“Life begins at forty,” so they say, but, ever wondered why the opposite seems to happen? Why does it seem like things slow down or even break, weight packs on, and we no longer have as much energy as we used to? Is it just because we’re growing older or is something else going on?
Youth & Earth’s Ed van Harmelen is on hand to answer these questions.
I believe that the symptoms and signs that we typically attribute to “age” can be slowed down, if not reversed through a healthy diet and lifestyle, as well as taking natural supplements that are designed to activate and inhibit various pathways (or cellular processes) in our bodies that promote longevity. I believe so because I’ve experienced the benefit of these products myself.
NMN (nicotinamide mononucleotide) tackles one of the main culprits that are associated with ageing — declining NAD+ levels.
What is NAD+?
Discovered in 1906, Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide (NAD+) is one of the oldest molecules on earth. It’s found in every single cell within our bodies and plays a crucial role in many processes that are critical to life and health. In fact, it’s so critical to our bodies that if our NAD+ levels were to drop to nothing, we’d die.
Unfortunately, while NAD+ levels are high when we are young, by the time we hit mid-life, levels begin to drop off and, along with it, the benefits that this molecule brings to our health. As a matter of fact, this decline has been associated with many of the symptoms we mentioned at the beginning of this article including a drop in energy levels, weight gain, injury, inflammation, and more.
What Does NAD+ Do in the Body?
NAD+ is critical for the process that turns nutrients into energy within our cells. It is key to our energy levels and its decline in ageing is one of the main factors that contribute to our energy decreasing as we grow older.
However, it also has many other benefits and, although research is ongoing, here are a few of them:
NAD+ activates the longevity pathway known as sirtuins
If you’ve heard of Adele’s dramatic transformation, the Sirt Diet, and resveratrol, then this should ring a bell for you. Sirtuins are proteins that control cellular balance (homeostasis) and cellular health. They switch anti-ageing genes on or off, help repair damaged DNA, and regulate our metabolism. Typically, they can be activated by lifestyle habits such as calorie-restricted diet, HIIT, or hot and cold saunas. Anytime your body is put under stress your Sirtuins are called into action to protect your body.
However, sirtuins activity also declines as we age so Sirtuins require NAD+ to perform and, when NAD+ levels are low, sirtuins cannot function properly, resulting in a decrease in our health and performance.
Polyphenols such as resveratrol have been shown to activate sirtuins within cells. Sirtuins are known as the “longevity gene” and have been shown to extend lifespan in numerous animal studies. They are typically activated when we enter into a healthy lifestyle.
Increasing your intake of foods such as red wine, grapes, and certain berries can help but it’s always difficult to determine exactly how much resveratrol you’re taking and if you’re taking enough to experience any benefit.
It’s much easier to take a natural resveratrol supplement. Youth & Earth has an all-natural specially formulated supplement called PRESERVAGE that is designed to activate sirtuins and reduce inflammation. It contains Trans-Resveratrol, curcumin, quercetin, and Bioperine — powerful antioxidants that help protect your levels of NAD+
NAD+ helps us burn fat
Low levels of NAD+ have been found in those who struggle with obesity and metabolic disorders. Apart from powering sirtuins that regulate our metabolism, NAD+ helps the body turn nutrients and our fat stores into energy.
NAD+ improves cellular health and resilience
Sirtuins are one of the proteins that repairs cellular damage and strengthens cells. The more NAD+ you have, the better the sirtuins can perform this role and heal damaged cellular tissues.
NAD+ increases muscle development
Loss of muscle mass is one of the key signs of ageing. Muscle health is vital to all aspects of our functioning. When NAD+ levels are high, the body is able to grow muscle and regenerate it, which is key to slowing ageing.
All-in-all, if you want to slow the decline that is associated with ageing, increasing your levels of NAD+ in your cells is key.
How To Increase Your NAD+ Levels Naturally?
There are a few things that you can do to protect your current levels of NAD+ as well as naturally increase them.
Because NAD+ plays such an important role in keeping us healthy and healing our cells, you can protect your levels by minimising the stress you place on your body. An unhealthy diet full of inflammatory foods, environmental toxins, excessive drinking, and smoking all deplete one’s NAD+ levels. By tackling these factors, you can help protect your NAD+ levels.
