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Nicotinamide riboside
A form of vitamin B3 sold as a supplement. It has drawn interest for possible "anti-ageing" effects through raising NAD+, a molecule cells need.
Explained simply · Last reviewed
What it is
Nicotinamide riboside, usually shortened to NR, is a form of vitamin B3. The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) counts it among the compounds covered by the name niacin, and says the body turns niacin into a coenzyme called NAD, which more than 400 enzymes need. A 2025 review of muscle trials, cited below, notes that NR and a related compound, NMN, have drawn attention for possible "anti-ageing" effects by raising NAD+ levels.
More about Nicotinamide riboside
The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) counts it among the compounds covered by the name niacin, and says the body turns niacin into a coenzyme called NAD, which more than 400 enzymes need. A 2025 review of muscle trials, cited below, notes that NR and a related compound, NMN, have drawn attention for possible "anti-ageing" effects by raising NAD+ levels.
The authors of the Interventions Testing Program mouse study cited below note that total NAD levels decline with age in a wide range of species. Whether NR raises NAD+ is a separate question from whether it changes how people age, and this page rates the two separately.
EFSA, the EU food safety authority, reports a study, supplied by the applicant, that found small amounts of NR in cow's milk. The NR that EFSA assessed, and that a manufacturer described in its notice to the US FDA, is made in a lab, as a salt called nicotinamide riboside chloride. It is sold as a dietary supplement, but the NIH notes that it is not marketed or labeled as a source of niacin. The ratings below report what the cited reviews and authorities found.
Also known as: NR, nicotinamide riboside chloride, NRC
At a glance
Safety: known risks and 2 groups who should avoid it or take extra care. See Safety ↓Claims made about Nicotinamide riboside, and how strong the evidence is for each:
- Improves muscle strength and physical functionEvidence rating: Limited
- Reduces fatigue and boosts energyEvidence rating: Limited
- Improves cholesterol and blood sugarEvidence rating: Insufficient
Longevity and aging claims
Claims made about Nicotinamide riboside and aging, and how strong the evidence is for each. A change in a marker is not the same as a longer life.
- Raises NAD+ levels in the bloodEvidence rating: Limited
- Helps people live longerEvidence rating: Insufficient
Each rating follows our published rules and the sources cited for it. We don’t add our own medical judgment. How we rate
Safety
Read this before the ratings below.
Risks
- EFSA, the EU food safety authority, assessed nicotinamide riboside chloride as a food supplement ingredient and states that "Human studies do not raise safety concerns." In the human studies it reviewed, all in healthy adults, it notes that "changes in haematology and clinical chemistry remained within reference ranges and that no dose‐dependent adverse effects in the safety parameter examined were observed."
- EFSA concluded that the ingredient "is safe under the proposed uses and use levels, i.e. up to 300 mg/day, for the healthy adult population, excluding pregnant and lactating women," and that "an intake of the NF up to 230 mg/day is safe for pregnant and lactating women." (EFSA calls the ingredient "the NF", for novel food.)
- In a later opinion, EFSA "notes experimental data which indicate several pathways by which intakes of nicotinamide (or its precursors), at levels that are substantially higher than the physiological requirement, might cause adverse effects." It "considers that further investigations are required and that a re‐evaluation of the UL for nicotinamide may be warranted." According to EFSA, nicotinamide riboside is likely to be absorbed mainly as nicotinamide.
- In the US, the FDA had "no questions at this time" about one manufacturer’s conclusion that nicotinamide riboside chloride is generally recognized as safe as a source of vitamin B3 in certain foods and drinks. The FDA stated that it "has not, however, made its own determination" on that question.
- A 2026 systematic review of NAD+ supplements, mostly NR and NMN, reports that "short-term tolerability was generally favorable, with no consistent serious safety signals in randomized studies over the durations evaluated". It notes that many trials were short, which limits conclusions about long-term safety.
Who should avoid it or take extra care
- Pregnant and breastfeeding women: EFSA judged the safety margin from an animal developmental study "insufficient" for these groups at the level it accepted for other adults, and set a lower level for them instead.
- Infants: EFSA concluded that the ingredient’s safety "has not been established" for use in meal replacement products and nutritional drink mixes, citing "the lack of tolerable upper intake level (UL) for nicotinamide in infants" and a narrow margin of exposure for infants. The FDA letter records that the manufacturer does not intend the ingredient for foods for infants and toddlers.
Safety sources: Source [1]Source [2]Source [3]Source [4]
What the evidence says
Each claim is rated on its own evidence. Ratings follow the scale on our methodology page.
Improves muscle strength and physical function Evidence rating: Limited
People take it hoping it will keep their muscles strong and help them stay active as they get older.
A 2025 review found evidence does not support NR or NMN for muscle in older adults and did not grade it; a 2026 review found no significant NR effect on strength and graded the pooled precursors low.
