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Researchers publishing in Nature Communications examine chronic nicotinamide riboside supplementation in health middle-aged and older adults.
Prof Naveed Sattar, Professor of Metabolic Medicine, University of Glasgow, said:
“This is a very early look into what this new supplement might do. I would not get too excited at the moment but rather be keen to see bigger and better designed trials to really test whether this novel supplement improves blood pressure and other health markers in patients who are overweight or have hypertension. We have had many results from such small studies in the past which have not been replicated – so, it’s interesting, but very early.”
Dr Gunter Kuhnle, Associate Professor in Nutrition and Health, University of Reading, said:
“The study is well conducted, but the outcomes – especially on blood pressure – are virtually non-significant and not in any way meaningful. A little bit of exercise would probably do the same. The authors themselves admit that the effect is not statistically significant and the data shown in the supplementary material show virtually no difference between the arms.
“The study is simply too small to make any more statements, and that is also reflected in the abstract. The study is also very short term (6 weeks) and thus hardly representative of long-term intake.”
* ‘Chronic nicotinamide riboside supplementation is well-tolerated and elevates NAD+ in healthy middle-aged and older adults’ by Christopher R. Martens et al. is published in Nature Communications.
Declared interests
None to declare.