What this page explains
Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, NAD+, is a coenzyme found in every living cell. It carries electrons in the reactions that release usable energy from food, and it acts as a substrate for several families of enzymes involved in DNA repair and cell signalling. The body makes it from niacin and related forms of vitamin B3, which is why severe niacin deficiency causes a defined clinical illness.[ods-niacin]
NAD+
NAD+ is a coenzyme your cells use to release energy from food.
Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, NAD+, is a coenzyme found in every living cell. It carries electrons in the reactions that release usable energy from food, and it acts as a substrate for several families of enzymes involved in DNA repair and cell signalling. The body makes it from niacin and related forms of vitamin B3, which is why severe niacin deficiency causes a defined clinical illness.1
That much is settled cell biology and is not in dispute. The wellness question is a different one: if NAD+ matters this much inside cells, does raising it in a healthy adult make that adult feel or function better? That question has far less evidence behind it than the biology does, and the gap between the two is where most NAD+ marketing lives.
Established
NAD+ is required for cellular energy metabolism, and the body derives it from vitamin B3.
Still open
Whether raising NAD+ improves energy, focus or ageing in healthy adults is not settled by human trials.
How Baseline may help
Care Paths related to this guide
A Care Path is how you tell us what kind of support you are looking for. A clinician reviews every request, selects treatment on assessment, and confirms cost with you before anything is provided.
Best fit
NAD+
$489.00
The Baseline NAD+ wellness visit, with dosing and eligibility reviewed by the clinical team.
Other Care Paths that may fit
- Energy Boost$319.00
Decision framework
Who NAD+ may suit, and who should look elsewhere first.
NAD+ is best understood as an elective wellness service chosen with clear expectations, not as an answer to a medical problem. If you are choosing it, it is worth being able to say what you are hoping to notice and over what period, so you can judge for yourself whether it was worth repeating.
NAD+ may be a reasonable elective choice when
- You are generally well and are choosing it as part of a wellness routine
- You understand that the human evidence for benefit is limited
- You are not expecting it to treat a diagnosed medical condition
- You have realistic expectations about what you might notice, and when
- You have discussed your medical history and medications with the clinician
Something else should come first when
- Fatigue is new, severe, worsening, or unexplained
- You have lost weight without trying, or have fevers or night sweats
- You are short of breath, unusually pale, or your heart is racing
- You are pregnant or breastfeeding
- You have significant liver or kidney disease
- You have not had basic blood work in a long time and have felt tired for months
NAD+ context
Why people ask about NAD+.
Most people who ask Baseline about NAD+ are not unwell. They are usually describing something like persistent low energy, mental fog during a demanding period, heavy travel, or a general sense of running below their normal baseline, and they have read that NAD+ declines with age and may help.
Those are reasonable goals to bring to a clinician, and they are worth taking seriously. They are also goals that overlap heavily with sleep, workload, nutrition, alcohol, medication effects, mood, and undiagnosed medical conditions including thyroid disease and anaemia. An infusion does not address any of those, which is why a conversation about what has actually changed usually matters more than the choice of infusion.
Treatment reality
What the human evidence does and does not show.
Small human trials of oral NAD+ precursors, principally nicotinamide riboside and nicotinamide mononucleotide, have shown that these compounds are generally well tolerated at studied doses and can raise measured NAD+ levels in blood. That is a real and reproducible finding, and it is the strongest part of the evidence base.
What has not been established is the step that matters most to a patient: that raising NAD+ produces durable, clinically meaningful improvements in energy, cognition, athletic performance or the ageing process in healthy adults. Trials to date have generally been small, short, and focused on biomarkers rather than on how people feel or function months later. A biomarker moving is not the same as a person improving.2
The evidence for intravenous NAD+ specifically is thinner still. Most published human work involves oral precursors rather than infusions, so the popularity of IV NAD+ has outpaced the research supporting that particular route. Anyone telling you the intravenous route is proven superior is going beyond what has been demonstrated.
NAD+ is also not an approved treatment for any medical condition. Dietary supplements are not reviewed by the FDA for safety and effectiveness before they are marketed the way prescription medicines are, and no product may lawfully be promoted as treating or curing a disease on that basis.3
Reasonably supported
Precursors are generally well tolerated in studied doses and can raise blood NAD+ levels.
Not established
That the rise translates into lasting improvements in energy, focus, performance or ageing.
Not supported
NAD+ as a treatment for disease, as detoxification, or as a way to reverse ageing.
