Happy Autumn! October is a joyous month of cool refreshing air, and a brilliant festival of leaf colors. It is a great month to be out and about, enjoying the outdoors, festivals, and pumpkin picking.

This is why healthy aging is so important -- the ability to be healthy and vibrant during perfect weather (and the upcoming holidays) is something that everyone wants.

In 2017, researchers from the University of New South Wales proclaimed that they “made a discovery that could lead to a revolutionary drug that actually reverses ageing, improves DNA repair and could even help NASA get its astronauts to Mars.”

That discovery is the naturally occurring compound in the human body, nicotinamide mononucleotide. NMN is a direct precursor to the essential molecule NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide).

The primary role of NAD+ is working as a coenzyme, facilitating the healthy and normal functioning of many other enzymes that are involved in hundreds of biological processes such as brain cell growth and DNA repair, as well as mitochondrial function.

NAD+ production in the body begins to slow gradually as early as age 30, and by age 60, NAD+ levels are approximately half of what they were. As an NAD+ precursor, NMN can help promote healthy aging and well-being, starting at any age. For example, NMN to boost NAD+ levels can help maintain physical and cognitive fitness, and maintain healthy skin.

NMN has only been studied in humans since 2021. But important pre-clinical research has been performed with outstanding results. One review noted that recent preclinical studies have demonstrated diversified pharmacological activities of NMN in cardiac and cerebral ischemia, Alzheimer’s disease, diet- and age-induced type 2 diabetes, and obesity, all of which are linked up to the deficiency of NAD+.

In the first clinical trial of nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN), researchers have found that the compound previously demonstrated to counteract aspects of aging and improve metabolic health in mice also has clinically relevant effects in people.

The researchers studied 25 postmenopausal women who had pre-diabetes, meaning they had higher than normal blood sugar levels, but not high enough to be diagnosed as having diabetes. The subjects consumed either 250 mg NMN or placebo daily for 10 weeks.

The authors found that NMN supplementation up-regulated the expression of platelet-derived growth factor receptor β and other genes related to muscle remodeling. These results demonstrate that NMN increases muscle insulin sensitivity, insulin signaling, and remodeling in women with prediabetes.