If you’re reading this article, you’ve probably heard of NAD+ Therapy at least once or twice already, whether from us at The Remedy Room, on social media, from your integrative medicine doctor or perhaps from Hailey Bieber and Kendall Jenner. Yep, celebrities and athletes have been taking advantage of this power-house molecule for years — and now it’s your turn!
If you haven’t yet watched this recent news clip highlighting our favorite molecule, we recommend you start HERE. There, you’ll also see multiple fun and educational videos from Dr. Mignonne C. Mary, founder of The Remedy Room, who has been teaching about and using NAD+ for patients for more than 10 years.
So What’s The Deal With NAD+
Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (don’t worry, you can just call it NAD+) is found inside of every single cell in your body from the moment you’re born. Who remembers the mitochondria from high school biology? That’s the powerhouse of the cell, where cellular energy is made, and guess what is required to create that energy… you guessed it! NAD+! NAD+ is the coenzyme, derived from vitamin B3, that is used inside of all your cells in order to produce cellular energy and promote optimal cellular functioning throughout your body. NAD+ is critical for proper organ function and some examples include:
- Your neurons (brain cells) need NAD+ to produce and receive neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine – the chemical messengers that make you feel happy, calm, and motivated.
- Your heart cells need NAD+ to pump blood efficiently throughout the body.
- Your lung cells need NAD+ to filter and oxygenate your blood.
- Your skin cells need NAD+ to build collagen and elastin to maintain the integrity of your skin.
I could go on but I think you get the point. Every cell needs NAD+ to do its thing and the more NAD+, the better your cell can function.
The Bad News
As we age, NAD+ levels decline. This translates to your cells getting gradually less efficient at doing their jobs. 
Think compromised cardiovascular health, reduced lung capacity, sagging skin, brain fog, and memory loss. Now add, on top of aging, all the major offenders we face in our world— environmental toxins in our air, water, food, household products, excess sugar and processed foods, alcohol, excessive pharmaceutical drug use, chronic stress, lack of sleep… should I keep going? I think you get the picture. The sad truth is that living our normal lives in this very toxic world exacerbates the problem, leading to lower levels of NAD+ sooner in life. This equals you not feeling like your best self and being left vulnerable to the development of diseases like cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s.
So What Can We Do?
As we like to say at The Remedy Room, what’s the point of mopping the floor if you don’t turn off the leaky faucet? Before you even consider spending your hard earned money on replacing your NAD+ levels (which can be VERY effective and we’re going to get to that!) is removing as many things as you can that are depleting your NAD+. Prioritize 8 hours of sleep every night, eat more healthy fats and protein and less sugar and carbs in your diet, remove processed foods altogether, reduce or eliminate alcohol, get daily sun exposure (preferably in the first half of the day), incorporate movement into your routine, learn to fast, find a sense of purpose in your life, connect with loved ones, meditate and laugh — and you’re already optimizing your NAD+ levels and preventing further decline.
Ready to take it to the next level? Replacing NAD+ with supplementation can be incredibly powerful and potentially life changing.
There Are 3 Ways (that we recommend) To Replace NAD+
The first is with oral supplements. Please remember, as with all supplements, not all are created equal! There are TONS of vitamins and supplements sold in the US and beyond that are not just a waste of your money but can actually be doing you more harm than good. Box chain stores like Walmart, CVS, Costco, etc. very often sell the cheapest produced supplements which often means tiny negligible doses of vitamins, oftentimes in the wrong form for your body to be able to absorb, and almost always laden with 
fillers and preservatives that can be harmful to your body. Imagine taking a liver support supplement that’s putting undue stress on your liver! Every day at The Remedy Room, we meet a lot of people wasting a lot of money on poor quality supplements. Please get your supplements from a trusted source (yes, we are a trusted source, but you don’t need to get them from us) that is paying attention to the doses, forms, delivery and ingredients. All that to say that not all NAD+ supplements are created equal either! We like THIS ONE the best and recommend it for anyone interested in dipping their toes in the ocean of NAD+. Please know that oral supplementation can only get you so far in terms of loading NAD+ levels inside your cells. Any NAD+ is better than no NAD+, but if you want to take it to the next level, consider subcutaneous injections or the holy grail of NAD+ delivery — Intravenous (IV)Therapy.
