Longevity Culture Goes Mainstream: NAD, Sirtuins and the New Wellness Wave

By BioLabs Research · October 4, 2026 · 5 min read

Three letters are all over wellness TikTok: NAD. Here is the science that made it famous, and why researchers say the evidence is still early.

How a coenzyme became a lifestyle

Not long ago, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) was something you memorized for a biochemistry exam. Now it shows up in wellness-clinic menus, supplement aisles and longevity podcasts.

The numbers back up the feeling. Glossy, citing Spate market research, reported that searches pairing "peptide therapy" with NAD were up 601% year over year as of April 2026 (Glossy). NPR reported in May 2026 that "many wellness clinics now offer IV infusions" marketed for NAD+, and that for those drips "there's almost no published data" (NPR, May 11, 2026).

So how did a molecule found in every living cell end up at the center of a wellness trend?

What NAD+ actually does

NAD+ is a coenzyme, a helper molecule that many enzymes need to work. It plays a central role in how cells turn nutrients into usable energy, and it is also used by enzymes involved in DNA repair and cell signaling.

A 2015 review in Science by Eric Verdin, then at the Gladstone Institutes and UCSF, summarizes the idea behind the hype. Cellular NAD+ concentrations "change during aging," the review says, and modulating how NAD+ is made or used "can prolong both health span and life span." That evidence comes largely from research models, not people (Verdin, Science, 2015).

Enter the sirtuins

The second half of the story is a family of enzymes called sirtuins. Sirtuins need NAD+ to function, and they help regulate processes such as metabolism and stress responses. Researchers Shin-ichiro Imai and Leonard Guarente laid out the connection in a 2014 review. They wrote that NAD+ levels decline during aging and may be "an Achilles' heel" behind age-associated problems, and they proposed combining sirtuin activation with NAD+ precursors as a possible strategy against age-associated decline, a hypothesis that is still being tested (Imai & Guarente, Trends in Cell Biology, 2014).

It's an elegant idea: less NAD+ means less sirtuin activity, which may mean faster aging, so raising NAD+ might help. That logic drives much of the marketing.

The plot twist most videos skip

Sirtuin science has had public setbacks. In 2011, a study in Nature re-tested earlier claims that boosting a sirtuin gene extended lifespan in worms and flies. After controlling for differences in genetic background, the researchers reported the lifespan effect was absent (Burnett et al., Nature, 2011).

That didn't end the field. Research on NAD+ and sirtuins continues in many labs. But it is a good reminder that a mechanism can look exciting in model organisms and then turn out to be more complicated.

What happens in animals

The animal data are what make scientists genuinely interested. A 2018 review in Cell Metabolism by Lindsay Rajman, Karolina Chwalek and David Sinclair surveyed in vivo studies of NAD-boosting molecules, mostly in rodents, across a range of age-related and metabolic conditions (Rajman et al., Cell Metabolism, 2018). The review's own title frames this as "the in vivo evidence," which in this case mostly means animal evidence.

What happens in people

Human research is newer, smaller and more modest.

• Raising NAD+ levels in blood is achievable. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial in healthy middle-aged and older adults found that supplementing with an NAD+ precursor, nicotinamide riboside, was well tolerated and "effectively stimulates NAD+ metabolism" over six weeks (Martens et al., Nature Communications, 2018). The authors framed effects on physiological function as "initial insight" for future trials.
• One metabolic signal in a targeted group. A 10-week randomized controlled trial at Washington University reported that another precursor, nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN), increased muscle insulin sensitivity in prediabetic women (Yoshino et al., Science, 2021). That is one specific measure in one specific group.
• Pooled results are modest. A 2026 meta-analysis of randomized trials of oral NMN found good short-term tolerability but "broad metabolic benefits were not evident," and it called for larger and longer trials (Yang et al., Nutrients, 2026).
• Experts are cautious. NPR quoted Dr. Shalender Bhasin of Brigham and Women's Hospital: "we are still in the early stages of human studies and the health benefits of augmenting NAD+ are yet to be established in large human studies" (NPR, 2026).

The IV drip question

The most visible part of NAD culture, the clinic drip, also has the least evidence. NPR reported that the small amount of published infusion data comes mainly from small studies, including research tied to companies that offer infusions. One researcher it interviewed described direct NAD+ infusions as "very inefficient" at raising levels inside cells, and NPR noted reports of an unpleasant infusion experience in that research (NPR, 2026).

We're reporting on a trend here, not recommending anything. No published evidence shows that any NAD product slows human aging.

Why "fatigue" isn't the headline

You'll often see NAD marketed for energy. Biologically, NAD+ is central to cellular energy metabolism, which is where that framing comes from. But the human trials above mostly measured NAD levels, tolerability and specific metabolic markers. They did not test whether people feel more energetic. Energy is part of the longevity story, but on current evidence it shouldn't be the headline.

What we know / What we don't know

What we know

• NAD+ is essential for cellular energy metabolism and for sirtuin enzymes (Imai & Guarente, 2014).
• Leading reviews report that NAD+ levels change, and generally decline, with aging (Verdin, 2015; Imai & Guarente, 2014).
• Precursors can raise blood NAD+ in people and appear well tolerated in short trials (Martens et al., 2018; Yang et al., 2026).

What we don't know

• Whether raising NAD+ changes aging or healthspan in humans. Large, long trials haven't been done (NPR, 2026).
• How solid the sirtuin-lifespan link is outside specific models (Burnett et al., 2011).
• Whether IV infusions offer anything beyond what has been measured in small studies.

Related reading: What Published Research Has Examined: A Reading Guide for Four Studied Compounds

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Sources are linked inline. This article summarizes published research and media coverage for general information. It is not medical advice.

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BioLabs Research has no affiliation with, and no endorsement from, any person named.