What is NAD+ IV Treatment?

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide+ (NAD+) plays a vital role in energy metabolism and maintaining proper cell functioning. It is required by the body for cell metabolism, repair and assisting in preventing many forms of ageing whilst also improving the health and condition of our body. 

Our bodies produce NAD+ naturally but as we age its production slows, leaving us feeling drained, tired and sore. Modern research is revealing that declining NAD+ levels are associated with a wide variety of acute and chronic diseases, as well as age-associated health conditions.

This powerful molecule has a lot of potential for new therapeutic opportunities. Studies have shown that it may assist with the many effects of ageing, and chronic conditions on the human body and brain.

To best understand why we at Dripclub offer NAD+ Drips to support overall health, it is important to appreciate how vital NAD+ is to our survival at a cellular level.

The human body is made up of at least 37.2 trillion of them, which all rely on NAD+ to carry out their day-to-day functions. NAD+ is so important that we would die without it.

Through metabolism, cells use the food we eat and sunlight to produce energy and create all the molecules necessary to keep us alive – everything from lipids and amino acids to nucleic acids and hormones.  In this process, NAD+ is what’s called a “helper molecule” because it binds to other enzymes in the body to activate them and generate molecular reactions. For example, proteins called “sirtuins,” which are responsible for carrying out many biological processes within the human body, require the coenzyme NAD+ to function properly. 

To keep energy in a more useful form, cells use special molecules to store and manage energy as “chemical energy”. NAD+ is a particularly important energy management molecule. NAD+, along with the closely related molecule nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP), is involved in more than 500 chemical reactions in the cell. NAD+ tends to be involved in catabolic processes, while NADP typically participates in anabolic processes. These two molecules are involved in so many chemical reactions that it’s difficult to find an example of a metabolic process that does not involve at least one of these molecules.

NAD+ and NADP help cells manage energy and just like a courier picks up a package in one location and delivers it elsewhere, NAD+ picks up energetic parcels of electrons from one molecule in one part of the cell and drops them off with a different molecule in another location. When NAD+ is carrying this parcel of energy, it is referred to as NADH. When it’s not, scientists call it NAD+.

NAD+ is a central player in cellular respiration and is required by all types of cells to generate cellular energy. As sugars and fats are broken down, they pass on their stored energy to NAD+ and convert it to NADH. NADH then delivers this energy to the electron transport chain in cellular power stations called mitochondria where it is used to generate ATP (Adenosine triphosphate). Even cells without mitochondria, such as red blood cells, use NAD to generate very small amounts of ATP from sugar.

All of the food we eat is used by to body to create our essential components and the body is very good at multi-tasking raw materials. For example, glucose can be repurposed to other forms of sugar used to make our DNA. Glucose may also be converted to fats which in turn is used to build up the membranes that define the external barriers for each cell and the smaller compartments within. Glucose can even be transformed into a variety of amino acids to build enzymes that catalyse chemical reactions and proteins that provide structural support to our cells.  NAD and NADP are involved in all these processes.  NADH and NADPH participate in these reactions by donating high energy electrons to drive the formation of larger molecules full of stored chemical energy.

Some NAD-consuming enzymes chew up large quantities of NAD and may be involved in driving NAD depletion and cell death. These enzymes are also called “NAD degraders”. 

Another enzyme named CD38 may also be an NAD degrader. Found in immune cells, CD38 can use NAD+ to create the signalling molecule cyclic ADP-ribose. Because CD38 chews up about 100 molecules of NAD+ for every one cyclic-ADP-ribose molecule it produces, scientists tend to focus more on its role as an NAD+ degrader than an NAD+ signalling enzyme.

Understanding that our NAD+ levels can be depleted through lifestyle choices, environment and age, it is worthwhile accepting that enhancing the cellular NAD+ level may be an excellent strategy to help battle the effects of aging and symptoms chronic health conditions. Indeed, an increase in the NAD+ level in human cells by the administration of 500mg of NAD+ has been shown to cause a > 30% decline in the level of mitochondrial superoxide. Furthermore, through this antioxidative effect, NAD+ alleviated the oxidative damage that may accumulate as cells continue to proliferate, thereby promoted cellular longevity.

Ultimately, we need NAD+ to live however, as we get older, our bodies generate less and less of this essential coenzyme. This may be one of the reasons why we begin to feel the effects of aging and become more prone to age-related illnesses as the years pass by.  You can supplement NAD+ in your body is through oral supplementation or the gold standard is to have NAD+ intravenously through IV Nutrient Therapy at Dripclub. This is a holistic, all-natural way to help your body fight against the symptoms of aging and illness to feel healthier, have more energy and look more youthful.

If you are interested in the most current medical literature on NAD+ please visit www.pubmed.com.  You will find validated articles relating to NAD+ which examine the potential use of this nutrient for anti-ageing, lifestyle support, immune support, addiction, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, cardiovascular disease, healthy cholesterol, cell metabolism, fatty liver disease, Parkinsons Disease, macular degeneration and glaucoma, brain function, obesity, and as an adjunctive cancer therapy – amongst many others.  Some of the studies are animal studies so please be wary as you read.  This is an exciting time for the potential use of NAD+ in medicine, but it is still considered an experimental treatment.

If you, or your patients have specific nutrient requirements, we can provide a tailor-made service to ensure therapeutic outcomes are achieved. Our trained staff can assist you in providing quality nutrient therapy support services designed around your specific needs.

Don’t have time for a full NAD+ drip? Chat with our staff about our NAD++ Boosters.