If you've heard anything about longevity supplements, you've heard of NMN. It's at the center of David Sinclair's work, it's in a lot of morning routines (ours included), and it's the ingredient DoNotAge was originally built around. But what does it actually do, and is there real human evidence behind it?
1. NAD+: The Molecule Everything Runs On
NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) is in every one of your cells. It does two big jobs:
- Energy: Your mitochondria need NAD+ to turn food into ATP, the fuel your muscles burn on every pop and every gust.
- Repair: The enzymes that repair DNA and keep cells running smoothly, including the sirtuins (see SIRT6: The Longevity Gene), use up NAD+ every time they work.
The problem: NAD+ levels decline significantly with age, while the demand for repair goes up. Less fuel for the engine, more work for the repair crew. That gap is one of the reasons researchers think aging cells lose energy and resilience.
NMN in One Sentence
NMN (nicotinamide mononucleotide) is a direct building block of NAD+. Your body converts it into NAD+ in a single step, which is why it became one of the most studied ways to raise NAD+ levels.
2. What the Human Studies Found
The early research was in mice, where NMN improved energy metabolism, insulin sensitivity and physical activity in older animals. Human trials have followed:
Runners Training Harder
Amateur runners took 300, 600 or 1,200 mg of NMN a day for six weeks while training. Their aerobic capacity improved more than the placebo group's, and the higher doses did better. For an endurance-and-power sport like kiting, that's the most relevant study there is.
Muscle Insulin Sensitivity
Women with prediabetes took 250 mg of NMN a day for 10 weeks. Their muscles became more sensitive to insulin, meaning they handled sugar better, a key marker of healthy metabolism (and of protecting your tissues from glycation).
Walking Farther in Middle Age
Middle-aged adults took NMN daily for 60 days. Their blood NAD+ levels rose and they walked farther in a six-minute walking test than the placebo group.
Safety
Studies so far have found NMN well tolerated, including doses up to 1,250 mg a day for four weeks in healthy adults.
3. Supporting NAD+ the Natural Way Too
Supplements work best on top of the habits that raise NAD+ on their own:
- Exercise: Training itself boosts NAD+ production in muscle. Kiting counts, and so does the off-water work in The Anti-Fragile Kiter.
- Fasting windows: Periods without food shift your cells toward repair mode and sirtuin activity (see The Autophagy Shield).
- Sleep and a steady body clock: NAD+ production follows your circadian rhythm. Consistent sleep helps (see Sleep: The Recovery Tool).
- Less alcohol: Your liver uses NAD+ to break alcohol down. Big nights cost you.
4. How We Take It
We take NMN every morning as part of the DoNotAge daily sachet: 1,000 mg of NMN together with 1,000 mg of TMG (a methyl donor often paired with NMN), plus the SIRT6 Activator, resveratrol and 11 other ingredients. Since starting it, my energy is up, my heart rate sits lower during hard efforts, and my HRV and sleep scores are better than before. On a three-day wind streak, that's the difference between riding every session and sitting one out.
Fuel Your Cells (10% Off)
NMN is the base of the DoNotAge daily sachet: 1 g of NMN plus TMG, resveratrol, the SIRT6 Activator and 11 more ingredients in one morning scoop. Pure NMN is also available on its own. Use discount code KITEHOMIEZ at checkout for 10% off your entire order.
Shop DoNotAge →Free: The Kiter's 10-Minute Flexibility Routine
The mobility and core routine we use before and after sessions, as a free PDF. Plus new videos and posts every few weeks.
This article is for general education and isn't medical advice. Talk to your doctor before starting a supplement or a fasting routine, especially if you are pregnant, have a medical condition or take medication. Some links on this page are affiliate links: if you buy through them, we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.