Don’t Take NMN Until You Have Read This

Before I started to take NMN as a daily supplement I did a great deal of research and there were some important questions and concerns that kept coming up. Things I had to ponder and ultimately make a decision on, one way or the other as to whether I would or would not start to take NMN to boost my NAD levels.

Let’s talk about the lack of Clinical trials. To date, only longevity clinical trials with mice have produced substantiated results on the efficacy of Nicotinamide Mononucleotide (NMN). Should we trust the results from mice, if so, why?

95% of all Lab animals are mice and rats, this is according to the Foundation for Biomedical Research (FBR). They are used mainly because they have a short lifespan — two to three years, so several generations of mice can be observed in a relatively short period of time. Mice used in medical trials are inbred so that, other than gender, they are almost genetically identical. Their genetic and biological characteristics closely resemble those of humans, and many symptoms of human conditions can be replicated in mice

Human trails with regard to efficacy are still on-going; no results have yet been published. Do you want to take a supplement that, at present, has only been successful during animal trials, or will you wait for the human trails to conclude?

What’s the recommended daily dose for NMN? Although NMN is commercially available, there is no official Recommended Daily Allowance, however there are numerous protocols on the back of NMN packages stating how much to take and how many times to take it during the day, bear in mind that at present all of these companies are guessing!

No official protocols have yet been established i.e. before food, with food, after food, on an empty stomach, in the morning, just before bed etc. So, we are still at the ‘suck it and see’ stage, as David Sinclair has said, with regard to humans and NMN we are all guessing.

David Sinclair has explained that he takes one gram of NMN a day in the morning with his coffee. In a show with Joe Rogan, Rhonda Patrick shared a formula from an NMN clinical trial (unfortunately she didn’t discuss which trial) of 24 mg of NMN per kilo of body weight.

If David Sinclair follows this formula, it would make him 42 kilos, anecdotal comments on my YouTube channel put him at around 62 kilos, using Rhonda Patrick’s formula he should be on approximately 1.5 grams a day, why the disparity?

Cost is most definitely a metric to consider. The cost of NMN varies vastly depending on the type (powder or capsules) and the seller. In the time I have been taking NMN prices have come down significantly, but it is still relatively expensive, the average cost of NMN powder is between $2 and $5 a gram.

You may want to consider independent third-party testing of your NMN. Some people prefer to do this, especially if they buy direct from a supplier such as Alibaba. This extra expense could cost you anywhere between $300 to $500 per batch to test for purity and heavy metals. If you are considering buying NMN, please ensure that the company you use does have independent third-party test certificates and that they test for heavy metals.

Most reputable, trustworthy suppliers will provide you with a third-party Certificate of Analysis/Assay (COA), if they can’t/won’t provide you with these certificates it may be advisable to seek out another supplier.

What about medical tests and expenses? As the benefits and side-effects of Nicotinamide Mononucleotide (NMN) have not yet been officially established in humans, you may wish to consider having medical tests completed so you can monitor any markers you think may be important; a biological age test may be one, muscle mass or wastage, body fat percentage, liver and kidney functions etc.

Taking these tests regularly are a good idea anyway, as an aside, I do these tests every 3 months and after 5 years all my markers are still looking good.

What of NMN purity and grade? There are no grades of NMN; there is only one compound (it has the CAS Number: 1094–61–7) and that is NMN.

NMN suppliers who try to set themselves apart from the competition by using tags or labels such as Pure NMN, or Ultra-pure NMN, Elevated NMN or most bioavailable NMN are misleading you somewhat. NMN is NMN, the only thing you should consider paying more for is the purity level, even then what is the difference in efficacy for humans between 95% purity and 99.5% purity, nobody knows, nobody will know until countless human efficacy trials have been conducted and the results posted. Don’t be lured in by false claims and advertising gimmicks!

How are you going to take your NMN? You can take it orally or sublingually; two simple definitions are:

• Oral administration is a route of administration where a substance is taken through the mouth and swallowed; this can be in tablet form or mixed with a liquid.

• Sublingual administration is where a tablet or powder is placed under the tongue and allowed to dissolve.

There are conflicting views on the best form of application, one study recommends sublingual administration, while David Sinclair, and his mice during the clinical study took their NMN orally.

Some companies have tried to cut out a niche in the market by only selling sublingual products and casting aspersions on all oral applications, again until a significant number of human clinical trials have been conducted and the results published, nobody really knows!

Will you buy your NMN monthly or in Bulk to save money? You may wish to consider reducing the cost of your NMN by buying in bulk directly from a seller such as Alibaba, or subscribing to a company that offers a yearly subscription service. The minimum bulk order from Alibaba is usually around 1 kilo, so to prevent wastage as NMN is considered to have a shelf life of two years, you may wish to consider buying as part of a collective.

The joint purchase option also allows for the cost of independent third-party testing to be shared. There are a lot of charlatans out there, so although companies that sell on Alibaba may look like a cheap option, I would recommend buying form a reputable supplier.

Nicotinamide Mononucleotide (NMN) is an exciting molecule that promises exceptional results; however, efficacy trails are still ongoing, even when complete the experts say that to be sure, many long-term efficacy trials will need to be completed before any definite advantages of NMN can be officially published.

This time delay may be too long for some people to wait, so many people, me included, have taken the plunge and have already started to supplement with NMN.