Only Time Will Tell (part 2 of 4)
This is the second article in a four-part series. The first part can be found here:
This series explores the benefits of NAD+ on the aging athlete via interviews with the CEO and Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) from Chromadex as well as a first-hand experiment.
Many articles will have you believe that Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide (NAD+) was discovered in 2004, which seemed improbable given the role that this “helper” molecule plays in the overall regulation of bodily functions. According to Dr. Matthew Roberts, CSO with Chromadex the makers of TRU Niagen, there were brushes with NAD+ as far back as 1906 based on experiments with yeast. Then in 1936, the chemical structure was identified in an effort to fight pellagra, a disease of the skin, which if untreated could cause death. This led to the discovery of vitamin B3. Little did scientists know, but that discovery was the precursor to Nicotinamide Riboside (NR), which is what your body converts into NAD+.
When articles reference the discovery of NR to 2004, they are referring to scientists’ understanding of the molecular biology of NR. According to Dr. Roberts, 2004 was a pivotal year that has led to the understanding that we have today.
As we age, NAD+ levels in our cells decrease and our cells are exposed to the ravages of aging. Our body becomes less efficient at repairing damage both externally and internally. The outward signs are the changes to our skin and hair. Internally, our brain is more susceptible to oxidative stress, our organs become less pliable and chronic low-grade inflammation may be experienced even though there is no infection that the body is fighting or injury that it is repairing.
To offset and even reverse these effects, supplements have been developed to raise NAD+ levels in the body. As Dr. Roberts shared, “For a supplement to be effective, you need it to be absorbed in the intestinal tract, transported to the cell and absorbed by the cell. NAD+ does not enter the cell very efficiently, but NR does. Test results have shown that NAD+ levels increase in the blood with no known side effects.”
There have been five published human trials and according to Dr. Roberts, another 20 are in the pipeline. In a trial conducted by Chromadex, NR supplement doses of 100mg, 300mg and 1,000mg per day were tested. They concluded that the body could convert NR into NDA+ and even at the highest dosing levels, there have been no known side effects. There have been other studies that have examined the effects of dosing levels up to 2,000mg per day and again, there have been no known side effects.
While tests have shown an increase of NAD+ in the bloodstream, the question remains if this translates into a tangible result. According to the CEO of Chromadex, Rob Fried, it does because “elevated NAD+ within the cell is going to be utilized by the cell, whether for energy metabolism, reduction of oxidative stress or maintenance of healthy DNA.” This can help us age well because of NAD+’s role in preventing inflammation in our organs, which in turn, avoids the secondary effects of diseases from aging.
It can also add to your life expectancy. Rob Fried also observed, “If we define aging as the accumulation of damage, and the diminished ability to correct damage, then I believe, yes.”
Dr. Roberts focused on two other factors, the kidneys and circadian rhythm. “The kidneys are really the dark horse in longevity because the tubes that connect the kidneys lose their flexibility over time. By boosting the levels of NAD+, cells tend to become more flexible.” In addition to the kidneys benefitting from greater cellular flexibility, NAD+ can help reduce stiffness in the aorta and help lower systolic blood pressure.
Next, NAD+ can positively affect our body’s circadian rhythm and improve our quality of sleep. If we wake up too much, we are adding to the inflammation process. A lot of cellular damage comes from chronic inflammation. While the precise role of inflammation in chronic age-related conditions is not known, it is known that chronic inflammation is implicated in a number of age-related conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer's. Chronic low-grade inflammation, also known as “inflammaging”, is a significant risk for morbidity and mortality among the elderly population. So, improve your quality of sleep and decrease the amount of inflammation in your body.
Based on the information that I’ve researched thus far, I’m sold on the supplement…or at least taking the supplement to find out the benefits first hand. Based on the information researched, it is reasonable to expect that a person taking an NR supplement will experience an increase in energy levels, which would hopefully translate into better workouts and recovery. Given the other purported benefits, overall mobility or flexibility should improve along with concentration levels and possibly short-term memory. And finally, there should be a better overall quality of sleep.
While the measurement of these factors may be subjective, I am using the same criteria to score each factor on a daily basis. Using a scale of 1 to 10, where 5 is my baseline expectation or daily experience and anything lower than 5 means that performance in that area was below expectations or worse than a typical day, I will attempt to quantify the effects of using an NR supplement.
Before displaying the initial results, it should be noted that it is impossible to hold all things constant. Rather, there are outside factors that could influence the results. In research, this is known as “confounding factors”. For example, while I may gauge workout performance the same, the weather could influence the overall workout quality and artificially skew the score down for that workout. Or mobility could be affected by business travel, delayed flights and sitting in cramped airline seats. So with this known limitation, I present the initial results.
While all of the factors are improved, the improvement is not so significant that I believe a real change has occurred. The largest perceived improvement is in concentration, while short-term memory and quality of sleep experienced the smallest perceived improvement. Because an increased energy level should correlate with being alert in the afternoon, a time when many people’s energy level wanes, I tracked the number of days that I was sleepy in the afternoon. For the 12 days of baseline, I was sleepy for 6 of 12 days (50%) compared to 5 of 12 days (41.7%) after beginning the TRU Niagen supplement.
In addition to these metrics, I have a track meet scheduled on October 12th which will be on day 23 of using the TRU Niagen supplement. The following week, October 19th, will be my final track meet of the season and the 30th day for which I’ve taken the supplement. At that point, I will compare my results to those from earlier in the year.
The value proposition of an NR supplement is very intriguing. The science behind the claims appears to be logical. If this supplement can deliver the results, it will be stupendous. At this point of the journey, it is too early to draw a conclusion. I’m looking forward to continuing on this path to experience first hand if the promise of NR can be realized.
