they did in youth. By age 80, NAD+ levels drop to only 1% to 10% expressed in youth.
Deficiency of NAD+ predisposes us to accelerated aging and impedes our ability to fully benefit from resveratrol.
Fortunately, it is easy to restore your cellular NAD+ to higher ranges.
As a co-factor in cell energy transfer, NAD+ plays a critical role in regulating aging processes.
NAD+ is the acronym for nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide.
Found in virtually all living cells, NAD+ is essential to sustaining life.
A fascinating aspect of NAD+ is its dual role in protecting against factors that age us. This includes mitigating chemical stress, inflammation, DNA damage, and failing mitochondria.
At the same time, NAD+ promotes longevity by facilitating DNA repair and providing cellular benefits associated with caloric restriction and exercise.
In other words, while a decline in NAD+ levels may negatively influence lifespan, restoring NAD+ is increasingly being viewed as a cutting-edge tool to promote longevity.
There is growing evidence that supplementing with a vitamin-like precursor of NAD+ called nicotinamide riboside can promote longevity in life forms ranging from simple worms to mammals like mice.
One study showed an average 5% increase in the lifespan of old mice—even though supplementation did not begin until the mice were nearing the end of their natural lifespan (24 months).
That would be the equivalent of gaining nearly an additional four years of life based on today’s average human expectancy of 78.8 years.
A rigorous scientific review of NAD+ reveals that its longevity benefits arise from eight different, but interrelated, functions.
This article briefly summarizes each anti-aging mechanism played by NAD+ in your body.
Anti-Aging Mechanism #1:
NAD+ May Contribute to Longer Telomeres
NAD+ is required for functioning of sirtuins – proteins that contribute to longevity by maintaining the length of critical telomeres.
Telomeres are stretches of repetitive DNA strands that cap the ends of chromosomes. Like the burning of a fuse, telomeres at the ends of our chromosomes steadily shorten every time a cell replicates itself. Once telomeres reach a critically short length, cell renewal virtually stops, leading to accelerated aging or death of the cell.
Telomere shortening is both a marker of cellular aging and a predictor of shortened lifespan.
Researchers have been searching for drugs and other interventions that might lengthen telomeres, in order to extend lifespan and/or health span. To date, exercise and weight loss have been reliably shown to be effective at telomere lengthening.
Certain other nutrients, such as resveratrol, may activate sirtuins and contribute to extending lifespan, but emerging evidence suggests sirtuins function best with an ample supply of NAD+.
Conclusion: The possibility of extending telomere length with NAD+ holds out hope for slowing the aging process and improving longevity.
Anti-Aging Mechanism #2:
NAD+ Promotes DNA Repair
Even though DNA is protected by its chromosomal shelter, it is highly vulnerable to damage.
This can lead to broken DNA strands and mutations in crucial genes. Accumulated DNA damage contributes to the aging process and can result in specific lifespan-shortening diseases like cancer and poor immune function
When DNA is damaged, it activates an enzyme known as PARP-1 that carries out DNA repair within cells. To carry out its function, PARP-1 consumes enormous amounts of NAD+. As NAD+ is depleted, the ability of PARP-1 to repair DNA is significantly hindered.
The good news is that replenishing NAD+ to cells can restore DNA repair and prevent cell death under stress. In two different animal models of neurodegenerative disease, increasing cellular NAD+ reduced the severity of the disorder, normalized neuromuscular function, delayed memory loss, and extended lifespan.
Conclusion: Improving DNA repair with NAD+ may slow cellular aging, reduce the persistence of cancer-causing mutations, and play an important role in preventing inflammatory conditions such as atherosclerosis.
