305 . Why CD38 Destroys NAD+ Faster Than You Produce It

NAD+ became a $4.5 billion industry of IV drips, patches, nasal sprays and powders almost overnight, with clinics charging $2,000 a bag to reverse your age and cure your hangover. Some of what you have been told about NAD+ is true. Some of it is complete nonsense. Gary Brecka runs seven of the biggest NAD+ claims against the research and tells you exactly which is which. If you want to shop Gary's preferred NAD+, click here: https://bit.ly/4rnKakc CLICK HERE TO BECOME GARY’S VIP!: https://bit.ly/4ai0Xwg Thank you to our partners A-GAME: “ULTIMATE15” FOR 15% OFF: http://bit.ly/4kek1ij AION: “ULTIMATE10” FOR 10% OFF: https://bit.ly/4h6KHAD AIRES: “ULTIMATE20” FOR 20% OFF: https://bit.ly/4a3Duze BAJA GOLD: “ULTIMATE10” FOR 10% OFF: https://bit.ly/3WSBqUa BODYHEALTH: “ULTIMATE20” FOR 20% OFF: http://bit.ly/4e5IjsV COLD LIFE: THE ULTIMATE HUMAN PLUNGE: https://bit.ly/4eULUKp CYMBIOTIKA: “BRECKACYM30” FOR 30% OFF: https://bit.ly/4tjyluP GENETIC METHYLATION TEST (UK ONLY): https://bit.ly/48QJJrk GENETIC TEST (USA ONLY): https://bit.ly/3Yg1Uk9 GOPUFF: GET YOUR FAVORITE SNACK!: https://bit.ly/4obIFDC H2TABS: “ULTIMATE10” FOR 10% OFF: https://bit.ly/4hMNdgg HEALF: 10% OFF YOUR ORDER: https://bit.ly/41HJg6S PEPTUAL: “TUH10” FOR 10% OFF: https://bit.ly/4mKxgcn SNOOZE: LET’S GET TO SLEEP!: https://bit.ly/4pt1T6V WHOOP: JOIN & GET 1 FREE MONTH!: https://bit.ly/3VQ0nzW Watch the “Ultimate Human Podcast” every Tuesday & Thursday at 9AM EST: YouTube: https://bit.ly/3RPQYX8 Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3RQftU0 Connect with Gary Brecka Instagram: https://bit.ly/3RPpnFs TikTok: https://bit.ly/4coJ8fo X: https://bit.ly/3Opc8tf Facebook: https://bit.ly/464VA1H LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/4hH7Ri2 Website: https://bit.ly/4eLDbdU Merch: https://bit.ly/4aBpOM1 Newsletter: https://bit.ly/47ejrws Ask Gary: https://bit.ly/3PEAJuG Timestamps 00:00 – Intro of Show 02:05 – Every calorie passes through NAD+ to become ATP 02:15 – The enzymes that burn NAD+ for metabolism and DNA repair 02:45 – Liver tissue runs 30% lower after 60 03:15 – CD38 and chronic inflammation destroy the NAD+ pool 03:40 – Replenish, slow the drain, support recycling 03:52 – NMN and nicotinamide riboside as precursors 04:35 – Why raw NAD+ is torn apart in the gut 05:00 – Cancer history, pregnancy and who should not take it 06:35 – Sunlight, sleep and movement come first Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not provide medical advice. It is not intended for diagnosing or treating any health condition. Always consult a licensed healthcare professional before making health or wellness decisions. Gary Brecka is the owner of Ultimate Human, LLC which operates The Ultimate Human podcast and promotes certain third-party products used by Gary Brecka in his personal health and wellness protocols and daily life and for which Ultimate Human LLC and / or Gary Brecka directly or indirectly holds an economic interest or receives compensation. Accordingly, statements made by Gary Brecka and others (including on The Ultimate Human podcast) may be considered promotional in nature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Gary Brecka?

  Hailey Bieber sat right next to me in a chair on national television, hooked up to an IV bag and said she was going to do NAD for the rest of her life and never age. And almost overnight, NAD Plus turned into a $4.5 billion industry of IV drips, patches, nasal sprays, pills and powders, with clinics charging $2,000 a bag on the promise of reversing your age. Today, we're going to separate the facts from the fiction on NAD, because some of what you've heard is absolutely true and some of it is complete nonsense. NAD, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, is in every single cell in your body and it has two jobs. The first job is energy. The second job is how that NAD gets used. NAD is real. It declines in your tissues as you age.

• 0:43Gary Brecka?

  The reason is that it's being destroyed, not that you stop making it. Hangover cures? Fiction. Risk-free for everyone? Also fiction. Here's the biggest fact of all.

• 1:06Gary Brecka?

