NAD+ and Aging: What the Human Studies Show So Far, and What They Do Not

By Vincent Caradec, Co-Founder & CEO, Healthi Life

NAD+ infusions at Healthi Life are given only after a medical consultation and on a physician’s prescription. This article is for general information and is not medical advice.

Few molecules have traveled from the lab to the wellness menu as fast as NAD+. It now appears in drip bars, supplement aisles and podcast ads, usually with a promise attached. I run a doctor-led longevity house in Bangkok, and NAD+ is a topic our guests raise often. Here is my plain reading of where the human evidence stands.

The biology is solid

NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) is a coenzyme found in every cell. It helps convert food into usable energy and is used by enzymes involved in DNA repair. A widely cited review by Eric Verdin in Science (2015) described how NAD+ levels fall with age in animal and human tissues. That observation is the reason researchers want to know whether raising NAD+ changes anything that matters.

The human trials are small and specific

Most human data come from oral precursors, not from infusions. In a 2018 trial in Nature Communications, Martens and colleagues gave nicotinamide riboside (NR) to healthy middle-aged and older adults for six weeks. NAD+ metabolites in the blood rose and the supplement was well tolerated. Changes in blood pressure and arterial stiffness were not conclusive in a group that size.

In 2021, Yoshino and colleagues reported in Science that nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) improved muscle insulin sensitivity in a small group of postmenopausal women with prediabetes. It was a careful study, and a narrow one: one population, one outcome, ten weeks.

For intravenous NAD+, published data are thinner still. A 2019 pilot in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience (Grant and colleagues) followed 11 healthy men through a six-hour infusion. It mapped how NAD+ and its metabolites moved through plasma and urine. It was a measurement study, not a test of energy, memory or aging.

What that means in practice

The honest summary: the mechanism is real, and the clinical evidence for most of the benefits marketed today is still being built. No trial so far shows that NAD+ in any form extends healthy life in people. Anyone who promises a specific result is ahead of the data.

That does not make NAD+ useless. It means the decision belongs in a medical conversation, not at a counter.

Turning the evidence into a decision

A physician review comes first. An infusion is a medical procedure. A physician should look at your history, your medication and conditions such as heart, kidney or liver disease before anything is prescribed.

Dose and speed are medical decisions. Doses vary, and so does the infusion rate. A fast infusion can be uncomfortable, which is why a slow, supervised drip matters.

Fatigue has more than one cause. Tiredness and brain fog are symptoms. Thyroid function, iron, sleep and blood sugar are common causes. A blood test may show that the answer is not NAD+ at all. Tests are for assessment only, and results are reviewed with a qualified clinician.

How we approach it

At Healthi Life, a physician reviews each guest before any infusion, and many guests start with a health check-up so the doctor can see the picture behind the fatigue. Our page on physician-supervised NAD+ infusions in Bangkok sets out the dose options, how each session is supervised and the published price. Sometimes the consultation ends with no infusion, and I count that as the process working.

I came to this field after a stay in intensive care at 37. My co-founder, Dr. Petch, started by measuring everything before changing anything. Since then my rule has been simple: measure first, then decide. NAD+ deserves the same order.

NAD+ infusions at Healthi Life are given only after a medical consultation and on a physician’s prescription. Individual responses vary. This article is for general information and is not medical advice.

Vincent Caradec is co-founder and CEO of Healthi Life, a doctor-led longevity house in Ekkamai, Bangkok, whose guests come from more than 50 countries.

This article is sponsored by Healthi Life.