Coenzyme NAD Brain Benefits Unproven, Further Research Needed

Any substance in the body that decreases with age is bound to become the subject of scientific research — and a place for the public to pin all its collective hopes and dreams — about aging. “What if we increase this substance?” Scientists and mere mortals will ask. “Could it stop or reverse the aging process? Could it keep the brain healthy forever?”

Coenzyme NAD+ is one of those substances that dwindles with age. The nutrient nicotinamide riboside, which is a form of niacin (vitamin B3), converts into this coenzyme in the body. You can get trace amounts of nicotinamide riboside — let’s call it NR for short — from milk and yeast and a few other foods. Some preliminary research in mice shows that this form of niacin could offer a number of benefits that would be of interest to older adults. In mice, it helps control blood sugar; improves exercise abilities; counteracts the consequences of a high-fat diet; and possibly protects brain cells in mice that already have Alzheimer’s disease.

But researchers have only just begun to travel the long road to proving that NR might do any of these things in real people. For now, it’s far too early to recommend taking NR supplements with the expectation of brain benefits, says the Global Council on Brain Health. The independent group of scientists, clinicians, scholars and other experts reviewed the research on NR and its potential to support brain health; you can find their published results in this report. No studies have confirmed these or any other benefits of NR in humans. But, several trials are underway.

The first step to prove that a supplement can bring health benefits is showing that it’s safe to take and that the body will use the supplements the same way it uses the nutrient found in food. A small study published in March 2018 seems to check those two boxes. In a clinical trial, 30 healthy middle-aged and older men and women took 500 mg of NR twice a day for six weeks. The study participants had no serious side effects, and blood tests showed that the supplement did stimulate NAD+ production in the body. It’s reason for further research, the study authors say. So, don’t pop any NR pills just yet, but stay tuned.