Joe Rogan, the Kardashians and Hailey Bieber Take New Anti-Aging Drug That Could Extend Lifespan

Celebrities claim to have found the fountain of eternal youth.

NAD, a molecule naturally produced in the body, is sold in pill, liquid and intravenous forms. Athletes, actors and models are all proponents of the supplements.

Users, led by Joe Rogan, Hailey Bieber and Kourtney Kardashian, say the product helps them feel more energetic, youthful and healthier.

And unlike other celebrity fads, they might be right.

Research in mice suggests that increasing NAD levels in the body can extend lifespan by eight percent.

Hailey Bieber, model and wife of singer Justin Bieber, received an infusion of NAD along with friend and fellow model Kendall Jenner

Reality star and businesswoman Kourtney Kardashian shared on Instagram that she takes a liquid form of NAD supplements

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) is a molecule that our bodies produce that helps create and protect DNA, generate energy, and build new cells. In short, it is a crucial support for almost everything our bodies do.

When we are young, our bodies are efficient at producing NAD. As we age, production slowly declines – which studies suggest could be one of the reasons why we feel worse as we age.

But scientists warn that many of the products currently available to add NAD back to our bodies are not as useful as they claim. We have yet to design an NAD product that our bodies can use in the same way that the NAD we naturally produce.

Despite skepticism, NAD supplements are recommended by A-list stars.

“I’m going to be taking NAD for the rest of my life and I’ll never age,” model Hailey Bieber said with a laugh as she received an IV of the product from Kendall Jenner.

“I have more energy, I feel really alive. I feel great,” former UFC fighter and mega-popular podcaster Joe Rogan said in a 2020 episode of his podcast.

“This has so many benefits and I love it,” Kourtney Kardashian Barker shared on Instagram in 2023, calling NAD “the genetic key to longevity.”

These treatments come with a price tag and prices vary widely depending on how you take the product and which company you purchase it from.

NAD+ Platinum from Quicksilver Scientific, Kourtney Kardashian’s favorite brand, is offering 100 milliliters of its liquid product for $84.

Other brands, such as Maripolio’s, offer a package of 120 softgels for $39. Wellness LabsRx offers a package of 90 softgels for $24.

If you’re looking for an intravenous form of the drug, treatment typically costs between $500 and $2,000.

All of these treatments claim to work by adding more NAD to your body. In theory, this works, as NAD is important for everything our bodies do.

“They (NAD molecules) are at the heart of converting everything we eat into everything we do and everything we are,” said Professor Charles Brenner, a biochemist at City of Hope Research Hospital in California who researches anti-aging. Business insider.

So scientists began investigating whether adding more NAD to our bodies could slow aging. Early research was promising.

Taking NAD precursors for more than a year increased the lifespan of mice by 8.5 percent, a 2023 study found by the Institute for Systems Biology.

Increasing the amount of NAD in the body can counteract aging and the problems that come with it, a review from 2015 by Eric Verdin, an aging researcher at the University of California, San Francisco.

But according to Dr. Verdin’s research, we still don’t know how the NAD supplement will work in the body.

NAD supplements, such as WellnessLabRx, offer tablet forms of the molecule that underlies all of our cellular functions. It’s popular in the celebrity and wellness communities, but scientists warn that the products still need research

In the eight years since then, science has made little progress in designing products that the body can actually use.

While NAD is useful on its own, taking it in pill form or intravenously does not always work.

This is because the molecule is so large that it can be difficult for it to enter your cells in these forms.

Instead, it is excreted without any changes occurring, but through your urine.

This makes NAD supplements, infusions and drinks “pretty useless” in their current form, Dr. Sabine Donnai, a physician researching the drug for a longevity clinic in London, told Business Insider.

Instead of NAD supplements, scientists recommend taking supplements that your body can use as a base ingredient to make NAD itself.

These include products such as niacin, nicotinamide riboside, nicotinic acid and more.

The studies that have been done to generate more NAD in humans have used these supplements in place of NAD, according to a 2024 paper from Northumbria University.

Others argue that supplements are the best way to get more NAD, but rather through a healthy diet and exercise.

According to Dr. Donnai, foods such as broccoli, meat, fish, nuts, and fortified grains and breads are particularly good for generating NAD.

She suggested that it is likely only certain people with health conditions or specific age-related issues who could really benefit from NAD supplementation.

“I personally would never recommend anyone to take anything until you have determined whether you actually need it,” she said.