Comment · Sat, September 26, 2020 · ND Owner
NMN, Niacin, NAD +, and Addiction
Original post in this thread
[deleted] · 5 points
I was really fascinated to see studies supporting the idea that NAD therapy could be a used pretty straightforwardly as a treatment for addiction:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7278809/
It seems clear that NMN is one of the best oral routes to raise NAD levels, but there also seems to be evidence that straight niacin can raise NAD levels, at least in individuals considered deficient:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32386566/
The substance itself, and its systemic effects is quite exciting, but even more wild is that the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, Bill W., was an extremely fervent (really almost religious) advocate of high doses of niacin for treating alcohol addiction. The fact that this seems to be supported, at least in theory, is pretty wild. I am always shocked when things that are viewed strictly as quackery (and I know there is indeed a lot of that) turn out to be validated. A bit like IV vitamin c being totally written off, and now being used in major hospitals to treat sepsis. Anyways, I wonder if anyone had any experiences, or thoughts to share on…
What they were answering
bronzeagemindset · 2 points
Thank you for the explanation I apreciate it
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb · ND Owner
My pleasure! Here is another way to visualize it. What do you think will raise dopamine levels higher/quicker, L-phenylalanine or L-DOPA? L-phenylalanine has three rate-limiting enzymatic steps between it and dopamine. L-DOPA has one. L-DOPA is going to raise dopamine levels way quicker, and be much more targeted.
Look at the steps with dopamine.
You can see that taking L-phenylalanine is going to lead to increases in other things like phenethylamine, N-methylphenethylamine, N-methyltyramine, tyramine, octopamine, etc. as well, along with not reaching the same levels of dopamine, or as quickly as L-DOPA would. Obviously this is not a perfect analogy, but it shows similarities in how your body uses rate-limiting enzymes to control how much of specific compounds get created, and how quickly. Bypassing those rate-limiting enzymes will always speed that process up, and lead to higher levels of the compounds in question. Plus, the fact that NMN has its own transporter in the small intestine makes the processes even quicker.