So what exactly is NADH and how does it work? It is a naturally‐occurring compound found in all living cells of plants, animals, and humans. It is essential for adequate energy, and supplementation can improve energy levels.  NADH has also been proven to act as an anti-aging nutrient, enhance memory, is the body’s top antioxidant, and can help with neurological deficits, mood instabilities and low energy.  In summary, NADH is a highly powerful form of vitamin B3 commonly referred to as niacin or niacinamide.

NADH is present in our daily food sources. Animal protein sources, like meat, poultry, and fish, contain the highest amount of NADH. Vegetables, fruits, and other vegetarian food have a much lower NADH content. Plants need less energy to survive and no energy for movement, so they have less NADH. Therefore Vegetarians receive little NADH from their diets and should supplement with NADH. Many other people also can benefit from taking NADH supplements, though, for a few key reasons. First, almost all of the NADH we take in from food is destroyed from heat preparation. Second, even if our diets consisted mostly of raw meat or fish (which isn’t advisable), we would only receive a minimum of NADH from these food sources. Most of the NADH in these foods would be degraded by the stomach’s own digestive gastric acids that break down food into its constituent parts for absorption.

Other health benefits:

It protects the liver from alcohol damage. NADH is actually the activator of the enzyme that degrades alcohol. This means that the more NADH you have in your liver, the faster alcohol is eliminated. NADH also prevents the alcohol‐induced inhibition of the sex hormone testosterone. Under the influence of alcohol, the production of the sex hormone testosterone is blocked. In other words, the more alcohol you consume, the lower your sex drive becomes. In the presence of NADH, this alcohol‐induced inhibition of testosterone production is diminished or absent.

 NADH lowers cholesterol levels and blood pressure.

NADH enhances the immune system. NADH is directly involved in the cellular immune defense system. Special white blood cells, called macrophages, are responsible for direct elimination of foreign bodies such as bacteria, viruses, and molds. They literally capture these foreign bodies and then degrade and eliminate them. Large amounts of NADH are required for this process. Hence, the more NADH your body has available, the more protection your immune system can provide.

NADH enhances a person’s memory. Memory is not a single function; rather, it’s composed of a system of multiple processes. Memory can be defined as the storage of information, signals, and stimuli received by our five senses and the retrieval of this stored information. Several studies have shown that dopamine and adrenaline production are naturally increased by NADH. Therefore, NADH can effectively enhance memory.

How does my energy depend on NADH? The billions of cells that form tissue and organs and ultimately the human body have an important assignment: to produce energy. NADH is part of every living cell. Inside each cell a process that creates ATP, which is what gives your body its energy. With more NADH it gives the cell the energy to create ATP which fuels your whole body

NADH also an “energyrich” compound. Energy is stored in the NADH molecule. When NADH reacts with the oxygen present in every cell, energy is produced in the form of ATP. NADH has triple the energy capacity of ATP. Furthermore, NADH creates additional energy when it reacts with oxygen and water forming nicotinamide (also known as vitamin B3) and ADP (adenosine diphosphate). This all means that NADH is a super energizer.