Andrew Huberman is Wrong About NAD, NAD+ precursor, NR & Longevity

Recently, Stanford neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Huberman (who has one of the top health podcasts in the world) did a 16-minute Q&A segment on NAD and its precursors. Overall, I respect his commitment to scientific accuracy and his standard of excellence with his approach. However, I consider him under-informed and not a subject matter expert in this particular arena. Here’s where Huberman is wrong about NAD, NAD+ precursor, NR and longevity.

Let’s start out with where we agree with Dr. Huberman:

1. NAD provides a noticeable increase in energy: Dr. Huberman takes NAD+ precursor and NR daily because of the very noticeable improvement in energy. In his words, “It gives me a lot of sustainable physical and mental energy throughout the day. I noticed a decrease in energy when I stopped taking NR and NAD+ precursor. While I wasn’t totally depleted, my energy was noticeably lower. As a 48-year-old, having great energy is important to me.”
2. We need more data and research. There are countless studies, tens of millions of dollars and many different types of clinical trials underway and completed. But because NAD shows enormous promise and potential, we can’t do enough research fast enough. Plus, it takes years for many trials and studies to be completed. 

However, there are a few important points where I disagree with Dr. Huberman. I believe he is seeing an incomplete picture with regards to NAD and its role in so many of our body’s systems. 

Here’s where we disagree: 

1. Optimal Levels of NAD Increase Lifespan by Increasing Healthspan: While there haven’t been conclusive studies done on humans to demonstrate that NAD extends lifespan, you’d be hard pressed to find any conclusive clinical trials and studies on any molecule or nutrient that slows aging.  Furthermore, the six root causes of aging that are central to long term health all are influenced, if not directly affected, by NAD. If your NAD levels are deficient, your metabolic function suffers significantly, which we know intensifies and accelerates your aging as well as your likelihood of disease. 

2. Supplements are  fundamental to optimal health: He claims that supplements are NOT fundamental to life/health, which is obviously wrong. Most of us are deficient in multiple nutrients for one reason or another and supplementation is an invaluable way to boost and support our health, improving our healthspan and thereby extending our lifespan.

3. NAD+ precursor clearly elevates NAD levels (especially Vitality Boost): Huberman says he does not know if NAD+ precursor can elevate NAD.  He is ignoring all the publications and consumer data that NAD+ precursor can elevate NAD, and the functional / clinical benefits. His statement is contradictory to his own experience that it gives him more energy with cellular energy being a fundamental aspect of good health. We see thousands of test results every year that conclusively demonstrate that your intracellular levels can be substantially increased, especially with our Vitality Boost, of which no other supplement comes close to increasing NAD levels as effectively. .

4. NAD IV. There’s much that we don’t know about the effectiveness of intravenous NAD, but one thing we do know is that it has no measurable impact of raising your NAD levels in your blood. Within hours of getting an IV, your system has flushed out the NAD from your bloodstream. Huberman seems to believe that your NAD levels increase with NAD IV, which is not the case at least intracellularly though they do seem to increase in your plasma. Here’s a feature that RaisingNAD.com did on me where we discussed the research that indicates no perceptible impact to intracellular NAD though your cellular plasma NAD levels do seem to increase.

See our Youtube video this week comparing NAD IV vs. Vitality Boost.

Many people do notice an increase in energy and reduction in anxiety for a time period ranging from several days to several weeks after an IV, and we also agree that NAD IVs are a very expensive (and even painful) way to increase NAD. 

Dr. Huberman deserves a thumbs-up for his overall approach and standard of scientific rigor. As a fellow scientist, I have served as a Division Chief of Experimental Pathology and Director of Research and was the founding Director for Biotechnology and Genomic Medicine, as well as the director of two core research facilities in Genomics, Proteomics and Mass Spectrometry. Additionally, I discovered many important genes during my research, such as the type 1 diabetes gene which influences what we do today. 

As a genetics researcher for over 40+ years, I have reviewed thousands of intracellular NAD tests, authored over 400-peer reviewed papers with an H-index of 76 and over 19,000 citations, and secured over $100 million dollars in research grants. . 

Here at Jinfiniti, our flagship NAD supplement, the Accuri® Vitality Boost, is a patent-pending formulation that has been extensively tested in clinical studies by hundreds of clinics and by thousands of consumers. It allows optimization of NAD in approximately 90% of users, a figure incomparable to any other NAD supplementation on the market. 

I strongly disagree with both Dr. Andrew Huberman’s assessment of NAD and its precursors. His  understanding of NAD and its precursors are far less than what’s currently available. He hasn’t had the privilege of  being a genomics researcher for 40+ years, nor has he reviewed thousands of intracellular NAD tests. 

As someone who has a deep and integral knowledge of NAD and its precursors, I have a much more expansive data set and perspective when it comes to NAD and its role in our health. It is my primary area of focus. 

With regards to neuroscience, Huberman is the expert. But as far as genetics and NAD are concerned, that’s my field of expertise. 

Accuri® Vitality Boost optimizes—not just improves—intracellular NAD for 90% of people alone, which no other NAD supplement can come close to promising. While other brands increase NAD levels by 20-40% at best, we often see levels increase by 200-300% like we did with Doc Jen, a prominent doctor of physical therapy who loves the Vitality Boost. We back it with a 60-day Money Back and Efficacy Guarantee. That’s because we back up our Vitality Boost with testing, where all of the proof lies! 

I highly recommend testing your NAD levels to see where your levels are at and how much they need to be optimized. Jinfiniti’s intracellular NAD test is the only one of its kind in the world, and if you don’t already know where your levels are at, it’s the best place to begin your optimization journey. 

Here are a few of our recent blog posts that you may be interested in reading regarding some of the science behind NAD, NAD precursors, and optimization leading to longevity: 

• Everything You Need to Know About NAD Precursors 
• The Six Root Reasons We Age
• The Three Reasons Most NAD Supplements Don’t Work

Lastly, as much as we know about NAD and it’s role in our health, there’s substantially more to be discovered, so I consider us very much in the early days of figuring out how to extend lifespan. From the research and the experiential evidence I see every week with countless customers, NAD plays a vital role in extending our healthspan, life quality, and cellular vitality.

Lastly, if you’re interested in going deeper on health-related content, here are a few of our recent posts that you may want to read:

1. 9 Powerful Benefits of Optimizing Your NAD
2. Why Optimized, Precision Medicine is the Future
3. Andrew Huberman is Wrong About NAD, NAD+ precursor & Longevity
4. What Does Peak Performance Look Like? 

P.S. Want to boost your intracellular NAD levels? Try a 2 week trial of our Jinfiniti Vitality Boost (do 2 scoops per day), use the discount code Blog15 if you’re a new customer for 15% off your 1st order).