Is a NAD+ IV drip worth 500 euros?

You open your phone and see: a longevity clinic offering NAD+ IV drips. The price is 500 euros per session. Okay, 300 with a discount, but ONLY TODAY. And the advertising promises are wow: more energy, a youthful feeling, "rejuvenated" cells.

Before booking a time for an NAD+ drip, it's worth asking one question: what do studies say about all this?

Upon investigation, a rather strange thing emerges. The scientific basis is inversely proportional to the price – the more expensive the method to raise NAD+ levels, the less data there is to support it.

What is NAD+ and why does everyone want more of it?

NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) is a molecule found in every cell of your body. Without it, cells simply wouldn't produce energy. With age, NAD+ levels naturally decrease in various tissues, making NAD+ one of the most discussed words in the entire longevity world.

The logic of IV drips seems impeccable at first glance: you inject NAD+ directly into the vein, bypassing digestion, and thus raise NAD+ levels throughout the body.

But here's the crux – unlike medications, NAD+ IV drips have not undergone clinical trials. That's why there is so little data on them.

How to raise NAD+ levels? Three ways

NAD+ levels can essentially be raised in three ways. Let's see what we actually know about each.

1. IV NAD+: most expensive, but with almost no evidence

This is the most popular and expensive service on the market. And also – the least evidence-based option.

The only human pharmacokinetic study (Grant, 2019) remained just that: eleven men, a six-hour NAD+ infusion. NAD+ begins to rise in the blood after about two hours. Sounds good – until you see what's missing from this study. No one has ever measured whether IV NAD+ actually reaches tissues – muscles or the brain. And that's exactly where it's needed.

One study. No data on tissues. Costs the most, least researched.

2. IV NR: works better, but you won't find it in Lithuania

Interestingly, there is a superior intravenous option in the same research field – nicotinamide riboside (NR), one of the precursors of NAD+.

In a direct comparison (Hawkins, 2024, preprint), intravenous NR raised blood NAD+ more than IV NAD+ itself. A peak of +20.7% compared to baseline NAD+ levels, at three hours.

The only problem is that such infusions are simply not available in our longevity landscape. So there isn't much to choose from here.

3. NR supplements: the cheapest route with the strongest data

And now for the most interesting part. The most accessible option – oral NR supplements – has the most evidence. And from different body tissues:

Blood. In a study with 140 participants (Conze, 2019), 1000 mg of NR per day raised blood NAD+ by as much as 142% in two weeks. The elevated level remained for all eight weeks of the study.
Muscles. Elhassan (2019) examined muscle tissue itself and found that NR actually raises NAD+ not only in the blood but also in the tissue itself.
Brain. A single dose of 900 mg raised brain NAD+ by about 17% in four hours (Nanga, 2024) – measured directly in the brain.

Blood, muscles, brain. Data from three different tissues – and at the lowest price.

Do you see what I see?

The only way with proven NAD+ elevation in different tissues and a sustainable, week-long effect is the cheapest.

For fairness: a large part of NR research has been funded by the industry itself. But they have been published in the most serious scientific journals. So the point is not that "NR is the best". The point is that the most expensive service, IV NAD+, doesn't even have data that could be compared to it.

The question is simple: why do IV drips not have a single study on tissue levels in humans?

It seems that price buys the delivery method, not a better biological result.

FAQ

Is it even worth raising NAD+ levels?

NAD+ levels naturally decrease with age in tissues, and the molecule itself is involved in energy production and cellular processes. The question is not "whether to raise", but "how to raise intelligently".

So, is an NAD+ drip completely worthless?

Not necessarily – it's just that the effects of infusions on tissues haven't been studied. For 500 euros, you get a convenient delivery method, but not a better NAD+ boosting result.