The pill with the most research in people
Nicotinamide riboside raised blood NAD+ in people
More NR brought a higher blood reading. You’ll also see why that result doesn’t prove better health.
More NR brought more NAD+ in the blood
The blood test changed. Larger NR amounts brought larger NAD+ readings. NR is short for nicotinamide riboside. It’s a form of vitamin B3 that your cells turn into NAD+. Researchers test NR because plain NAD+ has trouble passing through your gut. More people have been studied with NR than with the other pills in this group. NR still isn’t a proven treatment. You’ll get each trial’s result here. The amounts show what was tested, not what you ought to take.
NR pills give your cells material for making NAD+
Your gut and cells have trouble taking in whole NAD+. That’s why pills made with NAD+ itself may work poorly. Smaller substances pass into your body more easily. Your cells can use those substances to make NAD+ [5].
NR changes twice inside you. Your cells first turn NR into NMN, a substance related to niacin. They then use NMN to make NAD+ [5]. You don’t need the protein names for those steps. Niacin and nicotinamide are two vitamin forms that also help your body make NAD+. NR has the most controlled work in people showing a higher blood reading.
Blood NAD+ rose more when the NR amount rose
One NR trial involved adults who were healthy but overweight. For 8 weeks, the groups got 100, 300, or 1000 mg/day. Their NAD+ blood readings rose by 22%, 51%, and 142%, in that order. The higher readings lasted through the study [4].
No one reported flushing. The cholesterol linked with clogged arteries stayed level. Homocysteine, a blood substance that may rise when certain vitamins are low, also stayed level. NR and placebo groups reported side effects at the same rate; the placebo group received no NR [4]. That’s good news for the study period, not proof of lifelong safety. The trial didn’t show that NR prevents illness or slows aging.
In that trial, the blood test measured NAD+, but the pill supplied NR. At Promise Peptides (mypromise.com), a licensed clinician may prescribe NAD+ after evaluating you, and receiving it there requires a prescription. An NR result can’t tell you what prescribed NAD+ would change for your health.
NAD+ vs NMN: NR and NMN must change first
Here’s the difference. Your cells use NAD+ itself. They must change NMN and NR before using them to make NAD+. Whole NAD+ has trouble passing through your gut [5].
NMN needs one change to become NAD+. In one trial, 250 milligrams a day let muscle pull sugar from blood with less insulin in women with prediabetes [1]. Another trial found that 300–900 milligrams a day lifted blood NAD+. Researchers favored 600 milligrams a day among those amounts [3]. NR needs one added change inside your body [5]. Its main study tied larger amounts to larger blood rises [4]. Under the FDA’s current view, NMN can’t legally be sold as a dietary supplement. The agency says drug research started first. Sellers disagree with that ruling. This is a sales-label fight, not proof of safety. Read about NAD injection and IV NAD+ or common NAD+ questions.
NR helped mouse hearing, but people weren’t tested
Before a loud noise, researchers gave NR to mice. More nerve links survived between the inner ear and brain. The mice also recovered more hearing after the noise ended [12]. No people took part, so the finding can’t promise help for your hearing.
A separate safety test gave people with Parkinson’s disease up to 3000 milligrams a day of NR. Researchers learned how that group handled NR for a short time. They didn’t prove that NR treats Parkinson’s disease. A later review found the same broad limit. Human blood readings clearly rise, but most wider health claims still rest on animals [13]. NR raised a blood number. It isn’t a proven treatment.