City of Hope’s Dr. Charles Brenner loves to talk about the science of NAD and Nicotinamide Riboside “NR” (FAQs) (Reviews). And since he discovered NR as an NAD precursor vitamin, he’s well positioned to do so. But many of us non-scientists prefer it when he explains in plain English how NR can potentially improve our lives. Lucky for us, he did so very clearly on a recent podcast (video embedded below):

At the 25:10 minute mark of the podcast below

“…The use case of Niagen, of Nicotinamide Riboside (NR), is not necessarily waiting until you’re sick.

In fact, if I were to show you a bottle (of Niagen), it would say “not intended to treat a disease or condition”.

It’s sold as an over-the-counter supplement.

So we’re not actually making health claims here.

…If you look at the animal indications in which NR has had the most activity, they are conditions of metabolic stress…

…So, it’s a conundrum because NR / Niagen is available basically to healthy people as a nutritional supplement.

So, maybe we’re noticing a few things.

We notice that hair and fingernails grow faster.

A lot of people notice that their recovery time in the gym is better.

They may feel better.

Their co-workers got flu and cold and they didn’t.

They recovered through time zone disruption a little bit better.

But these are not placebo controlled results. You don’t have a control on yourself in the gym. It’s kind of multi-anecdotal.

So, we want to design the (human) trials in which NR has the greatest possibility of showing an actual health improvement in a disease or condition.

That’s going to be really important going forward.

But it’s also important to remember that disruptions to the NAD system are actually inevitable.

Why?

Sunlight and oxygen.

Sunlight damages DNA daily.

Oxygen generates reactive oxygen species in all cells all the time.

When back in the day, when I used to speak in crowded auditoria, I would ask for a show of hands and I would say: “how many people would love to jump on a jet, fly to Ibiza, sit out in the sun until late evening, listen to loud music, eating lots of food and drinking lots of wine?”.

And everybody would raise their hand.

And I would say, “well, every single one of those things that I just mentioned — the sun, the oxygen, the time zone disruption, the food, the loud noise, and alcohol — every single one of those things disrupts your NAD system in one or more tissues”.

So, Niagen (NR) is sort of like preparation or prevention, and boosting resiliency in healthy people.

But, it does have a very, very strong potential as something that could boost resiliency against infection and disease processes.

But we’re not making those claims.

We’re very evidence-based and we want to see those types of (human) trials.”

Related:

  • NR supplementation may have helped sufferers of these diseases & conditions (Consumer Reviews)
  • FAQs on taking NAD boosting vitamin supplement Nicotinamide Riboside (NR) can be found HERE.

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