Greetings from the windy madness of South Padre, Texas—where the only things flying higher than the kites are the supplement claims from your favorite Instagram biohacking GooRoo.

In between getting rag-dolled by 30 mph gusts and attempting backrolls that end in aquatic yard sales, this little nugget of woo-woo wizardry landed in my inbox from a "health GooRoo" whose name rhymes with Larry Drecka:

“Every elite performer I’ve worked with focuses on one thing: mitochondrial health. NAD+ is at the center of it. Period. When NAD+ drops, so does your performance. Cellular energy, repair, metabolism—it all slows down. Replenish NAD+, and watch what your body can really do.”

Whew.

Cue the tribal drum circle and misty-eyed testimonials from guys named Keto Kale.

Sounds deep.

Sounds mystical.

Sounds like a late-night infomercial for powdered unicorn rainbow farts.

But let’s not throw the mitochondria out with the bathwater just yet—because like all great fitness myths, this one has a whiff of truth… buried in a dumpster fire of marketing madness.

What’s Real (aka Science, Not Sorcery)

NAD+ is legit.
Every cell in your body runs this stuff. It’s central to mitochondrial energy production, DNA repair, and signaling.

Mitochondria matter.
Your body’s little nuclear reactors. The better they hum, the better you perform—and recover.

NAD+ declines with age.
Yes, the tank gets lower as you pile on birthdays. Cue the violins.

What’s Mostly Marketing Nonsense

“Just boost NAD+ and become a superhero.”
​
Sounds nice. But oral precursors like NR (nicotinamide riboside) and NMN (nicotinamide mononucleotide) do raise NAD+ in the blood—but show me performance gainZ in humans not neurotic fuzz-balls flinging insults from a hamster wheel of doom.
​
Like your gainZ on 1 gram of creatine while sleeping 4 hours a night… not great,.

NAD+ is one part of a complex machine.
​
You still need food, sleep, training, stress management, and not believing every shiny supplement ad pushed by someone in a sauna holding a red light to their nutsack since a pre-pub "study" on old rodents said it worked.

What Happened When I Megadosed NR for 8 Weeks Straight?

Drumroll please...

2 grams per day of NR
N = 1 self-experiment.
Results?

Nothing.
Nada.
Zero.
​
The sound of crickets mixed with the soft fluttering of $100 bills leaving my wallet.

All standard N = 1 disclaimers apply, of course—but if this stuff had rocket fuel for recovery, I’d expect… anything.

Bottom Line?

NAD+ is important.
​
But it’s not the magic ticket to performance paradise.
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It’s one fuel line in the engine—not the entire machine.

Build your body with:

• Sleep that doesn’t suck
• Food that feeds you
• Training that doesn’t break you
• Recovery like it’s your job

And if you want to add some sprinkles (aka supplements), go for it—but make darn sure you’ve baked the cake first and start with supplements that have data in hooooomans showing that they work.

Because if the foundation’s garbage, no amount of fancy frosting’s gonna save it.

Much love, no magic pills, and certainly no more overpriced NAD+ sprinkles,
Dr. Mike
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PS -When you are ready there are 3 ways you can work with me
1) Listen to one of my podcasts totally free HERE.
2) Read one of the tons of free articles I have on my site HERE.
3) Book a private 1 hour virtual call to ask me any questions. Cost is $250 and you can email Jodie HERE​

Science Bitches (aka references)

• Dolopikou, C. F., Kourtzidis, I. A., Margaritelis, N. V., Paschalis, V., Theodorou, A. A., Vrabas, I. S., & Nikolaidis, M. G. (2020). The effects of nicotinamide riboside supplementation on exercise performance in humans. F1000Research, 9, 323. https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.22993.1
• Gomes, A. P., Price, N. L., Ling, A. J. Y., Moslehi, J. J., Montgomery, M. K., Rajman, L., ... & Sinclair, D. A. (2013). Declining NAD+ induces a pseudohypoxic state disrupting nuclear-mitochondrial communication during aging. Cell, 155(7), 1624–1638. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2013.11.037
• Irie, J., Inagaki, E., Fujita, M., Nakaya, H., Mitsuishi, M., Yamaguchi, S., ... & Ito, T. (2020). Effect of oral administration of nicotinamide mononucleotide on clinical parameters and nicotinamide metabolite levels in healthy Japanese men. Endocrine Journal, 67(2), 153–160. https://doi.org/10.1507/endocrj.EJ19-0313
• Martens, C. R., Denman, B. A., Mazzo, M. R., Armstrong, M. L., Reisdorph, N., McQueen, M. B., ... & Seals, D. R. (2018). Chronic nicotinamide riboside supplementation is well-tolerated and elevates NAD+ in healthy middle-aged and older adults. Nature Communications, 9, 1286. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03421-7
• Mills, K. F., Yoshida, S., Stein, L. R., Grozio, A., Kubota, S., Sasaki, Y., ... & Imai, S. I. (2016). Long-term administration of nicotinamide mononucleotide mitigates age-associated physiological decline in mice. Cell Metabolism, 24(6), 795–806. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2016.09.013
• Trammell, S. A. J., Schmidt, M. S., Weidemann, B. J., Redpath, P., Jaksch, F., Dellinger, R. W., ... & Brenner, C. (2016). Nicotinamide riboside is uniquely and orally bioavailable in mice and humans. Nature Communications, 7, 12948. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms12948
• Yoshino, J., Baur, J. A., & Imai, S. I. (2021). Nicotinamide mononucleotide increases muscle insulin sensitivity in prediabetic women. Science, 372(6547), 1224–1229.

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Mike T Nelson CISSN, CSCS, MSME, PhD
Associate Professor, Carrick Institute
Owner, Extreme Human Performance, LLC
Editorial Board Member, STRONG Fitness Mag

Mike T Nelson is a PhD and not a physician or registered dietitian. The contents of this email should not be taken as medical advice. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any health problem - nor is it intended to replace the advice of a physician. Always consult your physician or qualified health professional on any matters regarding your health.

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