NAD+_Dosage, benefits & legal status
Also known as NAD, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide
A cellular fuel taken for energy, focus, and anti-aging.
Common vial size is what vendors typically sell, not a recommendation. Enter your own vial in the calculator.
What is NAD+?
Plain language first. The technical label stays, but it never stands alone.Overview
Taking it is meant to refill your cells' energy currency, to fight fatigue and support healthy aging. Injectable NAD+ is compounded. Human evidence is still early.
NAD+ is not a peptide but a coenzyme every cell uses to turn food into energy, and levels fall with age.
What it's used for
A cellular fuel people take to fight fatigue and brain fog, sharpen focus, and support anti-aging.
How does NAD+ work?
What it does in the body, and where.NAD+ is a coenzyme, not a peptide. Every cell uses it constantly to turn food into energy, and levels fall substantially with age.
- 01It carries electrons in energy productionWithout enough of it, the machinery that converts food into usable energy slows down.
- 02Repair enzymes depend on itSirtuins and PARPs, involved in DNA repair and cellular housekeeping, consume NAD+ to work. When it is scarce, they compete with energy production for it.
- 03Whether injected NAD+ reaches cells is genuinely unclearThe molecule is large and charged. Much of the research on raising NAD+ uses precursors like NR and NMN precisely because they cross into cells more readily.
- 04Inject slowlyGiven quickly it causes flushing, warmth, chest tightness, and nausea. This is the most consistently reported practical fact about it.
- 05No trial has established a subcutaneous doseThe ranges in circulation come from clinic practice, not from research.
A schematic of the compound's mechanism, not a diagnostic image.
What else is it used for?
Each group carries its own evidence level.Approved means regulators have cleared it for that purpose. Investigational means it is in trials. Early research means it is being studied and is not established.
Raising NAD+ levels
Clinical use- Human trialIn a trial of 65 adults, the precursors roughly doubled NAD+ in the blood within 14 days.
- Human trialIn 133 overweight adults, doses of 100, 300, and 1000 mg raised blood NAD+ by 22%, 51%, and 142% within two weeks.
Whether that actually helps
Early research- Human trialMost human trials have not shown meaningful improvements in body fat, weight, or insulin sensitivity over 3 to 12 weeks.
- Human trialSome small trials reported lower inflammatory markers, and lower blood pressure and artery stiffness in middle-aged and older adults.
- Human trialIn a long-COVID trial it raised NAD+ but did not improve cognition, fatigue, sleep, or mood against placebo.
- Animal studyThe lifespan and organ-benefit claims come from mouse studies.
The published record
144
Records indexed for NAD+
70 in humans, 33 of them original studies.
13 registered trials, 1 with posted results.
FDA: Category 1 · FDA: Category 1.
Counted from Europe PMC indexing, not read by a person. Human means indexed under humans, which includes reviews and work on human cells. Original studies exclude reviews and lab work on human cells.Last updated 12 September 2026.
At a glance
Four things to know about NAD+
Evidence
Clinical use
Category
Longevity and energy
Common vial
500 mg
Half-life
No usable figure published
How much, and do you cycle it?
The range, and whether you take breaks.50 up to 100 mg per dose (start low, increase slowly), 2-3x/week. Commonly given as a course of infusions, then occasional top-upsCommunity practice
Clinics typically run a block of sessions and then space them out. The structure is a clinic convention rather than something a trial arrived at.
How long does it stay in the body?
The half-life, and where the figure comes from.No usable figure publishedNo figure
The only human infusion study found NAD+ disappeared from the blood so fast and so completely that no half-life could be worked out. The 45 minutes and 2 hours quoted on vendor sites have no source.
Source: Grant R, et al. Front Aging Neurosci 2019, PMC6751327
You can compare this against the whole library to see where it sits.
How do I dose and price it?
Enter your vial and your dose. Pick a mix. We show the draw and the cost.The vial holds a fixed amount of drug. Adding more water does not make more drug, it just spreads it thinner, so you draw a bigger number on the syringe for the same dose.
Choose your mix
Measuring the water1 mL = one full 100-unit syringe.
Your draw
20 / 100 unitsNAD+ starts at $10.00 across 69 vendors, typically $0.08 – $0.44 per mg.
132 listings, last read Sep 5, 2026. Shipping and card fees are not included.
How do you store it?
Before mixing, and after.Dry powder in the freezer or fridge. Once mixed, fridge, and use within about a month.
Unmixed lyophilized NAD+ keeps for a long time cold. Once you add water the clock starts: most reconstituted vials hold up for roughly 28 to 30 days at fridge temperature. Keep it out of light, and do not freeze it after mixing.
What are the side effects and cautions?
Known cautions and warnings for this compound.Inject slowly. Going too fast causes flushing, warmth, and nausea. The buffered form stings noticeably less than plain NAD+.
