By Jason D. Wright, D.O., physician and founder of Love My Peptides
Energy is the complaint I hear most. Not a diagnosis, not a lab result, just a feeling: “I used to have more in the tank.” Afternoons that drag. Workouts that take longer to recover from. A brain that feels a step slower than it used to.
There are many possible reasons, and some need a workup. But one piece of the story happens inside every cell in your body, and it involves a molecule most people have never heard of: NAD+.
Your cells run on a battery charger
Every cell makes its own energy in tiny power plants called mitochondria. They take the food you eat and turn it into ATP, the fuel your cells actually spend. NAD+ is the shuttle that makes that conversion possible. It carries energy from one step of the process to the next, over and over, all day long.
Without enough NAD+, the power plants slow down. The food is there, the oxygen is there, but the machinery cannot run at full speed.
It also runs your repair crew
NAD+ has a second job that matters just as much. It fuels the enzymes your cells use for maintenance: repairing damaged DNA, managing stress, and keeping cells working the way they should. One family of these enzymes, called sirtuins, is closely tied to healthy aging, and it cannot work without NAD+.
So NAD+ sits at the center of two things we care about: how much energy you have today, and how well your cells hold up over time.
Why levels drop with age
Studies consistently show that NAD+ levels fall as we get older. Part of the reason is that we make less. The bigger part is that we use more: chronic inflammation, poor sleep, heavy alcohol use, and the everyday wear of aging all ramp up the enzymes that consume NAD+. The result is a slow drain, with less left over for energy and repair.
What NAD+ therapy does
NAD+ therapy gives your body a direct supply, rather than waiting for it to make more from scratch. Small human studies show that supplementation raises NAD+ levels. Whether that translates into better long-term aging outcomes is still being studied. What people most often notice is more practical:
- Steadier energy through the day, without the afternoon crash.
- Clearer thinking and better focus.
- Better recovery from workouts and busy weeks.
What it feels like to start
NAD+ is given as a small injection under the skin, ideally in the morning or early afternoon, since it can feel energizing. We start with a low dose for the first couple of weeks and build up from there.
The one thing to know: injecting it too fast can cause flushing, warmth, stomach cramping, or a tight feeling in the chest. It passes quickly, and it is almost entirely avoidable by pushing the injection slowly, over 30 to 60 seconds. That is why I build patients up gradually, so it feels good from the first dose.
Most people notice a difference within two to four weeks.
What helps it work
NAD+ is not a substitute for the basics, and some of the basics raise NAD+ on their own:
- Exercise is one of the strongest natural boosts to NAD+ and to your mitochondria.
- Sleep keeps your body’s repair cycles on schedule.
- Less alcohol means less NAD+ spent cleaning up after it.
Better together
- MOTS-c helps muscle use fuel more efficiently, especially when you train.
- SS-31 stabilizes the energy machinery inside the mitochondria.
- Glutathione is your body’s main antioxidant, cleaning up the byproducts of energy production.
Is NAD+ right for you?
If your energy is not what it used to be, the first step is ruling out the common causes: thyroid, iron, sleep, and mood. Once those are addressed, NAD+ is often where I start. Take Find your fit, or book a visit and we will look at the whole picture together.
Learn more: NAD+ · MOTS-c · SS-31 · Glutathione · Find your fit · Book a visit
This article is for education and is not medical advice. Our NAD+ is compounded by a licensed pharmacy; compounded medications are not FDA-approved. Individual results vary.