Beauty & Nutrition
Mar 8, 2025
Editors choice
Why Aging Feels Like a Life Sentence in the US
Since the beginning of our health and longevity-focused journal, our inboxes have been flooded with bold promises.
“Lose 10 pounds in a week!”
“Look 20 years younger overnight!”
Even one that promised to end arguments with your spouse.
As industry veterans, we’ve never entertained writing about such gimmicks – no matter how generous the compensation.
But recently, one category caught our attention for a different reason. What looked like just another “miracle” supplement turned out to have serious scientific backing.
We’re talking about NAD+ boosters.
Unlike most trends, this one is supported by peer-reviewed research. The hype? Surprisingly valid.
So we decided to dig in, and not just into the science, but into the actual products.
What we found was eye-opening.
What Is NAD+ and Why It Matters
NAD+ (Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide) is essential for converting food into cellular energy, repairing DNA, and keeping your body running smoothly.
But studies show NAD+ levels naturally decline with age, stress, and poor sleep, leading to lower energy, slower recovery, and visible aging.
Supporting healthy NAD+ levels is now seen as one of the most promising strategies for maintaining vitality as you get older.
How To Regain NAD+?
One of the most common ways to naturally boost NAD+ is Nicotinamide Riboside (NR).
NR is a specialized form of vitamin B3 – and it’s been clinically shown to support NAD+ levels more efficiently than diet alone. Furthermore, the usual vitamin B3 is usually not sufficient enough to produce proper amounts of NAD+.
After ingestion, our bodies break down NR and convert it into NAD+ through a metabolic pathway.
NAD+ then goes on to power you and your cells in various ways:
Mitochondrial function: NAD+ powers the mitochondria and enables it to produce ATP (cellular energy) more efficiently.
Sirtuin activation: NAD+ activates sirtuins that protect DNA and reduce inflammation, thereby positively affecting your longevity.
PARP function enhancement: NAD+ recharges your PARPs, which are responsible for detecting DNA damage and repairing it. This can result in you looking and feeling younger.
☝️ The graph shows that NAD+ levels decline by approximately 60-70% from youth to older age, highlighting the significant reduction in the body's ability to support cellular renewal over time.
As a result, you may end up feeling more energized and focused. Your body may respond positively to NR as well – through better post-workout recovery, improved metabolic function and glowing, healthier skin.
So, if NR can be so essential in our fight for healthier aging, which product is best-suited to do that?
Our team decided to directly jump into the research and compile a list of the most reputable NR supplement brands out there. We started rummaging through the internet and looked through various supplement brands, which sell NR.
First, we scanned through 20 various different NR brands and filtered that list down to 5 according to this criteria:
The rules of participation in this experiment are explained at the bottom of the article with the research peer-reviewed and approved by a pharmacologist – Dr. Adrian Voss, PhD.
This helped reduce our primary list to 5 potential contenders for our following test, where we ranked each supplement based on publicly available information and our personal experiences.🕵️
1. Pure NR by partiQlar - A+
Highest Purity: Pure NR by partiQlar is 99.7% pure, outperforming every NR on the market.
Rigorously Tested: each batch undergoes third-party lab testing and every buyer can find the certificates on the site.
Potent Dose: offering nothing but 500 mg of the purest NR in the capsule, partiQlar steps in front of every other brand for dosage.
Why It’s The Top Pick:
PartiQlar has grown rapidly and is still establishing itself as one of the most reputable vendors in the longevity space.
They are known for making one-ingredient, highly-focused and above 97% pure longevity supplements in the US. The company itself is GMP-certified and FDA-registered, ensuring quality and consistency batch-after-batch.
PartiQlar NR stands out as the cleanest, most science-backed NAD+ supplement we’ve found. It combines clinical strength dosing (500mg), ultra-high purity (99.7%), and transparency across the board – from sourcing to third-party testing
This brand made it to our to-try list for amazing off-site reviews on Trustpilot. Users praise partiQlar’s NR for its quality, effectiveness, and they report feeling more energy after taking it.
2. NR by Tru Niagen - B+
Highly-Researched: Tru Niagen meticulously researched NAD+ and their own NR offering to the market.
Reasonably Effective: our team has found that is effective and safe.
Lower Dose: Tru Niagen’s NR is dosed at 300 mg per capsule, which is below some of its competitors.
Why It’s a Strong Contender:
Tru Niagen is one of the better-known NAD+ supplements, largely due to strong marketing and early entry into the market. It contains Nicotinamide Riboside chloride (NR chloride), a well-researched form of NR
It’s backed by over 300 preclinical and clinical studies related to NAD+ and cellular health. Tru Niagen definitely holds a high standard over the supplement market as a whole. However, here premium quality comes at a premium price.
The price question is even more apparent as their dosage is a very conservative 300 mg. Considering the fact that a base option includes 30 capsules, it does seem to provide a bit less value for money.
