Nicotinamide Riboside (NR)_Dosage, benefits & legal status
Also known as NR, Niagen, Tru Niagen, nicotinamide riboside chloride
The NAD+ precursor that kept its paperwork in order.
Common vial size is what vendors typically sell, not a recommendation. Enter your own vial in the calculator.
What is Nicotinamide Riboside (NR)?
Plain language first. The technical label stays, but it never stands alone.Overview
It is another raw material for making NAD+, one step further back than NMN.
Nicotinamide riboside is a form of vitamin B3 and an NAD+ precursor, sold almost entirely as the patented chloride salt Niagen.
What it's used for
An oral NAD+ precursor with the cleanest US regulatory position of the group, and the same open question about whether raising NAD+ does anything you would notice.
How does Nicotinamide Riboside (NR) work?
What it does in the body, and where.NR enters the same salvage pathway as NMN, one step earlier.
- 01It crosses into cells as NRThere is a dedicated transporter, which is the argument its makers use for preferring it over NMN.
- 02It is phosphorylated to NMN inside the cellSo NR becomes NMN on the way to NAD+ regardless. The two molecules end up in the same place.
- 03NMN becomes NAD+Blood NAD+ rises within days and stays raised while dosing continues.
- 04The gap is the same as for every compound in this familyRaising a measured level is not the same as changing an outcome, and the trials that measured outcomes have been mixed.
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
peer-reviewed-human- A single oral 1,000 mg dose raised NAD+ in blood cells 2.7-fold, with daily dosing sustaining elevations of 2 to 15-fold. Doses of 100, 300 and 1,000 mg produced dose-dependent increases in 12 healthy participants.
- In a randomized pilot, intravenous NR significantly raised whole blood NAD+ at three hours, while intravenous NAD+ did not significantly raise it within 24 hours. The intravenous NR group also reported only minor tingling and mild cramping, against moderate to severe gastrointestinal symptoms in the NAD+ group.
Downstream effects
Early research- 1,000 mg daily lowered aortic stiffness in healthy older adults in one trial.
- Several trials looking for improvements in mitochondrial respiration or content in human muscle found none. Raising blood NAD+ is established. What that achieves is not.
Why it is not niacin or nicotinamide
Early research- NR does not activate the GPR109A receptor, so it does not cause the flushing that limits niacin at effective doses.
- NR does not inhibit sirtuins, which nicotinamide does at high concentrations. Those enzymes are most of the reason people raise NAD+ in the first place.
GRAS and NDI acceptance get quoted as though they were efficacy findings. Both are safety and procedural determinations. Neither says the ingredient does anything.
The published record
Papers and trials about Nicotinamide Riboside (NR)
295 papers tagged human · 124 not reviews or lab · 30 clinical trial publications
124 registered trials · 14 with posted results
Furthest stage reached: Phase 4 as registered or later, results posted
Counted from Europe PMC indexing, not read by a person; a human tag can land on reviews, commentary or lab papers; clinical trial publications is the narrower count. 490 papers and 100 trials indexed in detail.
At a glance
Four things to know about Nicotinamide Riboside (NR)
Evidence
Supplement
Category
Longevity and energy
Common vial
Varies
Half-life
Short, with the NAD+ effect outlasting it
How much, and do you cycle it?
The range, and whether you take breaks.300 up to 1,000 mg per day, daily. Continuous in the trials Trial dose
Trials dose daily for weeks to months without a break, and blood NAD+ returns toward baseline after stopping. No study supports cycling.
Short, with the NAD+ effect outlasting itNo figure
NR clears quickly while whole-blood NAD+ stays elevated for much longer, so the plasma half-life is the wrong number to dose by. We have not verified a specific figure against a primary pharmacokinetic paper.
You can compare this against the whole library to see where it sits.
What does it cost?
Typical dose and cost, in plain numbers.Nicotinamide Riboside (NR) is not injected
It is taken by mouth (oral). The commercial serving is 300 mg daily. A trial in 132 healthy overweight adults tested up to 1 gram a day for eight weeks and reported it safe and orally available at that level.
Nicotinamide Riboside (NR) starts at $120.00 across 1 vendor.
2 listings, last read Oct 10, 2026. Shipping and card fees are not included.
How do you store it?
Before mixing, and after.Room temperature. Cool, dry, out of light.
