NAD and Vitamin B3: Benefits, Uses, and How They Work Together

The human body relies on nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), the active coenzyme form of vitamin B3, for most of its essential functions. Among other benefits, NAD helps boost energy, improve mental clarity, and promote a youthful appearance.

In this article, we take a closer look at how taking vitamin B3 can help improve your NAD levels and boost your overall health. 

What is NAD?

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, more commonly referred to as NAD, is a coenzyme found in every cell of your body. The cells rely on NAD to carry out metabolic functions ranging from energy creation to maintaining healthy DNA. This essential molecule also serves as fuel for many indispensable biological processes like strengthening your immune system and setting your body’s internal clock. 


Although NAD is naturally produced in the human body, its levels inevitably decrease as we age. For example, by the age of sixty, your NAD levels are less than half of what they were in your forties. This decline may be accelerated by stress, poor sleep, lack of healthy nutrition, and the use of drugs and alcohol. 


Low NAD levels can cause a range of detrimental effects such as:


  • Fatigue
  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Weakened immune system
  • Headaches
  • Sleep problems
  • Reduced focus and concentration. 

NAD deficiency is also associated with many different signs of aging and age-related chronic conditions including diabetes, vision loss, heart diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.


Keep reading to find out how vitamin B3 can be used to improve your NAD levels. 

Does Vitamin B3 Increase NAD?

Vitamin B3, also called nicotinic acid or niacin, is one of the eight B-complex vitamins. It is made up of nicotinic acid, nicotinamide, and nicotinamide riboside, the precursors from which NAD is synthesized. Vitamin B3 plays an essential role in the functioning of the digestive system, kidneys, and nervous system, as well as producing hormones in the adrenal glands and helping remove harmful chemicals from the liver. 

Scientists have recently discovered that nicotinamide riboside can raise NAD levels in the muscle and blood of patients with mitochondrial myopathy, improving disease signs and muscle strength, but also in healthy middle-aged and older adults. Research shows that nicotinamide riboside can potentially be used to prevent and treat health conditions like:

  • Weight control
  • High cholesterol
  • Diabetes
  • Dementia
  • Cardiovascular disease
  • Chemotherapeutic peripheral neuropathy
  • Heart failure 
  • Brain injury.

Having enough niacin in the body is important for maintaining optimal health. There are several ways in which you can increase your levels of this essential nutrient.

How Can I Increase My Vitamin B3?

You can boost the levels of vitamin B3 through a healthy diet, oral supplements, or intravenous therapy. 

Food

Niacin is a water-soluble vitamin, which means that it is regularly expelled through urine instead of being stored in your body. This is why it’s important to make niacin-rich foods an essential part of your diet. The good news is that you don’t need a lot of niacin to meet your daily needs. 


The best sources of vitamin B3 are animal-based foods such as beef, chicken, pork, turkey, liver, tuna, and salmon. Vegetarian sources include legumes, sunflower seeds, avocados, green peas, peanuts, mushrooms, as well as breakfast cereals and whole-grain breads fortified with niacin. 


The recommended daily allowance (RDA) is 16 mg of vitamin B3 for men and 14 mg for women, and the maximum daily intake is 35 mg daily for all adults. It is important to keep in mind that niacin can be toxic when taken in high doses. You should never exceed the RDA unless recommended by your doctor. 

Vitamin supplements 

As a supplement, niacin may help lower cholesterol, ease arthritis, and boost brain function. However, taking vitamin B3 supplements for longer periods of time can result in an imbalance of other B vitamins. Instead of taking vitamin B3 on its own, it is often preferable to take a B-complex vitamin which includes all the B vitamins.


Niacin is often used as a cholesterol treatment in very high doses. These amounts of niacin can not only cause unpleasant side effects such as flushing, but could also pose risks of liver damage, gastrointestinal problems, and glucose intolerance. If you have a history of liver or kidney disease and stomach ulcers, you should not take vitamin B3 supplements.

IV therapy

The safest and most effective way to improve your vitamin B3 levels is through intravenous therapy. An infusion completely bypasses the digestive system and delivers a potent dose of vitamins directly to your bloodstream, so that you don’t need to wait for food to be broken down in your digestive tract. Instead, nutrients are quickly delivered to depleted cells throughout your body for a 100% absorption rate. 


Increasing your vitamin B3 levels through IV therapy will help you not only slow the aging process but also reduce fatigue, deliver an energy boost, improve your skin health, and enhance sleep quality. 


Reset IV offers several packages that contain vitamin B3 as part of the B-complex vitamins:

  • Immune Boost package. This package combines a blend of normal saline, vitamin B-complex, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), and glutathione that boosts the immune system, helps break down nutrients, and provides antioxidant-like benefits.
  • Jetlag package. This solution contains anti-inflammatory or pain relief medication and B-vitamins combined with electrolytes to help to reduce stress and combat fatigue.
  • Pre Game Hangover package. This package includes all the B-vitamins as an effective means to replenish nutrients lost after a night of heavy drinking.

Rest IV also provides NAD IV treatment that will help increase your energy, mental clarity, focus and concentration, and improve your memory and moods.


All our treatments are fully customizable, so that you can choose vitamin B complex including vitamin B3 as part of any of our packages.


If you would like to learn more about Reset IV therapy and schedule an appointment, feel free to call us at 1-833-737-3848 or send us a message and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.


Read on for more on how to recognize symptoms of vitamin B3 deficiency. 

What Are the Symptoms of Lack of Vitamin B3?

Niacin deficiency is rare in industrialized countries because the vitamin is easily absorbed from food sources. 

Signs of mild niacin deficiency include:

  • Headache
  • Fatigue
  • Poor circulation
  • Canker sores
  • Memory loss
  • Depression
  • Nausea
  • Indigestion 
  • Vomiting 
  • Abdominal cramps.

In severe cases, low levels of vitamin B3 can lead to pellagra, a disease that causes skin lesions, gastrointestinal issues, and mental disorders like confusion and hallucinations.

Some people are at higher risk for vitamin B3 deficiency, including:

  • Individuals whose diets are limited both when it comes to variety and quantity of foods.
  • Anyone suffering from malnutrition due to alcohol use disorder, anorexia, or inflammatory bowel disease, for example.
  • People with chronic alcoholism. The deficiency occurs because the absorption of water-soluble vitamins including vitamin B3 decreases with excessive alcohol intake.
  • Patients with carcinoid syndrome where a chemical called serotonin is released in the gut. The syndrome causes an essential amino acid in the diet, tryptophan, to be converted into serotonin rather than niacin, decreasing the levels of vitamin B3.
  • People with a low intake of vitamin B2, vitamin B6, or iron, which reduces the amount of tryptophan that converts to niacin.