By: Dr Jelena Bar
If someone told you 50 years, or even 10 years ago that ageing could be influenced, would you have believed them?
Future is coming faster than we expected, and new discoveries in the field of health and anti-aging have discovered chemicals that can “turn on” defences against ageing and be an effective treatment for aging related diseases.
For so many centuries it was believed that aging related diseases were inevitable. That, in case we are unfortunate to have inherited a “bad” set of gens, there is little we could do to avoid certain diseases. And that the number of years we have on this earth is something strongly controlled by our genetics.
If someone told you 50 years, or even 10 years ago that aging could be influenced, and that there were many scientists already working on creating a pill for longevity at the moment, would you have believed them? Or would you have dismissed it as an utter nonsense?
Future is coming faster than we expected it, and new discoveries in the field of health and anti-aging have discovered chemicals that can “turn on” defences against ageing and be an effective treatment for aging-related diseases such as type 2 diabetes (T2D), obesity, heart failure, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and cerebral ischemia.
One of these molecules is NMN (nicotinamide mononucleotide). Our body uses NMN to produce NAD+, which is one of the essential co-enzymes critical for our health. With years, our body loses its ability to synthetise enough NAD+, which results in ageing, and consequently, age-related diseases.
NAD+ IS CRITICAL FOR HUMAN HEALTH
NAD+ is a vital co-enzyme involved in a great deal of biochemical reactions. In our bodies, NAD+ participates in physiologic processes, including DNA repair, metabolism, aging, cell death, and gene expression1.
Being an essential component for more than 500 enzymatic reactions in our bodies, makes NAD+ a critical for human health and longevity.
While we are healthy and young, our bodies maintain the homeostasis of NAD+. However, in many age-related diseases it has been noticed that NAD+ metabolism became unbalanced. It has also been noticed that levels of NAD+ declined with age.
In our cells, NAD+ is mainly synthetized through NMN.
NAD+ DISCOVERY IN 1906
NAD+ was first discovered in 1906, Harden and Young. At that time, it was believed that the main function of this co enzyme was to enhance the rate of alcohol fermentation in yeast extracts2.
Research on NAD+ properties continued throughout the 20th century, however, by 1960, it was believed that all biochemical investigations on NAD+ had been exhausted.
NEW INTEREST IN NAD+ EMERGING IN THE LAST DECADES
In the last decade, interest in NAD+ emerged again.
Several different authors discovered that the NAD+ levels declined in our bodies with age3. This decline is further associated with the development of age-related diseases, such as type 2 diabetes (T2D), obesity, heart failure, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and cerebral ischemia.
One of the important questions raised in the field of antiaging research in the last decades was, whether NAD+ supplementation could be an effective therapy for the treatment of the conditions mentioned above.
PATHWAYS FOR BUILDING NAD+ IN THE BODY
There are three main ways that our cells use to create NAD+. They are:
- Synthesized NAD+ from nicotinic acid (NA)
- De novo syntheses from aminoacidic called tryptophan AND
- Salvage pathway, which is utilizing NMN or NR for the synthesis of NAD+.
Authors Weigi Hing et al (2020), argue that, given that the salvage pathway is the main and the most efficient route for NAD+ biosynthesis, NMN or NR supplementation is becoming the preferred and safe option of improving NAD+ levels.
SUPPLEMENTING NMN IS A SAFE WAY FOR REPLENISHING NAD+ LEVELS
Nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) is precursor of NAD+, which means that it is being converted in NAD+ in the body.
NMN is found in various types of natural foods, such as vegetables, fruits, and meat. The highest amount of NMN can be found in tomato (between 0.26–0.30 mg NMN/100g), followed by avocado (between 0.36–1.60 mg NMN/100g) and broccolis (between 0.25–1.12 mg NMN/100g)4.
Although NMN is present in some foods, it has been shown that the amount needed for replenishing NAD+ deficiency caused by aging or diseases is significantly higher and cannot be provided only via food.
According to Mills et al (2016)5, NMN supplementation has been shown as an effective way to compensate for NAD+ deficiency.
In addition, numerous clinical trials have demonstrated that NMN is suitable and safe for use in humans6.
In case you are thinking about the best strategies for NMN supplementation, it might be useful to know that NMN exists in two main forms, which are named alpha and beta5. You might want to know that only beta form is the active form, which you want to have in your chosen supplement.
Purity of the NMN is one of criteria important to revisit while choosing the right supplement. The main rule here is: the higher the purity, the better the efficacy.
Our natural, high-quality product Inner Youth has optimal dose of beta NMN (purity >98%) for daily use and is designed for people who want to have their immune system functioning at optimal levels, improve their physical and mental performance, feel instant increase in their energy levels, and work on longevity.
You can order your Inner Youth health supplement HERE.
References:
- Rajman L, Chwalek K, Sinclair DA, Cell Metab. 2018 Mar 6; 27(3):529-547.
- Harden A., Young W. (1906). The alcoholic ferment of yeast-juice. Part II. The conferment of yeast-juice. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. Ser. B78 369–375.
- Yoshino J, Mills KF, Yoon MJ, Imai S, Cell Metab. 2011 Oct 5; 14(4):528-36.
- Long-Term Administration of Nicotinamide Mononucleotide Mitigates Age-Associated Physiological Decline in Mice. Mills KF, Yoshida S, Stein LR, Grozio A, Kubota S, Sasaki Y, Redpath P, Migaud ME, Apte RS, Uchida K, Yoshino J, Imai SI, Cell Metab. 2016 Dec 13; 24(6):795-806
- Nicotinamide Mononucleotide: Exploration of Diverse Therapeutic Applications of a Potential Molecule. Poddar SK, Sifat AE, Haque S, Nahid NA, Chowdhury S, Mehedi I, Biomolecules. 2019 Jan 21; 9(1):.
- Weigi Hing et al (2020), Nicotinamide Mononucleotide: A Promising Molecule for Therapy of Diverse Diseases by Targeting NAD+ Metabolism, Front Cell Dev Biol. 2020; 8: 246.
