Key Points
- Administering NMN at 300, 600, or 900 mg doses per day over 60 days increases blood levels of the cell health-supporting molecule NAD+.
- Consuming NMN at these doses for 60 days significantly improves the distance walked over six minutes, indicating improved physical function.
- A self-assessed evaluation measuring perceptions of health and wellbeing suggests improvements in how participants who took NMN feel.
Nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) functions as a precursor molecule to the pro-longevity molecule nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+). Studies using rodents have shown that NMN supplementation increases blood NAD+ levels, along with improving endurance and cardiovascular health. Whether such findings translate to humans has given mixed results from clinical trials. Some clinical studies suggest that NMN increases blood NAD+, while others have shown it doesn’t. In a similar way, some clinical studies have demonstrated NMN improves muscle function, while others have shown mixed results pertaining to muscle function improvements.
Yi and colleagues from Abinopharm in Connecticut published in GeroScience showing that NMN substantially increases blood NAD+ levels in healthy, middle-aged adults. What’s more, NMN improved the participants’ walking distance over a six-minute period, suggesting improvements in physical function. A self-assessed evaluation of overall health and feelings of wellbeing also indicated that those who took NMN feel better after 30 and 60 of taking the molecule. These results suggest that NMN increases NAD+ levels, improves physical function, and triggers feelings of health and wellbeing.
NMN Boosts Blood NAD+ Levels and Enhances Physical Function and Perceptions of Wellbeing
To find if NMN increases NAD+ levels and whether the amount taken has an effect, the Abinopharm researchers measured blood NAD+ concentrations in response to different doses. They measured NAD+ levels after 30 and 60 days of taking 300, 600, or 900 mg per day of NMN in healthy, middle-aged adults. The researchers found that each dose drove higher blood NAD+ levels but that the 600 and 900 mg per day doses stimulated higher NAD+ than the 300 mg per day dose. These findings suggest that while 300 mg per day of NMN stimulates higher NAD+ than no NMN< taking at least 600 mg per day can maximize blood NAD+ levels.
Yi and colleagues wanted to find whether increased blood NAD+ levels are associated with improved muscle function, so they measured walking distances over a six-minute period. They found that the study participants walked longer distances at days 30 and 60 of taking NMN. However, the 600 mg and 900 mg per day dosing groups walked longer distances than the 300 mg per day group. Because walking distances for six minutes serves as an indicator of muscle function, these results suggest that taking NMN at doses of at least 600 mg per day can enhance muscle endurance.
Yi and colleagues administered an evaluation of perceptions of overall health and wellbeing to participants before and after taking NMN. This assessment recorded answers to a questionnaire (the SF-36) which asked about parameters related to perceived mental and physical function. The evaluation scores suggested that 300 mg per day of NMN improves overall health after 60 days but not 30 days. However, the 600 mg and 900 mg per day doses improved health and wellbeing perceptions after 30 and 60 days. These results suggest that while the 300 mg per day dose can enhance perceptions of health and wellbeing after 60 days, doses equal to at least 600 mg per day may provide these benefits 30 days earlier.
The study gives results supporting that NMN increases blood NAD+ levels and improves physical function. Since the study only had 20 participants per group, more study participants and a longer testing duration would improve the meaningfulness of these results. Moreover, examining other parameters such as muscle force would show weather NMN also improves strength in addition to muscle endurance.
Future and Ongoing Clinical Trials to Reveal NMN’s Benefits
More clinical trials are underway or just beginning that will look at NMN’s effects on more specific age-related conditions such as high blood pressure, metabolic disorders, and skin aging. Another clinical trial examining muscle recovery following exercise is underway, which may provide crucial data about whether NMN helps with muscle function. Adding more data from clinical trials to the findings from this study over the next year or two could reveal whether the hype around NMN’s pro-longevity benefits is warranted.
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