Source comparison
NAD+ vs NR vs NMN vs NAM vs Niacin: The Reference Table
Five molecules get sold under the same longevity banner. Only two of them have randomized controlled trials measuring anything past a blood level, and neither of those two is injected NAD+. NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) Dinucleotide coenzyme, 663.4
This comparison does not assign a generated winner or score.
- Five molecules get sold under the same longevity banner. Only two of them have randomized controlled trials measuring anything past a blood level, and neither of those two is injected NAD+.
- NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide)
- Dinucleotide coenzyme, 663.4 g/mol, C21H27N7O14P2
- IV infusion, subcutaneous, nasal
- Plasma and urine metabolite kinetics during a 6-hour infusion. No efficacy endpoint.
- No placebo-controlled efficacy trial
- NMN (nicotinamide mononucleotide)
- Nucleotide, one-step NAD+ precursor
- Oral
- Muscle insulin sensitivity by glucose clamp; blood NAD+, 4-metre walking time, sleep quality
- Small RCTs, mixed results
- NR (nicotinamide riboside)
- Nucleoside, vitamin B3 form
- Blood NAD+ up to 2.7-fold single dose; muscle NAD+ metabolome; inflammatory cytokines; no insulin sensitivity change
- Multiple RCTs, biomarker positive, outcomes thin
- NAM (nicotinamide)
- Vitamin B3 amide
- NAD+ salvage substrate; the metabolite your IV NAD+ becomes anyway
- Well characterized as a vitamin
- NA (nicotinic acid / niacin)
- Vitamin B3 acid
- Raises NAD+; flushing at gram doses
- Long-established vitamin
- Peptides (for contrast)
- Amino acid chains, 2 to 40+ residues
- Subcutaneous, topical, oral
- Receptor-mediated outcomes
- Varies by peptide
- What the human evidence supports, stated precisely. Oral NR at 1,000 mg/day for 6 weeks was well tolerated and stimulated NAD+ metabolism in healthy middle-aged and older adults, with the authors calling for future trials on blood pressure and arterial stiffness rather than claiming the effect (Martens et al., Nat Commun, 2018). Oral NMN at 250 mg/day for 12 weeks in 60 older adults raised blood NAD+, shortened 4-metre walking time, and improved sleep quality scores, while missing its primary endpoint on a stepping test (Morifuji et al., Geroscience, 2024).
- A systematic review of the field screened 1,545 articles and included 147, of which only 34 were clinical. Most of the favourable signal came from NAM, NR, and NMN, with NAD+ and NADH themselves contributing "to a lesser extent" (Braidy & Liu, Exp Gerontol, 2020). The molecule with the loudest marketing has the quietest evidence base.
- If your goal is energy rather than a specific molecule, the MOTS-c dosage protocol at least deals in a receptor-level mechanism with published human dosing. Mitochondrial function has more than one lever, and NAD+ substrate supply is the one with the thinnest injectable evidence.