Who should avoid it
- Pregnancy
- No established contraindications, because it has not been formally studied for them
Stop and get help
- Chest tightness or difficulty breathing during an infusion
- Signs of an allergic reaction
Common effects
- Stinging at the injection site, much stronger with the unbuffered form
- Flushing, nausea, and cramping if given too fast
- Headache
What regulators say
- FDA: Bulk Drug Substances Nominated for Use in Compounding Under Section 503A (interim categories 1, 2, 3), updated May 14, 2026Category 1
Listed as Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide (NAD); NADH is listed separately in category 1
Checked 11 September 2026 - FDA: Bulk Drug Substances Nominated for Use in Compounding Under Section 503B (interim categories 1, 2, 3), updated March 21, 2025Category 1
Listed as Beta-Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide
Checked 11 September 2026
Where this page says nothing is established, that means nobody has studied it, not that a compound is safe.
Is NAD+ approved?
And where the numbers on this page come from.Not approved, but legal to obtain. NAD+ has no FDA approval, and it can be prescribed or prepared by a compounding pharmacy in the United States.
- Injected under the skin, Injected into muscle, and Into a veinResearch onlyNot FDA approved for anythingInjectable and IV NAD+ are not FDA approved for any use. In 2019 the FDA proposed that NAD and NADH should not be allowed as pharmacy compounding ingredients.
- By mouthOTC / supplementSold as a supplementOral NAD precursors are sold as supplements.
- RouteUnder the skin, into muscle, or into a vein
- CheckedJuly 2026
What has happened recently
Injectable and IV NAD+ are not FDA-approved for anything. In 2019 the FDA proposed that NAD and NADH should not be allowed as ingredients in pharmacy compounding.
You can compare this against the whole library, or read how to check a seller.
- DoseFrom product labeling and clinical guidelines.
- Vial sizeFrom what vendors typically list; not a recommendation.
- Sources
- Reviewed22 July 2026
What else is like NAD+?
Others in Longevity and energy, side by side.If you're weighing NAD+, it's worth reading SS-31 (Elamipretide), FOXO4-DRI, and Vesugen in the same class.
A cellular fuel taken for energy, focus, and anti-aging.
- Dose
- 50 up to 100 mg per dose (start low, increase slowly)
- How often
- 2-3x/week
A mitochondrial peptide, approved in 2025 for the rare genetic disease Barth syndrome.
- Dose
- 40 mg per day
- How often
- Daily
An experimental senolytic that clears aging cells, with no human safety data.
- Dose
- Research only
- How often
- Cycled
A short bioregulator for blood-vessel health and aging, with thin evidence.
- Dose
- Varies (course-based)
- How often
- Courses
Guides for this compound
- How to Reconstitute a Peptide
Mix peptide powder with bacteriostatic water, step by step.
- How to Read an Insulin Syringe
Read the units, convert to millilitres, and draw the exact dose.
- mcg vs mg: The Peptide Dosing Mistake to Avoid
Your vial says mg and your protocol says mcg. Here is the conversion and how to check it.
- Why Does My Peptide Injection Itch or Welt
Injection-site irritation, a histamine reaction, or a true allergy, and how to tell them apart.
Sources
- Federal Register, FDA proposed rule on NAD in compounding(2019)FDA proposed rule on NAD in pharmacy compounding.
- Nature Metabolism, NAD+ in human ageing review(2025)Review finding limited efficacy in human trials despite promising preclinical data.
- Nicotinamide riboside randomised trial, Nature Communications, 2018(2018)The best human trial in this area, and the first thing to notice is what was given. Nobody received NAD+. Participants swallowed capsules of nicotinamide riboside, an oral vitamin precursor, at 500 mg twice a day for six weeks, in a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled crossover design. Sixty healthy lean adults aged 55 to 79 were screened, 30 were randomised and 24 finished. It worked at what it set out to do: NAD+ in blood cells rose about 60% against placebo, and a related marker rose roughly fivefold. Tolerability looked good, and the detail worth keeping is that the only two people who quit over side effects were both on placebo when they did. The cardiovascular result is where care is needed. Across the whole group systolic pressure fell 3.9 mmHg and did not survive correction for multiple comparisons, and the widely quoted 9 mmHg drop comes from a post-hoc subgroup of thirteen people with already elevated pressure, about which the authors write that no statistical inferences can be made. Aortic stiffness showed a trend that also did not reach significance. Everything else measured was null: body mass, BMI, body fat, glucose and insulin regulation, energy expenditure, fat oxidation, motor function, VO2 max and both maximal and submaximal exercise performance. The authors note the dose exceeds the supplement label and should be treated as investigational, and the compound was supplied by its manufacturer.
- Long-COVID randomised trial, Lancet eClinicalMedicine
Last reviewed 22 July 2026
Beyond these, 144 records are indexed. Browse the records