05 / study amounts and what they mean
NAD+ dosage findings describe study groups, not an amount selected for you.
NAD+ is used during your cells' energy and repair work. This page explains the amounts studied, the ways people received them, and the limits.
The study amounts belong to those studies, not your treatment
NAD+ helps with energy release and repairs inside cells. Here you'll see the amounts tested and the people or treatments involved. Most human tests gave pills that supply material for cells making NAD+. The commonly studied amounts were about 250-900 milligrams a day for NMN and about 250-1000 milligrams a day for NR. Those aren't the full lists: the NR study described below also tested a smaller amount. Far less research concerns drips or shots. Their specially mixed medicines carry added quality risks and aren't FDA-approved NAD+ treatments.
A research amount doesn't establish what would be safe for you or able to help.
Each amount was tested for a particular result in a particular group
Study amounts can't select a treatment for you. NMN tests used 250-900 milligrams a day. Women with blood sugar above normal received 250 milligrams a day for 10 weeks. Their muscles took sugar in more readily when insulin was supplied [1]. Another study used 300, 600, and 900 milligrams a day for 60 days. Larger amounts raised blood NAD+ more. Authors favored 600 milligrams a day overall, assessing both blood and physical results [3].
The other studies asked different questions.
NR at 100-1000 milligrams a day raised NAD+ blood readings by 22%/51%/142%, respectively, over eight weeks [4]. A Parkinson's safety test reached 3000 milligrams a day without moderate or severe side effects. Nicotinamide, a vitamin form that also supplies material for NAD+, was tested at 500 milligrams twice daily. People at high risk developed fewer new skin cancers during treatment.
The tested amounts aren't an amount selected for you.
NAD+ injection and IV NAD+ mixtures have documented quality risks
The shot and drip studies are small early tests or reviews of past visits. They offer few strong comparisons of benefits. NAD+ used for a shot or drip is specially mixed medicine, often called compounded. That preparation isn't FDA-approved. Reports describe 250-1000 milligrams at visits lasting several hours. One study ran a drip for six hours at 3 micromoles per minute. Micromoles measure an amount in a different way from milligrams, so that rate isn't directly comparable with the pill amounts above.
The mixture's quality is a separate concern for you.
The FDA recalled a NAD+ shot product containing too much harmful material from bacteria. That Class I recall was the most serious kind. NAD+ and NMN absorb water from the air and can break down in dampness or heat. Once NAD+ is mixed for a shot, the mixture needs cold storage and protection from light.
Specially mixed medicine still needs evidence of safety, quality, and benefit.
IV NAD+ therapy has not established a clear health benefit
Most drip studies are early tests or reviews of earlier visits. They lack strong comparisons that could establish a benefit for you. In an early test, researchers separated out the blood cells and measured NAD+ in the remaining fluid, called plasma, whereas the pill studies measured whole blood with the cells included. NAD+ in that fluid barely rose during about the opening two hours. Much of the added NAD+ broke down outside cells and left the fluid quickly. The result doesn't show how much reached cells. Fast drips have caused belly discomfort, chest pressure, and flushing, when skin becomes red and feels hot. Researchers haven't established a helpful amount or timing, or a clear health benefit.
A clinic offering a drip doesn't settle what that drip will do for you.
NAD+ drip tests examined blood fluid; pill tests measured whole blood
Researchers have few strong tests of shots beneath skin or directly into muscle. The same is true of nose products, skin patches, and products held under the tongue. Most cells don't easily take in whole NAD+ [5]. In an early drip test, added NAD+ was nearly all cleared from plasma, the fluid around blood cells, during the opening ~2 hours. Much broke down outside cells; this wasn't proof that cells had used the whole amount. By contrast, pill studies measured whole blood, including the cells. NMN and NR raised those NAD+ readings across days or weeks. Readings stayed higher in 8-12 week studies [4][3]. Your cells also make NAD+ in a daily rhythm [14].
Those different blood tests can't be read as matching results, and the rhythm doesn't set a time for treatment.