Human Nutrition: Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide (NAD⁺) Supplementation and Human Health

The New Work/ Results Described in the article

The new work described in the article on ”Antiaging supplements” is that humans consume various supplements to boost their body performance and to counter aging and improve health. The rapid growth in the number of older people led scientists to invent ways to slow down the aging process. Companies such as Chromax Dex and Elysium have taken advantage and manufactured precursors of Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide (NAD), which is a metabolic molecule for the antiaging process (Shen, 2019). However, the intensifying use of the NAD+, its oxidized form, in the bloodstream has led to conflicting results. Studies conducted recently show that the ingestion of NAD supplements may result in cancer risks or lead to the robust growth of cancerous cells.

Conflicting reports on research on the impact of using precursors of NAD, including Nicotinamide riboside(NR) and Nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN), shows positive benefits of increasing its levels. Elysium published that NR-supplements improved the health conditions of humans. The report stated that NR effectively treats liver injury as well as fatty liver (Shen, 2019). Besides, NR can be used to slow down amyotrophic lateral sclerosis disease. On the other hand, increased levels of NAD+ fuel cancerous cells. A report done in 2014 showed that inhibiting NAD+ in Liver cells leads to the growth of cancerous cells; thus, feeding NR to liver cells would prevent humans from the deadly scourge (Shen, 2019). The NAD+ field ends up being wrapped up with tremendous criticism. Scientists are finding it difficult to answer the question if the introduction of the antiaging supplements has been wholly beneficial to human health. However, scientists have acclaimed that they are no evidence taking NAD+ supplements results in the risk of getting cancer.

The Prior Thinking in the Field

The prior thinking in the field was that aging could be postponed through increased consumption of dietary supplements such as vitamins and minerals. Although such supplements had no adverse effect on health, they were less effective. Before that, it was a common belief that aging is a natural occurrence that cannot be influenced in any way. However, as research intensifies, conventional assumptions prove to be hypothetically inaccurate. NAD⁺ supplements tend to be more effective in slowing down the physiological process of aging. The supplements ensure increased glamour in appearance and vigor that exists in youthfulness. Scientists had done research indicating the importance of NAD to the cellular functions. For example, NAD participates in several metabolic processes, facilitates repairing process of DNA, rejuvenates mitochondria, enhances muscle growth, and increases metabolic rate in glucose breakdown (Shen, 2019 Therefore, NAD⁺ supplementation prescription to the aged is wholly healthful since an individual reaped both physiological and health benefits.

The Future Directions of the New work

The future directions of the new work are more effort to establish more evidence in ensuring that NAD+ is used in the right way and reduction of the side effects of the antiaging supplements. As such, It is anticipated that there will be more intensive research in the future on the effectiveness of the supplement. Versha Barnerjji, Rugang Zhang, among other renown scientists have reported that NAD⁺ promotes cancerous growths, and inhibiting it may kill cancer-causing cells. Since the NAD- cancer theory is still a hypothesis, Leonard Guarantee says that more human experiments need to be conducted to understand precisely how different cells, as well as tissues, respond to NAD⁺ supplementation. As such, the antiaging supplements produced in the future will be more effective and with minimal side effects.