However, you can also naturally increase them by:
Fasting or calorie restriction
This is not always the most popular option, but calorie restriction and fasting have been shown to increase NAD+ levels and sirtuin activity. This is one way to naturally boost your levels of NAD+ throughout your body.
Include more foods that contain vitamin B3
In order for your body to produce NAD+, it requires a precursor to trigger its creation. Most NAD+ precursors are derivatives of vitamin B3 and are found in the following foods:
- Poultry, meat, fatty fish, and eggs
- Green vegetables
- Dairy products
- Mushrooms – namely Crimini mushrooms
- Whole grains and cereals
Adding these foods to your diet may well help your NAD+ levels to a small degree.
Increase your daily exercise
Exercise has been shown to help address each of the hallmarks of ageing. In particular, it increases the number of mitochondria in your cells and NAD+ levels plus it decreases inflammation and helps protect your levels of NAD+.
Take NAD+ precursors in supplemental form
Two of the more well-known NAD+ precursors are NMN and NR. Although both these molecules are found in the above foods, the quantity that you would need to eat to experience any therapeutic benefits is unrealistic.
For example, the concentration of NMN in broccoli is 1mg per kg. To get only 1mg, you would need to eat a kilogram of broccoli. But, in humans, we only experience therapeutic benefits to our NAD+ when we have hundreds of milligrams of NMN. So, to derive that amount of NMN from broccoli, you would need to eat at least 100 kgs!
The best way to make sure that you are getting in enough NAD+ precursors to experience any benefit is to take them in supplemental form. Let’s take a closer look at NMN and NR.
NMN (nicotinamide mononucleotide)
NMN is a natural molecule that your body can make from food sources such as fruits, milk, and vegetables. When taken as a supplement, it increases the levels of NAD+ throughout your body within about 15 minutes via a unique transporter that has only recently been discovered.
The best way to take NMN is to use a high-quality sublingual NMN supplement that is absorbed directly under the tongue and quickly increases NAD.
NR (Nicotinamide riboside)
Also a form of vitamin B3 and a naturally-occurring antioxidant, NR has been shown to increase NAD+ levels in both animal and human studies. It also occurs naturally in vitamin B3 containing foods and the body but, once more, the quantities are too low to experience the therapeutic benefits of increasing NAD+.
A better alternative is to take high-quality NR in supplemental form to naturally increase NAD+ in your cells. Youth & Earth’s NR is 99% pharmaceutical grade.
Where To Find NMN
Youth & Earth was born from my own personal experience of my own body slowly declining. I was not getting any younger. Exercise did not have the same effect it used to. When I started looking for answers, I found my NAD+ levels were declining, and taking NMN can counter this. Almost straight away, my physical and mental energy increased massively, and from that, Youth & Earth was born and we have now become the number one supplier of NMN in the UK and Europe. Youth & Earth NMN is third-party lab tested and is of the highest pharmaceutical grade (99%).
Conclusion
This article only touched the tip of the iceberg when it comes to NAD+ and, because it’s on the cutting-edge of anti-ageing research, more benefits are sure to come to the surface. But, as you can see, it is a critical molecule and is key to slowing ageing.
Although we tend to think that the slowing down that we experience when we hit midlife is “normal,” it’s by no means a one-way street. It is entirely possible to live a life of energy and vitality into the golden years.
Perhaps the American Psychologist who coined the phrase “Life begins at forty” in his book Life Begins at Forty, in 1932 was correct:
“Life begins at forty. This is the revolutionary outcome of our New Era.
Today it is half a truth. Tomorrow it will be an axiom.”
If you’d like to find out more about Youth & Earth and our supplements that are designed to tackle ageing, at its core, deep within our cells, head over to https://www.youthandearth.com/
Author’s Bio
Ed van Harmelen is 47 years old and is the owner of Youth & Earth a supplement company that specialises in pioneering new molecules that address the cause of ageing at a cellular level and target the lifelong accumulation of molecular and cellular damages. Youth & Earth products are stocked in Planet Organic, John Bell & Croyden, and Revital.