3. Pure NR by DoNotAge - B
Highly-Reputable brand: DoNotAge has a good reputation in the longevity space.
Produced in GMP-certified facilities: the Pure NR is produced in GMP-certified facilities, ensuring high manufacturing standards.
Lack of Scientific Backing: the purity certificates are only available upon request.
DoNotAge has built a strong reputation in the longevity space, offering a range of supplements focused on healthy aging.
Their Pure NR supplement delivers 350mg of Nicotinamide Riboside chloride per capsule, which is a reasonable dose.
They emphasize using no fillers, no flow agents, and no additives, and manufacture their products in GMP-certified facilities.
However, while they claim "100% purity," third-party lab certificates for Pure NR are available only upon request and not openly posted on their site.
Given the higher dosage and affordable price, Pure NR by DoNotAge stands out, but transparency could be stronger compared to top-tier competitors.
4. NiaCel 400 by Thorne - B
Decent Value: Thorne offers $70 for 60 capsules, which are 500 mg each.
Formula Includes TMG: the NR is combined with TMG for improved effectiveness.
Uses a Less Researched Form of NR: the supplement includes NR Hydrogen Malate, which is studied the least of all NR forms.
Overall, Thorne presents a great NR supplement for decent value – $70 for 60 capsules. Additionally, the dosage is among the highest in the list – 500 mg per capsule, just like its counterpart from partiQlar. However, when we break it down, there are some reasonable concerns.
The ingredients include 415 mg of Nicotinamide Riboside Hydrogen Malate, which is the least researched form of NR (Hydrogen Malate serves as a stabilizer. Most brands use NR Chloride, as it is more researched and considered safe). The other ingredient is 85 mg of Betaine Anhydrous (TMG), which is generally safe to consume and is great for more effective NAD+ boosting.
Thorne also doesn’t make any purity claims nor did we find any certification for their product. That makes Thorne’s offer a mixed bag.
Reputation within the longevity community – we made sure that the brands are reputable by scanning through various forums and seeing if the users are mentioning them in a non-commercial context.
Simple ingredient list – no unnecessary ingredients, sweeteners, coloring agents, and anything else that doesn’t affect absorption or isn’t a supplement.
Study-backed dosage – studies have been done with at least 300 mg of NR. We made sure that our top choices contain an amount equal or higher than 300 mg per serving. This was done to ensure effectiveness of each supplement we were going to try out.
No blends – we only included products that contain just NR or the NR as the main ingredient.
No unrealistic claims – any supplement is just a boost to your lifestyle, which should be healthy & balanced to feel the effects. Any brand that promised life-changing effects was written off as a potential scam and didn’t enter our primary list.
Scientifically backed claims – to make sure that the brand knows what they’re selling, we made sure that their product descriptions included at least one scientific reference.
Next, our research team assembled a focus group of 25 healthy adults, aged 25 to 70, with no pre-existing medical conditions. Participants were divided into five groups, each testing a different NR supplement brand.
The following were the rules of participation in this experiment:
Each NR was to be taken daily and accordingly with the package instructions – no creative interpretation about dosage nor ingestion.
The experiment lasted exactly 4 weeks, i.e. 28 days.
If the package didn’t give any instructions about ingestion, the participant must have simply taken the NR capsule(s) with one glass of water.
Every participant must have journaled their experience after starting this experiment at least once a week and have written a conclusion on the last day of taking NR.
The participants must also have submitted to weekly blood tests, which were focused on inspecting the NR’s performance, including NAD+ levels.
With so many options on the market, picking the right NR supplement comes down to a few key factors. Purity, transparency, and quality manufacturing make the biggest difference—not just in effectiveness but in knowing exactly what you’re putting into your body.
First, look for clear labeling and third-party testing. A good supplement will state its NR content per serving and provide independent lab results to verify purity and potency. Without this, there’s no way to know if you’re getting an effective dose or just trace amounts.
Manufacturing standards matter too. Supplements produced in FDA-registered or GMP-certified facilities follow stricter quality controls, ensuring safety and consistency. If you have dietary restrictions, checking for gluten-free, vegan, or allergen-free options can also help narrow down your choices.
On the other hand, avoid brands that lack transparency. If a company doesn’t disclose its exact NR content or ingredient sources, that’s a red flag. Similarly, watch out for unnecessary fillers or additives—they don’t contribute to effectiveness and can sometimes cause unwanted reactions.
After meticulously testing four best NR supplements, one thing became clear: not all NAD+ boosters are created equal. Some delivered subtle support, others felt inconsistent – but only one provided that steady, energized, fully-alive feeling day after day.
💡 If you’re looking for a quick cheat sheet on NR and how to use it effectively, check out our FAQ section—we’ve answered the most common questions to help you get started with confidence.
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