Is NAD+ a miracle anti-aging supplement?
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ABC Listen. Podcasts, radio, news, music and more. So Norman, it's time for me to test your Australian-ness once more. Yeah. Are you a true Australian?
I'd like to think I am though, yes.
Why do the hosts start the episode with a Vegemite vs Marmite debate?
A bit mixed, but yeah.
I mean, I think you've lived in Australia for longer than I have. This is the true test of an Australian though. Do you like Vegemite?
Look, that's a really interesting question because I hated Marmite. That's a
controversial opinion.
Yeah, so I could not stand it. So I avoided Vegemite thinking it was going to taste like Marmite. And then when I tasted it, I thought, oh, it is pretty good.
You must be the only person in history who likes salty, salty Vegemite more than sweet and salty Marmite, which I think I'll get my citizenship revoked if I say that I like it more. But Marmite is pretty tasty.
Okay.
Yeah, no, no, no. Vegemite, just like Australians, straightforward.
So the reason we're talking about Marmite and Vegemite specifically today is kind of got nothing to do with what we're talking about, which is kind of the point. And I'll explain it in just a second.
It's today's mystery on What's That Rash, where we answer your health questions.
So we've actually got a couple of questions on the same topic today, Norman. This week, Sarah says, now that I've hit 40, my social media feeds have turned into a nonstop parade of anti-aging ads. And one of the big buzzwords Sarah's seeing making the rounds is NMN supplementation to boost NAD plus production, which claims to slow the aging process. Sarah wants to know, is there any truth in this? And if so, are there long or short-term side effects we need to consider? And Jamie has written along similar lines saying, I saw a video of an influencer injecting something called NAD Plus the other day herself, claiming it would give her an energy boost and help with anti-aging. Jamie asks, what in the world is NAD Plus and is that safe?
Good question.
Norman, what in the world is NAD Plus
and
is it safe?
Well, NAD Plus is a chemical involved in energy production, energy management, but also control of oxidative stress where you've got biological rusting. It's getting towards one of the more fundamental processes biochemically that make us age, speed it up or slow it down. And NAD Plus is the key molecule in this cycle of reactions. And you don't take NAD plus itself. You want to try and influence this pathway. That's what people are trying to do, is you take what are called boosters or precursors to boost your NAD levels in your cells to affect this biochemical process. And NMN is one of the things that people take as a booster to try and boost their NAD because it's part of that biochemical cycle.
It's a really complex biochemical reaction that we will actually get into. But I think it's good to know what the claims are around this because there is a lot of hype on social media, as always, and the sorts of things that it claims to do, like you kind of alluded to before, boosting energy levels, boosting concentration and memory, mental clarity. I've also seen claims around hormone balancing, metabolism and inflammation, which I think we need a What's That Rash bingo card.
because
that's basically a whole row of a bingo card right there.
That's right, without the bell.
Yeah, that's it. And then, of course, some news coverage is throwing around the phrase Fountain of Youth, which is just a giant red flag for me.
Exactly. Let's just go to basics here. It is not controversial to say that this substance called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, which can exist in two forms, plus another substance called NADH, are part of chemical cycles which do influence the ageing process. So that is relatively uncontroversial. The ageing process is not fully understood, but we know that, for example, oxidative stress energy metabolism, how mitochondria work, which are the energy factories in cells, all relate to how well our bodies work and how efficiently they work. And what's also not controversial is that as we age, our NAD plus levels decline in our cells.
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