  Hailey Bieber sat right next to me in a chair on national television, hooked up to an IV bag and said she was going to do NAD for the rest of her life and never age. Kendall Jenner was sitting right in the chair next to her. And almost overnight, NAD Plus turned into a $4.5 billion industry of IV drips, patches, nasal sprays, pills and powders, with clinics charging $2,000 a bag on the promise of reversing your age, curing your hangover and even fixing your jet lag. So today, we're going to separate the facts from the fiction on NAD, because some of what you've heard is absolutely true and some of it is complete nonsense. And by the end of this episode, you'll know exactly which is which. I'm Gary Brecka, this is The Ultimate Human, and let's get started.

• 1:49Gary Brecka?

  So claim number one: NAD is just another overhyped supplement fad. Verdict? Fiction. NAD, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, is in every single cell in your body and it has two jobs. The first job is energy. Every calorie you eat, whether it comes from fat, carbohydrate or protein, has to pass through NAD on its way to becoming ATP, which is the energy currency of your cells. Without NAD, that conversion doesn't happen. The second job is how that NAD gets used. There are enzymes in your body that eat it. The proteins that regulate your metabolism and how your cells respond to stress, they run on NAD. The enzymes that repair damage to your DNA burn through NAD every time they go to work.

• 2:32Gary Brecka?

  So the hype was never about whether NAD matters, because it clearly does. The hype is about how you get it back. So claim number two: Your NAD levels crash 50% by the time you're 40. True. Scientists have studied NAD levels in the skin, brain, liver and even the muscle. They found that NAD runs lower in older people. For example, liver tissue in people over 60 comes in around 30% lower than in younger adults. And brain imaging shows the same downward trend. Claim number three: Your NAD drops because your body stops making it. The verdict? Fiction. Your body doesn't stop making NAD as you age. You actually destroy it faster. There's an enzyme called CD38 that sits on the surface of your immune cells and its job is to chew up NAD.

• 3:17Gary Brecka?

  Research out of the Mayo Clinic showed that as you age, and especially as chronic inflammation climbs, CD38 levels rise and start burning through your NAD pool faster than you replace it. So a real NAD strategy has three parts. You replenish what's low, you slow down what's destroying it and you support the machinery your body uses to recycle it. Claim number four: NMN and NR are better than taking NAD itself. Verdict? It depends. NMN and nicotinamide riboside are what we call precursors, meaning they're raw materials your body converts into NAD through a few enzymatic steps. Taking NAD itself is a direct replacement of the finished molecule. Now let me give the precursor crowd their due, because they do have a point.

• 4:00Gary Brecka?

  As a standalone ingredient, NMN and nicotinamide riboside actually carry the deeper research trial. Clinical trials show that they reliably raise blood NAD levels and if you're comparing them against plain NAD powder stuffed into a capsule, the precursors win that fight. Because as we covered earlier, naked NAD gets torn apart in your gut before it even reaches the cell. But notice the assumption buried in that comparison. It assumes the NAD shows up naked and alone and that's exactly why my verdict is, it depends. Because the answer entirely depends on what the NAD is paired with. This is the reason Symbiotica built their formula the way that they did, with the protective liposome and added cofactors.

• 4:42Gary Brecka?

  Claim number five: NAD supplements are completely risk-free. The verdict? Fiction. And I'm going to tell you exactly who should not take them. The short-term human safety data is actually excellent. Trials have gone up to three grams a day with only mild side effects. But well tolerated is not the same as the right for everybody. If you have active cancer or a recent cancer history, talk to your oncologist before touching anything that raises NAD. Harm in humans has not been shown, but that's a conversation for you and your doctor, not one for a podcast. If you're pregnant or breastfeeding, there's simply no data. So sit this one out. Anyone who tells you a supplement carries zero risk for zero people is wrong. The dose, the person and the context always matter.

• 5:25Gary Brecka?

  Claim number six: All NAD supplements are the same, so buy the cheapest one. Verdict? Fiction. NAD is a big, fragile, charged molecule and if you swallow it raw, your gut just tears it apart before it even reaches your cells. So the form matters, the delivery matters and whether the formula addresses that CD38 drain matters. I take Symbiotica's liposomal NAD every single morning. The NAD is wrapped in a liposome, a protective fat bubble that's designed to carry it through the digestive tract. And Symbiotica's clinical data shows up to three times more absorption than standard formulas. But what actually sold me was that the formula is built on the whole framework that we just talked about. You get 300 mg of NAD to replenish, a Bagenin to slow that CD38 drain,

• 6:10Gary Brecka?

  TMG to support the recycling and niacin so your body can build more on its own. So let's recap. NAD is real. It declines in your tissues as you age. The reason is that it's being destroyed, not that you stop making it. Hangover cures? Fiction. Risk-free for everyone? Also fiction. Here's the biggest fact of all. No molecule on earth replaces the fundamentals. Sunlight in the morning, breath work, real food, quality sleep and daily movement have to come first. Get the foundation right and then build on top of it. That's how you separate fact from fiction. If you want to go deeper, the full protocols, the live calls, the science behind every one of these answers and the discounts on the tools I actually use, come join me in the VIP community. That's where the real work happens.

• 6:56Gary Brecka?

  Until next time, fact versus fiction. That's just science.