What is NAD?

NAD stands for nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, which is the chemical name for a molecule that reacts with oxygen in the mitochondria in every cell of your body in order to create energy so you can move, breathe, pump blood, digest food, think, and generally, live your life.

Other Players in This Picture of Energy Production

What are mitochondria you ask? Well, they are essentially little mini energy producing “nuclear plants” within our cells. And NAD is to the mitochondria kind of like gas is to a car that gives it the energy to go VROOOMMM... 

Enzymes are another relevant part in this topic of discussion. They are responsible for all of the activities involved in a living being. There are essentially two classes of enzymes: metabolic and digestive. 

1. Metabolic enzymes are responsible for the structuring, repair, and re-modelling of every cell, and the body is under a great daily burden to supply sufficient enzymes for optimal health. 
2. Metabolic enzymes operate in every cell, every organ and every tissue, and they need constant replenishment. 

NAD plays an essential role in the production of ATP (Adenosine triphosphate), the basic energy molecule in the body, and has more than 100 metabolic functions in our human biochemistry.

ATP can be thought of as being like a solar panel on a house contributing to the storage and readily available source of energy for that house. ATP is made from digesting and extracting creatine from foods (or supplement form - which is also why creatine supplementation is so effective). 

NAD is a naturally occurring co-enzyme that has a central role in the metabolism and energy production of every single cell in the body. Note: The body is made up of 100 trillion cells - WHOA! 

So, you can hopefully see how integrated this key player is within the body and all the processes that occur to keep hearts beating, brains thinking and bodies alive and moving.

Lack of this essential cellular fuel we call NAD is now recognized as a key element in cases of chronic fatigue, apathy, depression, anxiety, alcohol and drug addiction, weak immune system (infections and cancer), muscle pain and weakness, headaches, memory disturbance, sleep problems, focus and concentration defects and other chronic diseases. 

NAD deficiency is thought by many experts to be an unrecognized epidemic of cellular disease.

What is NAD Energy Deficiency?

All activities humans engage in require energy. Research has pointed out that 90% of our physical energy must be made available from the biochemical processes within our cells. 

Each cell in your body has a particular function that needs energy to do its job. Kind of like a cell phone needs a battery that holds a charge strong enough to carry out the functions it is capable of performing - but it absolutely needs the energy to do so (battery).

This energy is produced by various chemical processes in the cells, in these “little power plants” we call the mitochondria. Glucose is the main fuel for our little power plants and is obtained from the food which we consume by means of digestion. 

We must note however that most processes in a power plant which releases energy, require a particular co-enzyme to produce energy. Without the co-enzyme, the power plant will simply not function. 

NAD is a coenzyme and it maintains the processes in all power plants. When there is a deficiency in NAD, or too few power plants in the cells, there will be a metabolic energy deficiency. 

Side note: Something many of you may already be familiar with (more mainstream use) is CoQ10, which is another enzyme that contributes energy to and within the mitochondria also. Many people will use this when taking statin drugs to lower cholesterol - which also lowers CoQ10 levels in the body (not good!).  

Picking back up with a shortage of NAD… This metabolic energy deficiency simply lends to a shortage of chemical energy for life and can be defined as the physical state which develops when the body does not have enough NAD molecules and accompanying energy metabolic co-factors to generate enough metabolic energy on a cellular level to maintain the body in a constant state of health. 

Ouch… Reminds of how bummed out I would get back in the 80’s when my Teddy Ruxpin’s batteries would start dying and he would start talking slower and slower - or lip singing SELLOWERR to the 80’s hair metal tapes I would play in him.

Thank God for better advancements in science, energy and better batteries for our devices today!

Diseases Stemming from Metabolic Energy Deficiency

Having a lack of NAD and it’s relevant roles can result in a wide spectrum of diseases related to such energy deficiencies. These will mostly manifest themselves as chronic fatigue, low tolerance for physical exertion, substance abuse, depression, stress, anxiety and various other chronic illnesses.

If you are feeling sleepy reading this, stand up and do 20 jumping jacks and re-read the last few paragraphs again. NAD deficiency is often more common that most are aware of.

Medical Conditions That May Benefit from NAD Therapy:

1. Muscle pain and weakness
2. Chronic fatigue
3. Memory loss or forgetfulness (brain needs energy to perform at an optimal level!!)
4. Attention deficit
5. Cancer
6. Depression
7. Joint pain and stiffness
8. Diabetes

NAD May Even Help Healthy Individuals:

1. Elevated physical energy
2. Improved sleep quality
3. Anti-Aging
4. Better mental performance; NAD increases energy in brain cells
5. Increased energy in heart cells; NAC helps to produce ATP, which is fuel for the heart to beat