NADH: The cell enercjizer

Anyone who understands the biochemistry of energy metabolism knows the pivotal role that NAD (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) plays in producing energy for our bodies. When it is in its usual oxidized form, it serves as a vehicle for just about every energy reaction taking place in our body’s cells. In its reduced form (that is, after it has added an extra hydrogen) it is ready to deliver energy by giving up that hydrogen. It may take a biochemist to understand this reaction, but one thing is clear: the reduced NAD, called NADH or coenzyme 1, is the specific way in which all our cells get their energy. That would make NADH the quintessential energy-giving vita-nutrient, but there was one catch. In the past, no one could deliver this highly active molecule in a form stable enough to exist in an oral prescription. Fortunately European scientists have now succeeded in making coenzyme 1 available in supplement form.

When people afflicted with Parkinson’s disease have taken this form of vitamin B3 (which takes its name from the nicotinamide part of the molecule), their hands have stopped trem-bling and they’ve regained a steady gait. People with Alzheimer’s disease improved in memory. Anyone else who uses the supplement can expect a pronounced surge of energy that helps athletic performance, depression, heart problems and other ailments.

Not everyone will enjoy such a pronounced turnaround after using coenzyme 1, but most of its failures are due to giving doses too low, since not everyone is able to af ford the cost when high doses are necessary. Found naturally in the heart and brain, NADH extends antioxidant protection to our cell’s power source, the mitochondria. The body normally makes its own NADH from niacinamide, but aging and disease slow the conversion.

Parkinson’s Disease
When one of my NADH-treated Parkinson’s patients returns with a measurable improvement in his or her symptoms, I’m left with few words to describe the satisfaction I feel. The difference can be remarkable in older people, who seem to derive a greater benefit than my younger patients. I’ll let the research speak for itself: Of some nine hundred people with Parkinson’s who took NADH supplements regularly, 80 per cent showed moderate to excellent relief from hand tremors, head wobbling, limb stiffness, slow gait, fatigue and other symptoms of the disease. With years of regular use, it also appears to slow the deterioration of their nervous systems.

In the brain, NADH helps neurons make dopamine, a neurotransmitter that is relatively deficient in people with Parkinson’s. Conventional medicine treats the disease with L-dopa, a prescription dopamine replacement that, over the long term, further impairs the brain’s ability to make the neurotransmitter. For these reasons, Jorg Birkmaycr, MD, the Austrian researcher who developed the product and did most of the original work with NADH, recommends that doctors allow their Parkinson’s patients to take a smaller dose of L-dopa while trying NADH therapy. L-dopa causes the release of free radicals, which can damage brain cells, whereas NADH is one of the brain’s most powerful antioxidants. Thus NADH usually provides the same benefits as L-dopa but without the side effects.

Alzheimer’s Disease
I’ve used NADH on people with all degrees of memory loss, and a surprisingly high percentage of them regained at least some short-term memory. Birkmayer tested the supplement on seventeen people with Alzheimer’s, which shares many biochemical similarities with Parkinson’s disease. All of his patients significantly improved their performance on standard memory tests. The progression of brain deterioration, presently an inevitable occurrence with the disease, was also slowed.

Depression
The third condition Birkmayer studied formally was depression. Ninety-three per cent of 205 depressed subjects were benefitted, although many received an injectible form of NADH.

Heart Disease
Although researchers are beginning to explore its possible uses elsewhere, NADH already seems to be of significant value against heart disease. It has already saved the lives of ten people with terminal heart failure. When doctors administered 15 mg of the nutrient intravenously in this small experiment, their patients weren’t expected to live longer then two days. But they beat the odds and ended up living far beyond their doctors’ expectations.

My guess is that combining NADH with other standard cardiovascular nutrients, such as coenzyme Q10 and carnitine will serve people with many types of heart ailments. In other research it shows signs of lowering elevated cholesterol and blood pressure readings.

Chronic Fatigue
Although there are many causes of this debilitating and misunderstood syndrome, preliminary results with NADH are encouraging, and clinical trials are now under way.

Energy Enhancement
Encouraged by successful European studies on athletic performance, American studies are now in progress. In the one study reported upon, seventeen athletes age to eighteen to thirty-five achieved quicker reaction times and better overall performance after four weeks of taking 5 mg of NADH.

Supplement Suggestions

If you take too much, NADH may stimulate you too much; used late in the day, it can prevent you from falling asleep. It should be taken before eating anything, first thing in the morning. If you take it with a meal, digestive juices will break down the coating.
Your best source for obtaining NADH may be a complementary doctor, because an effective form could be hard to find. Health food stores might carry something called NAD, but that would be ineffective. In this book I have not been making product recommendations by brand name, but at this writing I have found only one effective form of NADH – the NADH made with Dr Birkmayer’s process.

Precise dosages must be individualized, because each person will react differently. It is easy to find your ideal dose because too much of it will overstimulate you, so start with 2.5 mg every morning and add a 2.5 mg-increment increase each week until you find the optimal blend of energy and ability to sleep restfully. For Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, the effective therapeutic range may extend upward to some 20 mg per day or more.