NAD+ Increases Fat? New Study Shows Strange Results
Channel: Lifespan News
Date: 04/03/2023

What if they’re was a supplement that could increase muscle energy and muscle stem cells and it’s cheap and easy to get? How about if someone told you that NAD+ increases fat? Let's explore the new study, which shows strange results!

Here are three facts: 1. NAD is an important coenzyme that performs multiple functions, including mitochondrial energy production. 2. NAD levels decrease with aging, which has been shown to underlie other age-related diseases. 3. Supplementing NAD by taking precursors has shown various health benefits in animal models and humans.

Of all NAD precursors, nicotinamide riboside, or NR, and nicotinamide mononucleotide, or NMN, are considered the most promising and are extensively studied. In some studies, NR has shown improved physical performance, blood pressure, and several other things.

This new clinical trial, coming from Finland and published in Science Advances, has an interesting twin-based design. The researchers recruited 24 pairs of monozygotic twins. Twenty of the monozygotic twins had substantially different body mass indexes, which is a rare occurrence in identical twins.

That group received escalating doses of NR for a period of five months to see the effects on genetically identical humans with different BMI levels. In the second mini-group of same size twins, one of the twins was used as the control group. The average age was about 40, and men and women were almost equally represented and the daily NR dose was gradually increased from 250 mg to 1000 mg over the first month of the study.

The study found that NR increased the levels of NAD in the blood by 2.3 times for both twin groups. NR also improved the production of mitochondria in muscle tissue and seemed to activate muscle stem cells, which could help with muscle growth and repair.

But there were some downsides to NR supplementation. The study found that over the course of the study, body mass and fat percentage increased significantly, even though the participants didn't seem to be eating more or exercising less. This increase in fat coincided with a decrease in insulin sensitivity, which means that the body may have a harder time regulating blood sugar levels. This is not good news for overall metabolic health but the study didn't find any changes in cardiovascular health markers, like blood pressure or pulse rate.

According to the researchers, their study “provides the first evidence that long-term NR supplementation increases muscle and white adipose tissue NAD generation in humans regardless of BMI” and shows the value of long-term NAD supplementation studies. 

Understanding the science of exercise is notoriously frustrating. Information often seems contradictory, and new studies seem to overturn years of traditional thinking. Human biology is complicated. 

So, what do you think? Does this study change how you think about NAD and its precursors? Let us know in the comments. There are a bunch of studies coming out on this topic, and we’re covering them! To learn more, check out the Lifespan News NAD playlist here. Make sure to subscribe and click the bell so you can stay up to date on aging research. I’m Emmett Short and we’ll see you next time on Lifespan News!

SOURCES AND FURTHER READING
⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺
Nicotinamide Riboside Improves Muscle Energy in Trial - https://www.lifespan.io/news/nicotinamide-riboside-improves-muscle-energy-in-trial/

Nicotinamide riboside improves muscle mitochondrial biogenesis, satellite cell differentiation, and gut microbiota in a twin study - https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.add5163

Nicotinamide Riboside Augments the Aged Human Skeletal Muscle NAD+ Metabolome and Induces Transcriptomic and Anti-inflammatory Signatures - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31412242/

Exercise May Slow Cancer Progression. Does Rapamycin Eliminate This Benefit? - https://youtu.be/9o0d3g8JooQ

LIKE WHAT WE DO?
⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺
If you’d like to help us run this show and/or help Lifespan.io end age-related diseases, you can become a Lifespan Hero: https://lifespan.io/hero. Your support means the world to us!

FOLLOW US EVERYWHERE
⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺
Website: https://www.lifespan.io/lifespan%20news/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifespan.io/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lifespanio
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lifespanio
Discord: https://discord.gg/HwTX7gR

FOOTAGE, IMAGES, AND MUSIC CREDITS
⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺
Music: "Elastic Vibe" by Ziv Moran

PRODUCTION CREDITS
⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺⎺
Host - Emmett Short
Producer & Editor - Ryan O’Shea
Written by - Arkadi Mazin, Emmett Short, Ryan O’Shea
Art - Mattijs Vonk, Tim Maupin
Executive Producer - Keith Comito

#NAD #Muscle #Energy

The opinions of the hosts and subjects of this video do not necessarily reflect the view of lifespan.io.