What is NAD+?

Sirtuin genes are a family of proteins called sirtuins, which play crucial roles in regulating cellular health and aging. Sirtuins are involved in important biological processes like DNA repair, inflammation control, and energy metabolism. Sirtuins help manage how cells respond to stress and aging by turning certain genes on or off. This can influence lifespan and overall health, potentially slowing down the aging process and reducing the risk of age-related diseases.

When you effectively boost your NAD+ (and yes, there is a right and wrong way to do this), you reactivate your Sirtuins and support longevity.

What are some of the benefits of activating your Sirtuins?

They’re also known as the “Longevity Genes”, for good reason. While having sufficient NAD+ for all your basic metabolic processes is the first and most important reason to boost NAD+, activating Sirtuins is arguably the second most important for all their amazing health and longevity benefits.

1. More energy: Sirtuins help increase cellular energy and efficiency by regulating glucose and fat metabolism. They have been shown to mimic some of the beneficial effects of caloric restriction, helping cells shift energy production to more efficient pathways and promoting the use of stored fats.
2. More mitochondria, better mitochondria: Mitochondria are membrane-bound elements within our cells that generate most of the chemical energy needed to power the cells biochemical reactions. Sirtuins stimulate the creation of new mitochondria and enhance their energy output.
3. DNA repair: Sirtuins help repair DNA damage, reducing the risk of developing age-related diseases, including cancer.
4. Anti-inflammatory: Sirtuins activate many different signaling pathways to reduce chronic inflammation.
5. Brain health: Sirtuins protect neurons from damage and maintain brain health. They may even reduce the risk of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
6. Cardiovascular: By promoting cellular resilience and mitigating damage, Sirtuins contribute to proper cardiac function and protect against atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). Sirtuins improve blood flow and reduce blood pressure by regulating nitric oxide production.
7. Cellular stress: Sirtuins help cells adapt to and recover from stress, including oxidative stress.
8. Cellular senescence: Sirtuins mitigate cellular senescence (the decline in cell health that leads to its inability to continue replicating).

With so many powerful and wide-ranging beneficial effects on our body, activating Sirtuins is possibly the best things about boosting your NAD+ levels.

So, how much NAD+ do we have and how much do we need?

Unfortunately, the answer typically depends on how old you are. As we grow older, our NAD+ levels naturally decline which can contribute to age-related diseases and metabolic disorders. Our cells are less efficient. We get tired. We feel old.

NAD+ starts to decline, by age 30, and by age 60 it can decline by as much as half.

Your NAD+ level is really important. Science hasn’t quite figured out how much NAD+ is enough, but we do know Sirtuins become active at specific concentrations. Which means as our NAD+ declines with age, so does our Sirtuin activity. Maintaining NAD+ levels means your Sirtuins are more active. You feel less tired. You feel more alive.

Why do our NAD+ levels decline as we age?

Metabolic research has made huge strides in the last few years in terms of our understanding of why this happens. The term for when cells become dysfunctional and stop replicating is “senescent” cells. These senescent cells emit a signal called SASP which is like the Bat Signal for chronic inflammation. Because inflammation is the enemy, the body jumps into action and sends immune cells to combat the inflammation. The immune cells form a cluster around the dysfunctional cell and using a protein called CD38, they effectively choke out the NAD+ that the problem cell is using to send out the SASP signal. The net effect is to lower the volume on the SASP signal which, reduces the inflammation.

On one hand this is a good thing because chronic inflammation cannot be allowed to run hog wild in the body. It is an underlying cause of many diseases. On the other hand, this is not a good thing, because it wastes and degrades massive amounts of NAD+ that is needed for overall health and well-being.

As we get older, we tend to accumulate more and more of these senescent cells. Whether it’s DNA damage in skin and liver cells or poor oxygen supply in fat cells, over time a few cells always become dysfunctional. Our immune system tries to keep them all in check, but it’s a losing battle. Ever-increasing amounts of NAD+ are lost in this hopeless war.

How do you increase NAD+?

The short answer is, through precursors. A precursor is a compound that the body can use to produce and replenish depleted NAD+. Common precursors include NR (nicotinamide riboside), NMN (nicotinamide mononucleotide), and Niacin (as nicotinic acid).

The longer answer is that it’s not as straightforward as using a precursor. With all the excitement over NAD+ precursors, there’s a huge problem that is being overlooked. When you use up a NAD+ molecule, it breaks down into a waste product called Niacinamide (NAM for short). One of the ironic and unfortunate things about NAM is that it can be a powerful inhibitor of Sirtuins. Remember those critical Longevity Genes we talked about? If we are too aggressive with building up NAD+, the NAD+ levels may appear to be going up, but it’s at the expense of a buildup of NAM waste that inadvertently suppresses your Sirtuins. That’s a bad deal because the whole reason we’re seeking to increase NAD+ is to activate your Sirtuins.

Where does that leave us?

Here’s what we know for certain:

1. You need healthy NAD+ levels to stay healthy.
2. Without intervention, NAD+ declines as we age.
3. Lifestyle alone will never prevent NAD+ decline.
4. Inflammation is the enemy of NAD+. In fact, it’s now known as “Inflammaging”, which is effectively a state of persistent low-grade inflammation that plagues us as we age.
5. Boosting NAD+ levels alone doesn’t work. A longevity supplement must support a balance of synthesizing new NAD+ alongside supporting efficient use of existing NAD+ and supporting the body’s NAD+ recycling mechanism. Otherwise, it’s counterproductive to your health.

A Parting Thought

Recent research presents compelling evidence that low NAD+ might not just be a consequence of getting old. It suggests that low NAD+ in fact drives aging to some extent and might even be a dominant factor.