Two reviews looked at this, and neither found a clear benefit from NR. Both drew on few, small NR trials. A 2025 meta-analysis of adults with an average age over 60 found four NR trials. The reviewers did not pool them. NR did not improve grip strength in three of them. One trial in people with peripheral artery disease found a longer six-minute walking distance. In a trial in people with mild cognitive impairment, the NR group did worse than placebo on two physical performance tests.
The reviewers concluded that current evidence "does not support NMN and NR supplementation for preserving muscle mass and function" in this age group. This review did not rate certainty. One of its authors discloses lecture fees from Abbott and Pfizer, for work outside the review.
A 2026 network meta-analysis included 12 NR studies with 459 participants across all the outcomes it examined. Its muscle-strength analysis covered 20 studies with 619 people across all the NAD+ precursors it examined. The estimate for NR on muscle strength did not differ significantly from placebo. The reviewers rated the certainty of the strength evidence low, for all precursors together rather than for NR alone. The endurance benefit it reports was for a different compound, NMN, not NR.
Sources: Source [1]Source [2]
Reduces fatigue and boosts energy Evidence rating: Limited
People take it hoping it will give them more energy and leave them feeling less tired.
A 2026 review found that no NAD+ precursor, NR included, significantly improved how tired people felt, and rated that evidence low certainty for all precursors together.
A 2026 network meta-analysis pooled 16 studies with 1,126 participants on how tired people felt. No NAD+ precursor it examined, NR included, improved perceived fatigue significantly compared with placebo. The reviewers rated the certainty of this evidence low. That rating covers all the NAD+ precursors together, not NR alone.
The reviewers note that NR did not significantly improve fatigue severity in people with long COVID. They describe the evidence for NR and for nicotinamide as "limited or inconsistent across populations". The review also found no significant benefit for sleep quality from NAD+ precursors as a group, again at low certainty.
Sources: Source [1]
Improves cholesterol and blood sugar Evidence rating: Insufficient
People take it hoping it will improve their cholesterol and blood sugar.
A 2022 review counted three NR trials and found no significant change in blood fats or fasting blood sugar with NR; the reviewers say too few NR studies exist to rule out a role.
A 2022 meta-analysis pooled 40 trials of NAD+ precursors, but the reviewers count only three that tested NR. One of the NR studies in their table combined NR with pterostilbene. Most, 35, tested nicotinic acid, a different form of vitamin B3 that the reviewers note is used to treat abnormal blood fats.
In the reviewers’ subgroup analyses, the lipid benefits were significant for nicotinic acid. In the NR studies, the reviewers found no significant change in triglycerides, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol or fasting blood sugar.
They wrote that "the role of NR and NAM could not be directly denied due to the few relevant studies at present." (NAM is nicotinamide.) The reviewers put this down to the small number of NR studies. This page reads that as too little research to say either way.
Sources: Source [1]
Longevity and aging
What the cited sources report about lifespan, death from any cause, and markers studied in connection with aging. A change in a marker is not the same as a longer life. Each outcome is rated on its own evidence, on the same scale as the claims above.
Raises NAD+ levels in the blood Evidence rating: Limited
People take it hoping it will raise their NAD+ levels.
A 2026 review reports that most human studies of oral NR and NMN found higher NAD-related molecules in blood; it did not grade certainty, and it says tissue results varied.
This is about a marker, NAD+ and related molecules measured in human blood. It is not about lifespan or health. A 2026 systematic review of 33 human studies of NAD+ supplements concluded that oral NR and NMN "consistently demonstrate biochemical target engagement in humans". The review reports that most studies measuring them found higher levels of NAD-related molecules in blood or blood cells. Its NR example is a placebo-controlled trial in which NR raised NAD+ in certain white blood cells by about 60% compared with placebo.
It adds that "tissue-level responses were more variable": one NR trial found no clear change in NAD-related molecules in muscle. The review states this for NR and NMN together, did not pool results, and did not grade the certainty of the evidence. It judged most of its randomized trials to have some risk-of-bias concerns. It also notes that follow-up was often short and that many trials were small. For those reasons this page rates the evidence limited.
EFSA, which reviewed the human studies submitted with the manufacturer’s application, reports these results. In an 8-week placebo-controlled trial, "a gradual and significant increase in whole blood concentration of NAD+ was found with doses of 300 mg and 1,000 mg/day" of nicotinamide riboside chloride. In an open-label study of eight volunteers, NR "significantly increased NAD+ concentrations in blood compared to baseline". In a single-dose study with no control group, "No changes in NAD+ or NADP concentrations were detected in either plasma or WBC" (white blood cells).
Neither source concludes that a rise in NAD+ improves health or slows aging. The review says evidence for anti-aging and wellness benefits "remains heterogeneous and inconclusive".
Sources: Source [1]Source [2]
Helps people live longer Evidence rating: Insufficient
People take it hoping it will help them live longer.
A 2026 review included no human lifespan study; in mice, a 2016 study reports a small increase, and a three-site study found no significant effect in either sex.
This page found no study in humans that measured lifespan or death from any cause with NR. A 2026 systematic review of NAD+ supplements included no human study of lifespan. It says that detecting slower, cumulative change may require longer follow-up. The review found that only a minority of rodent studies of NAD-related compounds reported survival or lifespan, and that "results were mixed".
