Per Healthline
Nicotinamide riboside, or niagen, is an alternative form of vitamin B3, also called niacin.
Like other forms of vitamin B3, nicotinamide riboside is converted by your body into nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), a coenzyme or helper molecule.
NAD+ acts as fuel for many key biological processes, such as (1, 2):
Converting food into energy
Repairing damaged DNA
Fortifying cells’ defense systems
Setting your body’s internal clock or circadian rhythm
However, the amount of NAD+ in your body naturally falls with age (3).
Low NAD+ levels have been linked to health concerns like aging and chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease and vision loss (1).
Interestingly, animal research has found that raising NAD+ levels may help reverse signs of aging and lower the risk of many chronic diseases (4, 5, 6).
Nicotinamide riboside supplements — such as niagen — have quickly become popular because they appear to be especially effective at raising NAD+ levels (7).
Nicotinamide riboside is also found in trace amounts in cows’ milk, yeast and beer (8).
In addition, nicotinamide riboside may provide several other benefits:
May aid weight loss: Nicotinamide riboside helped speed up the metabolism of mice. However, it’s unclear whether it would have the same effect in humans and how strong this effect really is (23).
May lower cancer risk: High NAD+ levels help protect against DNA damage and oxidative stress, which are linked to cancer development (24, 25).
May help treat jet lag: NAD+ helps regulate your body’s internal clock, so taking niagen may help treat jet lag or other circadian rhythm disorders by resetting your body’s internal clock (26).
May promote healthy muscle aging: Raising NAD+ levels helped improve muscle function, strength and endurance in older mice (5, 27).
Potential Risks and Side Effects
Nicotinamide riboside is likely safe with few — if any — side effects.
In human studies, taking 1,000–2,000 mg per day had no harmful effects (28, 29).
However, most human studies are short in duration and have very few participants. For a more accurate idea of its safety, more robust human studies are needed.
Some people have reported mild to moderate side effects, such as nausea, fatigue, headaches, diarrhea, stomach discomfort and indigestion (30).
In animals, taking 300 mg per kg of body weight (136 mg per pound) daily for 90 days had no harmful effects (31).
What’s more, unlike vitamin B3 (niacin) supplements, nicotinamide riboside should not cause facial flushing (31).
Oh, please. More manufactured garbage. The US patent holder purchased it from several universities and designed a chemical manufacturing process for concentrating the molecule from cow’s milk.
All other forms are mostly Chinese made copies and utilize a process which involves some rather nasty solvents and counterfeit products have been found to be adulterated with toluene.
By the way, the molecule is found naturally in the following:
Cow’s milk
Whey protein
Brewer’s yeast
Drink beer, live longer. Cheers!
Folks really need to get a grip, take responsibility and stop looking for the magical Unicorn (a magic pill that cures everything).
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P4L