Nicotinamide Riboside (NR) is taken as a pill or capsule. Keep it in its original container at room temperature, away from heat, humidity, and direct sun. No fridge or mixing needed. Check the expiration date on the bottle.
What are the side effects and cautions?
Known cautions and warnings for this compound.Who should avoid it
- Pregnancy and breastfeeding, on absent data
- Active cancer, for the same unsettled reason as the rest of this family
- Children, who have not been studied
Stop and get help
- Persistent nausea or stomach pain
- Any new or unexplained symptom that starts after beginning it
- Signs of an allergic reaction such as face or throat swelling, hives, or trouble breathing
Common effects
- Well tolerated up to 1 gram a day in an 8-week trial
- Nausea
- Flushing
- Headache
- Indigestion
Where this page says nothing is established, that means nobody has studied it, not that a compound is safe.
Is Nicotinamide Riboside (NR) approved?
And where the numbers on this page come from.Not as a medicine. Nicotinamide Riboside (NR) is sold without a prescription as a supplement, which is a different thing from being approved as a drug.
- Approval statusSupplementSold without a prescription as a dietary supplement. The FDA does not approve supplements before they are sold, and being easy to buy says nothing about whether it works.
- RouteBy mouth (oral)
- Checked24 August 2026
- DoseFrom published clinical trials. Not approved by a regulator for this dose.
- Vial sizeFrom what vendors typically list; not a recommendation.
- SourcesConze, Brenner and Kruger, Scientific Reports, long-term Niagen safety trialChromaDex new dietary ingredient notification, NDIN 882Trammell et al., nicotinamide riboside is uniquely and orally bioavailable in mice and humans, Nature Communications 2016Randomized pilot comparing intravenous NR against intravenous NAD+ in healthy adults, medRxiv 2024Reyna et al., intravenous NAD+ versus NR tolerability in a real-world setting, Frontiers in Aging 2026
What has happened recently
A lawful US dietary ingredient, and the contrast with NMN is the point. The patented chloride form, Niagen, has been through the new dietary ingredient notification process twice without objection, most recently under NDIN 882, and separately carries a GRAS notification, GRN 635. That paperwork is why NR stayed on shelves through the years when NMN was excluded. It is a regulatory difference rather than an evidence one: none of it means NR has been shown to do more than NMN, and nearly all of the human trial evidence for NR comes from studies of one company's ingredient. Australia draws the same line independently: nicotinamide riboside chloride is permitted in listed complementary medicines there, while NAD, NAD+ and NADH are not permitted at all.
You can compare this against the whole library, or read how to check a seller.
What else is like Nicotinamide Riboside (NR)?
Others in Longevity and energy, side by side.If you're weighing Nicotinamide Riboside (NR), it's worth reading P110, SHLP2, and SHLP6 in the same class.
The NAD+ precursor that kept its paperwork in order.
- Dose
- 300 up to 1,000 mg per day
- How often
- Daily
A research peptide that blocks one route to mitochondrial fragmentation, tested only in cells and animals.
- Dose
- No human dose; 1.5 to 3 mg/kg/day by continuous pump in mice
- How often
- Continuous infusion in animals
A mitochondrial peptide with real published biology and no human dosing behind it.
- Dose
- Research only
- How often
- Not established
The sibling of SHLP2, and the one reported to shut blood vessel growth down.
- Dose
- Research only
- How often
- Not established
Guides for this compound
- 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.
- How to Read a Peptide COA
What the purity number does and does not tell you, and how to spot an edited report.
- How to Vet a Peptide Vendor
Independent COAs, HPLC purity, and the red flags that mean walk away.
Sources
- Conze, Brenner and Kruger, Scientific Reports, long-term Niagen safety trial(2019)NIAGEN is GRAS and the subject of two NDI notifications filed without objection; doses up to 1 g/day were safe in 132 adults.
- ChromaDex new dietary ingredient notification, NDIN 882(2018)NDIN 882 accepted with no questions; prior GRAS determination GRN 635.
- Trammell et al., nicotinamide riboside is uniquely and orally bioavailable in mice and humans, Nature Communications 2016
- Randomized pilot comparing intravenous NR against intravenous NAD+ in healthy adults, medRxiv 2024
- Reyna et al., intravenous NAD+ versus NR tolerability in a real-world setting, Frontiers in Aging 2026
Beyond these, 590 records are indexed. Browse the records