The cited lifespan evidence is from mice. This page cites two mouse studies that fed NR and measured lifespan. In a 2016 study, 60 mice of a single laboratory strain (C57BL/6J), already 24 months old, were split into two groups of 30, and one group was fed NR. The authors report that NR "slightly increased life span": the NR-fed mice survived statistically significantly longer, living 868 days on average against 829 days on the control diet. They write that "the life span benefit is small". The study’s methods do not say whether these mice were male or female.
The 2016 paper discloses that four of its authors and EPFL, a Swiss university, had filed a provisional patent application on "the use of NAD boosting to enhance SC [stem cell] function". It also discloses that one author holds the Nestlé Chair in Energy Metabolism.
The Interventions Testing Program, funded by the US National Institute on Aging, fed NR to genetically mixed mice from 8 months of age at three separate sites. In the pooled data from all three sites, NR had "no significant effect, positive or negative" on lifespan in either sex. The ITP authors state that the NR was provided by ChromaDex.
Sources: Source [1]Source [2]Source [3]
Which form the evidence used
Supplements are sold in several forms. This is what the sources on this page say about them — which form the research used, and any comparison those sources themselves made. Where they made none, this page does not rank the forms.
Nicotinamide riboside chloride, What the sources supportDetails
This is the form both cited safety assessments evaluated: the EU food safety authority’s opinions and the FDA letter. Both describe a lab-made ingredient from one manufacturer. That tells you which form was assessed. It does not mean this form works better than any other, and none of the cited sources compared forms. The NIH counts nicotinamide riboside as a form of niacin (vitamin B3), but notes that NR supplements are not marketed or labeled as sources of niacin. Source [1]Source [2]Source [3]
Sources
- The Effect of Nicotinamide Mononucleotide and Riboside on Skeletal Muscle Mass and Function: A Systematic Review and Meta-AnalysisJournal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle, 2025 · Meta-analysis · Primary source
- Domain-specific effects of NAD+ precursors on fatigue and functional performance: a systematic review and network meta-analysisFrontiers in Nutrition, 2026 · Meta-analysis · Primary source · Certainty: low
- Effects of NAD+ precursor supplementation on glucose and lipid metabolism in humans: a meta-analysisNutrition & Metabolism, 2022 · Meta-analysis · Primary source
- NAD⁺ supplementation for anti-aging and wellness: A PRISMA-guided systematic review of preclinical and clinical evidenceAgeing Research Reviews, 2026 · Systematic review · Primary source
- Safety of nicotinamide riboside chloride as a novel food pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 and bioavailability of nicotinamide from this source, in the context of Directive 2002/46/ECEFSA Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens (EFSA Journal), 2019 · Health authority summary · Primary source
- NAD⁺ repletion improves mitochondrial and stem cell function and enhances life span in miceScience, 2016 · Animal or laboratory study · Supporting source
- 17-a-estradiol late in life extends lifespan in aging UM-HET3 male mice; nicotinamide riboside and three other drugs do not affect lifespan in either sexAging Cell, 2021 · Animal or laboratory study · Supporting source
- Extension of use of nicotinamide riboside chloride as a novel food pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2015/2283EFSA Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens (EFSA Journal), 2021 · Health authority summary · Primary source
- Agency Response Letter GRAS Notice No. GRN 000635U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2016 · Health authority summary · Primary source
- Niacin: Fact Sheet for Health ProfessionalsNIH Office of Dietary Supplements, 2022 · Health authority summary · Primary source
Page history
Show all 5 changes to this page
- — Rewritten to the content style guideline; ratings and sources unchanged.
- — Published. The claims, the longevity outcomes, the safety section and every source passed the site's source and wording reviews, including the revision citing the 2016 mouse lifespan study directly. The owner's funding decision and the unobtainable sources are recorded in docs/08-open-decisions.md.
- — The lifespan entry now cites the 2016 mouse study of NR and lifespan (Zhang et al., Science) directly, read in full, instead of reporting it only as a later review describes it. The summary now gives that study’s own design and result, and the paper’s disclosures: a provisional patent application by four authors and EPFL, and one author’s Nestlé Chair. Its rating stays insufficient, with basis review: the study is in mice, and the cited three-site mouse study found no significant effect.
- — Added a 2026 systematic review of NAD+ supplements (Gallagher and Emmanuel, Ageing Research Reviews), read in full. The NAD+ entry now reads "Raises NAD+ levels in the blood". It cites the review alongside EFSA, and its basis moves from authority to review. Its rating stays limited, by owner decision: the review did not grade certainty, it reports NR and NMN together, and it rated most trials at some risk of bias. It is still reported as a marker, not a health or lifespan effect. The lifespan entry now also cites the review, which found mixed rodent results and no human lifespan studies. Its rating stays insufficient, and its basis moves from supporting-only to review. The review’s short-term tolerability finding is added to the safety section.
- — Drafted.