Could this be the anti-ageing silver bullet we’ve all been looking for? Celebrities are raving about this life-extending and life-enhancing pill.

For those who were thrilled to hear that cutting one ingredient from your diet could literally reverse the ageing process, the news that a powerful new drug — not quite so powerful as the long-touted exercise pill that will replace your gym forever, but not far off — has hit stores, offering a 10% increase on your lifespan… apparently.

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Celebrities Love NAD

Where so many celebrity wellness trends have (rightly…) focused on the foundations of any healthy lifestyle — diet and fitness — a newly-hyped molecule ‘NAD’, or nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide has recently stolen the limelight. Naturally created in the body, NAD has gone viral thanks to shameless promotion from A-list celebrities like Joe Rogan, Hailey Bieber, and Kourtney Kardashian. Supplements of the molecule — available in a number of different forms — are now quickly making NAD the hot new secret to vitality and long life.

“I have more energy; I feel really vibrant. I feel great…”

Those are the words of former UFC fighter and ultra-popular podcaster Joe Rogan in a 2020 episode of his show. Elsewhere, Hailey Bieber expressed her excitement on social media, half-jokingly saying, “I’m going to NAD for the rest of my life, and I’m never going to age,” as she was getting an IV infusion alongside Kendall Jenner. Not to be left behind, Kourtney Kardashian Barker has shared her experience with the benefits of supplements containing NAD on Instagram, touting it as the “genetic key to longevity.”

The Science Behind The Hype

The NAD molecule is involved in a lot of the body’s day-to-day processes, from DNA repair and the production of energy to the kind of cellular regeneration we might associate with anti-ageing. While our bodies are capable of producing it naturally, NAD declines with age, and some researchers link this drop to the process of aging itself and all its associated diseases. It is this very drop that has made NAD supplements so exciting as an anti-aging solution.

Professor Charles Brenner of City of Hope Research Hospital in California elucidated the importance of such a molecule, saying, without an ounce of hyperbole:

“They underlie the conversion of everything that we eat into everything that we do and everything that we are.”

Early studies on mice using NAD yielded hugely encouraging results, further evidencing and amplifying the hope to achieve similar success in human beings. A 2023 study from the Institute for Systems Biology found that taking NAD precursors for over a year increased the lifespan of the animals by 8.5%.

Naturally, there is caution among some scientists despite the wider excitement. “We still don’t know how NAD supplements will work in the body,” said Dr Eric Verdin, an aging researcher at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr Sabine Donnai of a London longevity clinic added this:

“Though NAD itself is useful, taking it in pill or IV form doesn’t always work because the molecule is too big to get inside your cells. It might just pass through your system without changing anything.”

Products contain NAD in a variety of forms and at a wide range of prices. Kourtney Kardashian’s brand of choice, NAD+ Platinum by Quicksilver Scientific, charges $84 USD for 100 millilitres of its liquid product. Wellness LabsRx sells a 90-pack of soft gels for just $24 USD. And if customers want full-blown IV infusions, treatments can cost anywhere between $500 and $2000 USD.

While the potential benefits are very interesting indeed, many more studies are needed to understand this product’s real efficacy and safety. Until then, the best-proven method for health and vitality is — we’re sorry to say — a balanced diet combined with regular exercise…