While admittedly not an NAD+ expert, Stanford neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Huberman is very interested in the NAD+ space. He currently takes NR  (FAQs) (Anecdotes) and NMN (FAQs and Anecdotes). Here’s what he said on an AMA yesterday (key points in bold, summary at the end):

Dr. Andrew Huberman (starting at 6:12 of the video embedded below):

“About 4 or 5 years ago, there was a sudden and increased attention on NAD related pathways for increasing longevity.

So, the NAD pathway, as many of you already know, is a pathway within all of our cells.

This is a pathway that is highly active in young animals and humans.

But all animals and humans across the entire lifespan make NAD in their cells.

It’s related to cellular energetics.

That is the production of energy in cells.

It has direct relevance to mitochondrial function, and mitochondrial function to it.

And that’s a discussion unto itself.

But suffice to say that the pathway leading to NAD includes things such as NR and NMN.

NR and NMN are considered by many to be precursors to NAD.

OK, so why am I telling you all these acronyms?

Here’s the deal.

The argument was made, in fact, by some prior guests, on the Huberman Lab podcast and elsewhere, that by increasing NAD levels in our cells that one could potentially extend lifespan.

And there are generally 3 ways in which people have attempted to do that.

We’ll talk about whether or not increasing NAD in our cells actually increases lifespan in a moment.

But for the time being let’s just talk about some of the ways that people have tried to increase NAD within their brain and body.

The most typical ways that people have done that is through, until very recently, supplementation.

And, so, there are supplements out there such as NR which we know can increase NAD levels.

So, this is taken as a pill or a powder, typically as a capsule or a powder.

Or, by taking NMN which, and here there’s been some, let’s just say debate as to whether or not taking NMN actually leads to increases in NAD within our cells, whether or not, it can get into our cells, whether or not, it’s converted into NAD, and so on and so on.

But there again, the idea was by taking NAD either in capsule form or sometimes taken as a sublingual powder, that one can increase NAD levels and thereby potentially increase lifespan.

And then there’s a 3rd way that’s commonly used to try and increase NAD levels, and that’s by intravenous infusion or in some cases by oral administration, either liquid or pill form, NAD itself.

Now, I confess, I have tried all 3 of these approaches.

OK, so I do indeed take an NR supplement every day.

I take 500mg of NR.

I also, and have separately taken an NMN supplement.

I take sublingual NMN.

So, I’ll take anywhere from 1 to 2 grams of NMN as a sublingual powder, which as the name suggests, you put it under your tongue, and it dissolves there.

It’s got this kind of tangy flavor.

And the goal for me in taking NR and NMN each day, and I should mention that sometimes I have just taken NMN or just NR to do the comparison between NR and NMN for me in a subjective way, just comparing what are my energy levels, how do I feel, whether or not there are any side effects.

And then I’ve also taken them together.

And, I’ve arrived at a protocol where I take NR and NMN every single day.

And the goal of that is indeed to increase NAD levels within my system.

However, and I really want to emphasize this, I do not take NR and NMN in order to increase my lifespan.

In fact, at this point in history, it’s unclear and seems somewhat unlikely that increasing NAD is going to increase lifespan.

But, I think we should always keep our minds open.

There may be data to arrive in the future that shows that actually does happen in humans.

Now there are some animal data suggesting that increasing NAD either by taking NR, and or NMN, can increase lifespan.

But, frankly, that is not why I take NR and NMN.

I take NR and NMN in an effort to increase NAD.

And, now I realize what I’m about to say is entirely subjective.

And I really want to highlight that.

What I’m about to describe is my experience.

It is not based on any peer-reviewed studies.

When I take NR and NMN at the dosages I talked about a little earlier, it gives me a lot of sustained mental and physical energy throughout the day.

Now, I’ve always had a lot of mental and physical energy.

But, I’m 48 years old now.

And I’m interested in doing anything that I safely can to keep those levels of energy as high as is reasonable.

I don’t want to have so much energy that I can’t sit still, or so much energy that I can’t sleep at night.

But I find that when I take NR and NMN in the morning — so typically I’ll do this before my first meal, I don’t really regulate how close it is to that first meal.

So, I’ll wake up, use the bathroom, hydrate, get my sunlight, do all the things I’ve talked about on other podcasts.

But I’ll take my NR and NMN sometime usually within about an hour or two of waking up, and typically at least 30 minutes to 2 hours before my first meal, which for me usually arrives around 11am.

So, sometimes I’ll take it long before my first meal.

In any event, it gives me a lot of energy.

And I seem to have that energy throughout the day.

I have gone periods of time where I stopped taking NR and/or NMN.

And, while I didn’t feel as if I was completely depleted of energy, I did notice a decrement in energy compared to when I took NR and NMN.

Now, I want to be very, very clear.

I have no, zero financial relationship to any company that manufactures NR.

And while I used to have a relationship to a company that made NMN, as of recently, there’s an FDA ruling that has made NMN not available as a supplement in the wider world (Huberman explained this in more detail HERE).

So, earlier this year, that is in 2023, there was a filing for NMN as an experimental drug in a clinical trial.

And as a consequence, NMN was listed as a banned or not allowed to be commercially sold supplement.

And that has to do with some of the legality around clinical trials.

And when something is listed as an experimental drug, it can’t be listed as a supplement.

Nonetheless, you can still find NMN on the open market.

You can find it on Amazon.

I can’t really speak to the purity of one source versus another.

You’ll have to explore that on your own.

But I will say this even if I’ve said it before.

I have zero financial relationship to any company that manufactures and sells NMN at this time, or NR at this time.

So, the short summary to this whole discussion about NR and NMN is that I take NR and NMN, but I take it because I like how it makes me feel.

It increases my energy levels in the morning and throughout the day.

And it does so in a way that tapers off nicely in the evening, and I can still fall asleep.

I do not take it with any expectation that it’s going to increase my lifespan simply because I don’t think the data substantiating the extension and lifespan are here yet.

They may arrive at some point.

But I don’t think they are here yet“

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