How NAD+ Patches Support Health and Wellness
Time for some truth talk: there are thousands of supposed health-boosting solutions out there, but few products can point to the research that validates those claims.
NAD+ patches are among the few health support products based on research demonstrating how it supports your health and wellness. And honestly, if it didn't, we wouldn't even offer it in our product line.
We know that NAD+ patches and NAD+ supplements are relatively new health support products, so we've written this article to give you a run-down on what they are and what the science says about how they can help you reach your health, wellness, and longevity goals.
NAD+, short for Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide, is a component found in all living cells essential for numerous aspects of cell metabolism and function. It is a cofactor, meaning that several reactions that keep cells functioning as they should wouldn't be able to take place if NAD+ isn't available. (1)
As we age, NAD+ concentrations gradually decrease. Reductions in NAD+ concentrations play a role in cell aging, which accelerates the susceptibility to illness and mortality. (2)
In other words, we get older, we have a reduction in the concentration of NAD+ in our cells, and our cells are more likely to get sick and lose function.
Naturally, medical professionals and scientific researchers who have a passion for health and wellness asked the question: can we "add" NAD+ back into cells to boost their function?
It turns out we can(2)! And the discovery shed light on a massive opportunity for therapeutic approaches to slowing cellular aging and its associated disorders (3).
NAD+ patches are wearable NAD+ supplements that give you a steady dosage of NAD+ over the several hours of wearing it. While oral NAD+ supplements, IVs, and supplements that provide precursors to NAD+ are also an effective way to increase your body's NAD+ levels, forgetfulness, medical costs, and convenience are all factors that may make these options less effective.
How do patches work? Our NAD+ patch adheres to your skin and uses iontophoresis to deliver NAD+ to your blood through your dermal barrier.
Iontophoresis is a medical technology where components are delivered to your body through the skin using a voltage gradient (4). By making slight, entirely safe changes to the electric field on a small area of your skin, the permeability of your skin increases, and molecules of NAD+ are transported efficiently into your body as needed.
As we get older NAD+ concentrations in the blood decrease. Low NAD+ concentrations are associated with cell aging.
When we talk about cell aging, we might imagine wrinkly old cells that are a little slower than they used to be (5). Unfortunately, cell aging has a much more profound effect on your health than how cells look; cell aging reduces the efficiency and effectiveness with which they carry out their functions.
Our entire body is made up of cells. All our living cells need NAD+ to function. That is 30 trillion cells (30,000,000,000,000) cells that need NAD+. So, even in the most straightforward terms, we can understand how a dip in NAD+ concentrations negatively affect cell function and accelerate cell aging. (6)
We now understand why we need NAD+ in our bodies. Now, the question is, does externally-provided NAD+ actually increase NAD+ levels in the body?
Scientists have long demonstrated the potential to increase NAD+ through supplementation in lab studies. Recently, clinical trials with adults have demonstrated that external provision of NAD+ and NAD+ precursors through supplementation does, indeed, increase NAD+ concentrations in cells. (7, 8).
Some popular supplements provide precursors on NAD+, rather than NAD+ itself. One of the most popular precursors is Nicotinamide Riboside, or NR. NR is a precursor that mediates NAD+ synthesis, but the ultimate goal is to elevate NAD+ levels which can also be achieved more efficiently by providing NAD+ itself. (8).
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Helps Cells Fight Against Unhealthy Aging
One of the primary roles of NAD+ in cells is to keep them healthy and functioning correctly, thus promoting healthy aging by activating certain enzymes.
Research has shown that NAD+ activates sirtuins and PARPs, enzymes that help repair DNA damage, reduce inflammation, and help increase your resistance to stress (9, 10, 11). By increasing NAD+ concentrations in cells through supplements, sirtuin and PARP function may stay stable as well.
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Protects Brain Cell Function
NAD+ helps control the production of a protein in the brain called PGC-1-alpha, which helps keep brain cells protected against oxidative stress and metabolic dysfunction. Both oxidative stress and metabolic dysfunction may play a role in the development of brain diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, highlighting the importance of maintaining healthy NAD+ levels. (13, 14)
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May Lower the Risk of Heart Disease
As we grow older, our heart function has a greater risk of decreasing due to stiffer blood vessels and a higher risk of high blood pressure.
Lab studies have shown that NAD+ can help to reverse age-related dysfunction in the arteries (15). Some clinical studies have shown success in NAD+-raising supplements, including NAD+ patches, lowering blood pressure and increasing blood vessel flexibility (16).
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May Lower Cancer Risk
One of the causes of cancerous tumor growth is DNA damage. Some initial studies demonstrate that high NAD+ concentrations may help protect against DNA damage and oxidative stress, revealing a potential for lowering the risk of some cancers. (17, 18).
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Could Support Muscle Function as You Age
NAD+ is an essential component of healthy muscle cell function, and as we age, the lower NAD+ levels may negatively impact muscle strength, endurance, and overall function. (19)
Laboratory research found that raising NAD+ to the level required for healthy cell activities in aging mice helped to partially restore muscle function, strength, and endurance.
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Helps to Regulate Your Body's Internal Clock
NAD+ plays a role in healthy circadian rhythms in the brain, and low NAD+ levels could impact how quickly you can re-establish healthy sleep cycles after disruptions, changes of time zone, or even certain sleep disorders.
You can gracefully grow older when your cells remain healthy and functioning. One of the factors that impact cell aging on a biological level is NAD+ concentrations. Research has shown that exogenous NAD+, like that which is delivered through NAD+ patches, can increase NAD+ concentrations in the cells. As a result, your overall health and sense of wellbeing get a boost.
If you feel aging catching up to you, or you are worried about your risk of age-related and chronic diseases, talk to your healthcare team about whether NAD+ patches may help re-establish healthy cell function and support an overall sense of improved wellness.
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Hou, Y., Lautrup, S., Cordonnier, S., Wang, Y., Croteau, D., & Zavala, E. et al. (2018). NAD+ supplementation normalizes key Alzheimer’s features and DNA damage responses in a new AD mouse model with introduced DNA repair deficiency. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences, 115(8), E1876-E1885. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1718819115
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Yang, N., Cho, Y., & Lee, I. (2019). The Lifespan Extension Ability of Nicotinic Acid Depends on Whether the Intracellular NAD+ Level Is Lower than the Sirtuin-Saturating Concentrations. International Journal Of Molecular Sciences, 21(1), 142. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21010142
Martens, C., Denman, B., Mazzo, M., Armstrong, M., Reisdorph, N., & McQueen, M. et al. (2018). Chronic nicotinamide riboside supplementation is well-tolerated and elevates NAD+ in healthy middle-aged and older adults. Nature Communications, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03421-7
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Martens, C., Denman, B., Mazzo, M., Armstrong, M., Reisdorph, N., & McQueen, M. et al. (2017). NAA1 NICOTINAMIDE RIBOSIDE SUPPLEMENTATION REDUCES AORTIC STIFFNESS AND BLOOD PRESSURE IN MIDDLE-AGED AND OLDER ADULTS. Artery Research, 20(C), 49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.artres.2017.10.021
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