During a video podcast interview last week (embedded below), NAD+ expert Dr. Charles Brenner (FAQs) discussed his lab’s particular interest in vitamin supplement Nicotinamide Riboside “NR” (FAQs) (Reviews) and its potential benefits for mothers and their new offspring:

At the 52:46 minute mark of the video podcast embedded below

DR. Charles Brenner:

“…Another one I’m really interested in in the lab is postpartum.

So, postpartum, I like to describe as “the mother of all metabolic stresses” because Mom has just produced another human being or in the case of rats maybe 10 of them.

And her metabolism changed very dramatically at conception in order to produce an environment for embryonic and fetal development.

And then at parturition, there’s another remarkable switch where macronutrients are being mobilized from her adipose and her liver to the mammary biosynthetic program to produce a hundred percent of what is needed for the offspring until they’re weaned.

Now, whether human Mom chooses to do that 100% or supplement with formula or whatever that’s her decision.

But her biological program allows her to do that through an amazing switch that’s mediated by prolactin and other hormones.

And we found that a new Mom’s liver — I’m talking mouse and rat here, but I have some high confidence that this is true in humans as well — that a new rodent mother’s liver is under significant NAD stress during this program.

And that by supplementing the Mom with Nicotinamide Riboside (NR), she can produce more milk, she has an advantage in postpartum weight loss, and the milk seems to be much higher quality because the offspring brain development is advanced and their physical capability and even anti-anxiety phenotypes and learning and memory are advantaged into the offspring adulthood which is pretty remarkable.

So, that’s another thing that we’re really interested in.

HOST:

Yeah, that’s fascinating.

…would you say this supplementation be something that starts immediately after they give birth or maybe starting a little bit before they give birth?

What kind of protocol would that involve?

DR. Charles Brenner:

So, let’s distinguish between rodents and people — and during pregnancy versus postpartum.

So, we have done an experiment where we supplemented with NR during pregnancy and we’re going to have something to say about that fairly soon.

We’ve also compared different NAD precursors in the context of postpartum rats and we’re gonna be presenting that probably in June at the NAD meeting — and that will be out in bioRxiv and be in review late spring. I would say 2022, Juneish.

And then there’s a group at UC Davis that is doing a clinical trial of Moms of neonates who are basically milk insufficient and for whom the neonatal nutrition is really really important.

And, so, they’re testing in women whether Nicotinamide Riboside (NR) will  improve the quality and the quantity of milk production. Will be very very interesting to look at.

And I think the group up at UC Davis also wants to look at whether milk insufficient full-term Moms will benefit from NR as well.

But that’s not been tested.

But the idea is from our initial publication is that NR could be a Mom’s vitamin.

So, there are pregnancy vitamins like folic acid —  is considered a vitamin for mom during pregnancy.

But there isn’t a strongly developed concept of postpartum supplementation.

And this is potentially a rationalization for that based upon pre-clinical work that will be tested in women.

HOST:

You hear a lot about prenatal vitamins but not much about post natal vitamins.

So that’ll be that’ll be interesting data to see when that work eventually does come out”

Related:

  • Does Vitamin Supplement Nicotinamide Riboside (NR) Help Postpartum Moms and their Newborns? (Link)
  • Milk is Critical to Newborns. Many Mothers Struggle to Provide Enough. A Lactation Expert Believes Nicotinamide Riboside (NR) Might Help (Link)
  • Nicotinamide Riboside “NR” (FAQs) (Consumer Reviews)
  • Nicotinamide Mononucleotide “NMN” (FAQs)
  • NAD+ IV Drip Therapy (FAQs)

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