Baseline uses an on-site RN visit with Nurse Practitioner guidance.
A Baseline Medical Registered Nurse performs the on-site assessment and care execution. A Baseline Medical Nurse Practitioner guides appropriateness, protocol decisions, symptom management, and escalation.
Because NAD+ is an elective wellness service rather than a treatment for a condition, that guidance also covers whether NAD+ is appropriate for you at all. Where it is not, the clinician says so and the visit does not proceed.
Decision questions
Safety, tolerability, and what an infusion feels like.
The most commonly reported effects during an NAD+ infusion are dose and rate related: chest tightness, flushing, nausea, abdominal cramping, or a general uncomfortable sensation if the infusion runs quickly. These typically ease when the rate is reduced, which is a large part of why NAD+ is infused slowly and with a clinician present rather than given quickly.
As with any intravenous treatment there is also the ordinary risk associated with placing a line, including discomfort, bruising, bleeding and infection at the site, and the possibility of an allergic reaction to any component given. These risks are usually small but they are not zero, and they are the reason eligibility is reviewed before treatment rather than after.
Because NAD+ is related to niacin metabolism, tell the clinician about all supplements you take, including any B vitamin or niacin products, as well as your prescription medicines and your medical history.1 Baseline does not offer NAD+ in pregnancy or breastfeeding.
Escalation guidance
When NAD+ is not the right answer.
Persistent fatigue is a symptom, not a diagnosis, and it can be the first sign of a condition that has a specific and effective treatment. Choosing an infusion instead of an assessment can delay that. If any of the following apply, seek medical evaluation rather than booking a wellness visit.
- Chest pain, pressure, or trouble breathing
- Fainting, confusion, or new weakness on one side
- Fatigue with unexplained weight loss, fever, or night sweats
- Fatigue with unusual pallor, breathlessness on mild exertion, or a racing heart
- Fatigue that has steadily worsened over weeks to months
- New severe headache, or any symptom you would describe as an emergency
Baseline method
What a Baseline NAD+ visit involves
Step 01
Eligibility and history review
Your medical history, medications, supplements and goals are reviewed before anything is prepared. Some histories make NAD+ inappropriate, and the visit does not proceed in those cases.
Step 02
Expectations set honestly
The clinician will tell you what is reasonable to expect and what is not, including that the human evidence for benefit is limited.
Step 03
Slow, monitored infusion
NAD+ is infused slowly with a clinician present. The rate is adjusted for comfort, which is the main way the common effects are managed.
Step 04
Aftercare and escalation guidance
You are told what is normal afterwards, what is not, and exactly when to seek care.
Common questions about NAD+
Does NAD+ reverse ageing?
No. NAD+ levels decline with age and that observation is what drives the interest, but a decline being associated with ageing does not mean that raising it reverses ageing. That has not been demonstrated in humans, and Baseline does not offer NAD+ on that basis.
Will an NAD+ infusion give me more energy?
Some people report feeling better afterwards and some report nothing. Controlled human evidence that NAD+ produces durable improvements in energy in healthy adults is limited, so it is honest to say that we cannot promise it, and you should be cautious of anyone who does.
Is intravenous NAD+ better than taking a supplement?
That has not been established. Most published human research involves oral precursors rather than infusions, so the intravenous route is less studied, not more proven. The practical differences are convenience, dose delivered, and cost.
Does NAD+ detox the body?
No. Detoxification is not a recognised action of NAD+, and your liver and kidneys already perform that function. Baseline does not make detoxification claims for any treatment.
Is NAD+ safe?
For most healthy adults it is generally well tolerated when infused slowly with a clinician present. Chest tightness, flushing, nausea and cramping during the infusion are the common effects and usually ease when the rate is reduced. Placing an intravenous line carries its own small risks. Eligibility is reviewed before treatment.
Can I have NAD+ while pregnant or breastfeeding?
No. Baseline does not offer NAD+ in pregnancy or breastfeeding.
How does Baseline decide whether NAD+ is appropriate for me?
A Registered Nurse performs the visit with Nurse Practitioner guidance on appropriateness and dosing. Your history, medications, supplements and goals are reviewed first, and the visit does not proceed if NAD+ is not appropriate for you.
This page is for informational purposes only and does not provide emergency guidance or medical advice. NAD+ is offered as a wellness service and is not a treatment for any medical condition. For chest pain, trouble breathing, stroke-like symptoms, severe allergic reaction, fainting, confusion, or any emergency symptoms, call 911 or seek emergency care immediately.