Subcutaneous delivery is our second favorite way to get NAD+ inside the body in clinically effective doses. This is a little tiny injection that you would give yourself every morning at home into the fatty tissue under your skin in the belly or buttocks area. For those who are not afraid of giving yourself a painless and quick injection, this is a great option to get substantial NAD+ in the body that’s more cost effective than IV Therapy. We do offer SubQ NAD+ at The Remedy Room, but please do be aware that this is a home-delivered prescription that requires a Wellness Visit with one of our highly trained Medical Providers before getting started. If you’re considering IV Therapy but unsure if you’re ready to make the leap, subq NAD+ is an EXCELLENT place to start.
The BEST way to get NAD+ levels as high as possible in your cells is with intravenous (IV) therapy. With intravenous delivery, we are able to get exponentially higher doses delivered directly to your cells in a much more precise and controlled delivery. Depending on your specific needs and lifestyle, you may opt for a 3-day, 5-day or 10-day intravenous infusion regimen. If you’re considering IV NAD+, you’ll always meet with a Medical Provider first to discuss your medical history, goals and appropriate protocols for receiving IV NAD+. 
Why the big differences in lengths of treatments? Simply, the more depleted your NAD+ levels are, the more it takes to restore optimal health. For example, IV NAD+ Therapy has been used for more than thirty years in the US for drug and alcohol addiction treatment. Long term drug and alcohol abuse take a drastic toll on NAD+ levels, often leaving a person addicted, sad, depressed, unmotivated and suffering from withdrawals and cravings any time they try to remove the substance . Historically, these patients do exceptionally well with 10 (sometimes even 12) consecutive days of IV NAD+ — as it takes that long (and that high of a dose) to overcome the challenges mentioned above and to optimize their cellular function.
We will not make any guarantees or claims, but will simply share that we work with hundreds of patients who undergo this therapy and report feeling little to no cravings or withdrawals as they detox, and that NAD+ Therapy was the tool that allowed them to turn their lives around. Others who have benefited significantly from 10 day protocols include Parkinson’s patients and those who are battling severe anxiety or depression.
For patients looking for relief from other things like insomnia, low or flat mood, chronic fatigue, brain fog and memory loss, we often recommend a shorter, 5-day NAD+ Intravenous Therapy protocol. From an anti-aging, longevity-focused approach, we also recommend a 5-day protocol.
3-day or single day protocols are great for patients who have already received a longer IV NAD+ Therapy treatment and are looking for a booster. For all of the longer protocols, we recommend keeping up with regular boosters (every 3 months) or using subcutaneous shots at home after their initial IV therapy infusion.
You may have also heard of NAD+ patches or nasal sprays. We have tried these options over the years, and determined that we were not able to achieve comparable clinical results as we do with the three recommended administrations discussed above. Basically, we didn’t feel a difference!
How Long Do I Have To Be on NAD+?
First of all, always remember that you don’t HAVE to do anything! Remember that you are the CEO of your health, and you get to decide which therapies speak to you and which don’t. If you do choose to explore with NAD+, the answer to the age-old question of “for how long” is of course, like all things, multifaceted.
Firstly, what are you doing in terms of your diet and lifestyle to support your NAD+ levels, or at the very least, not deplete your levels further? Are you eating a clean diet? Utilizing diet variation? Intermittent and block fasting? Prioritizing deep quality sleep? Great! You’ll likely be able to take less NAD+, less often as you support and maintain your healthy lifestyle. If you’re drinking a bottle of wine every night or still making fast food a regular habit, chances are you’re going to need more NAD+ and for longer in order to achieve the same results.
Secondly, our goal at The Remedy Room is not to get you dependent on a bunch of vitamins and supplements. It’s to teach you the tools you need to get to the root cause of your illness and to empower you to truly, deeply heal. Healing can look a lot of different ways and is almost always a lengthy process. Perhaps you employ NAD+ in more robust doses during your process, and reassess every year or so as you continue on your journey. The ultimate goal is for your body to be able to exist and thrive in all of its magical glory — without the need for external supplementation. But remember, one step at a time.
Okay so now you know all about what NAD+ is, how it impacts your body, why it declines over time, what we can do to combat this, and the different options for how to replace NAD+ levels. What questions do you have? We want to hear from you! Thanks for reading and if you found this helpful, please forward it to a friend!
