Tru Niagen, developed by ChromaDex, is an NR supplement for increasing NAD+ levels in aging cells, will soon be available to Walmart shoppers. There will be two formulations and price points. We recently spoke with Chromodex CEO Rob Fried to help us understand more about it. “Studies have shown that there are positive impacts on NAD+ levels in people even at the lower dosage. We believe nicotinamide riboside is a unique ingredient that improves human health and is safe to use. This is an expensive product to make safely, but we want to have as many people as possible have the opportunity to use it. It should not be something that is only available to wealthy people. We don’t see Tru Niagen as a luxury brand, and we have priced it as low as we can to make a safe, quality product.”
Tru Niagen, the brand name for NR, is a proven booster of NAD+
Tru Niagen, the Chromodex brand name for NR, “is a proven booster of NAD+, a coenzyme that is involved in virtually every metabolic process within the cell. When the cell is under stress, there is a competition within the body for its reservoir of NAD+. When there is enough stress or damage, be it through aging or other stresses, there will be not enough to go around, so some cells are left wanting for NAD+. Ultimately, if there is not enough NAD+, the cell will implode and there will be cell death. “
Dr. Charles Brenner, who discovered that NR positively impacts NAD+ levels, also discovered that NR is unique to any other precursors to NAD+, in comparison to other precursors such as NMN.
Rob Fried: “NMN has no ability to enter the cell. Within the bloodstream, NMN needs to be converted back to NR so that it can enter the cell. In essence, when you are taking NMN, you are taking exceptionally expensive and inefficient NR. The only reason anyone would take NMN is because of false promotion. There is a professor at Harvard touting NMN, who has not always disclosed that he has an economic interest in NMN. The science clearly shows that NR is significantly superior to NMN in its ability to elevate NAD.”
One of the questions that we wanted answered was: Is there an impact on one’s circadian rhythm from taking NR, and is there a recommendation on the time of day to take it? “Dr. Brenner’s belief is that it does not matter when you take it but that you take it at the same time every day.” Concerning dosage, “There continues to be a positive effect at over a gram per day, but because we are working in within the regulations established by the FDA, we list 300 mg as the appropriate daily dosage.”
“ChromaDex is the entity that holds the patents and developed the process for bringing NR to market”
We have heard there are a number of off-label NAD IV, injections, and other methods of getting a positive NAD+ effect in the body. The issue with these is twofold. The first is that although there is an effect, NAD+ cannot directly enter the cell from the bloodstream and needs to be converted to something else. The second is because these processes are not FDA approved, the government could, at its choosing, take action against these providers. ChromaDex only sells and makes available FDA-accepted products. “It is important for people to realize how ChromaDex goes about doing its business. We try to do things the right way, the legal way, conforming to the regulations. We do research through our research program. ChromaDex is the entity that holds the patents and developed the process for bringing NR to market. We are truly the experts in this space.”
NAD+ for “a more biologically youthful body”
The ChromaDex scientific board includes our AGEIST profile Rudy Tanzi and several other luminaries including a few Nobel Prize winners. Their research has led to exciting new products in the pipeline such as next-generation NR products, new pathways for getting NR into the cell, and additional delivery mechanisms for the NR.
“Going forward we find topics such as cell senescence, Crispr, and machine learning to be very interesting, but these are long term. What we like about the NAD+ space is that it is actionable today. It is something we can all do today in addition to diet and exercise, to maintain a more biologically youthful body.”
This article was updated 4/4/21 to correct information in the originally published version.
