There's a biological reason you don't have the same energy at 40 that you had at 25. NAD levels can drop by approximately 40-50% of young adult levels by the time a person reaches age 50. NAD+ is a coenzyme that powers nearly every cell in your body, and when it declines, so does your capacity to produce energy, think clearly, and recover efficiently.
NAD shots are designed to address this deficit directly. These injections deliver NAD+ into your system, bypassing the digestive limitations of oral supplements. The goal is to restore what time has depleted.
Some people using NAD shots report sharper focus, sustained energy without crashes, and better resilience in both body and mind.
The science on NAD+ supplementation is still developing, but the early research and clinical observations are compelling enough that everyone from longevity-focused physicians to performance athletes are paying attention.
Whether you're trying to reclaim your edge at work, optimize recovery from training, or simply feel like yourself again, understanding how NAD shots work is worth your time.
What Are NAD Shots?
NAD shots are intramuscular or subcutaneous injections of NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide), a coenzyme found in every living cell.
Think of NAD+ as your body's cellular currency for energy production. It's essential for converting the food you eat into usable energy, repairing DNA, and regulating hundreds of metabolic processes.
How is NAD injected?
Most NAD shots are administered at home using a small needle, similar to how someone with diabetes would use insulin. The injection itself takes seconds, and most protocols involve dosing once or twice weekly depending on your goals and your physician's recommendations.
The injection format matters
When you take NAD orally, your digestive system breaks down much of it before it reaches your bloodstream. NAD shots deliver the compound directly into your tissue, where it can be absorbed more efficiently. This is why people often notice effects from injections that they didn't experience with pills or powders.
What NAD+ Actually Does in Your Body
NAD+ is a coenzyme involved in over 500 enzymatic reactions in your body. That's not hyperbole—it's fundamental to how your cells function.
Here's what it handles:
Energy production. NAD+ powers your mitochondria, converting food into ATP—the molecule your cells use for energy. When NAD+ levels drop, mitochondrial efficiency declines. This manifests as physical fatigue, reduced stamina, and the feeling that your body isn't generating energy the way it used to. Studies show that age-related NAD+ decline directly correlates with decreased mitochondrial function, which helps explain why energy levels tend to decrease as we age.
DNA repair. Your cells take daily damage from stress, sun exposure, and normal metabolic wear. NAD+ activates the enzymes that fix this damage. When levels drop, repair slows down and cellular damage accumulates.
Cellular aging regulation. NAD+ activates sirtuins, a family of proteins that regulate cellular health and longevity. Sirtuins influence everything from inflammation to metabolic efficiency to how your cells respond to stress. They're often called "longevity genes" because of their role in healthy aging—but they can't function without NAD+.
Metabolism. NAD+ helps regulate how you process fats, carbohydrates, and proteins. It plays a role in blood sugar control, liver function, and metabolic efficiency.
The scope is massive: NAD+ touches everything from your circadian rhythm to your immune response. It's not responsible for one thing—it's fundamental infrastructure that keeps your entire cellular system running.
Why Supplementing NAD+ in Later Life Matters
Your body doesn't produce NAD+ at the same rate throughout your life. The decline is steady, significant, and unavoidable.
How does this show up in real life?
By the time most people notice the effects, their levels have already dropped substantially. The result shows up in ways you can feel: persistent fatigue, brain fog, longer recovery times after exercise, and the general sense that your body isn't bouncing back like it used to.
The research connects low NAD+ levels to specific age-related conditions.
Physically, NAD+ decline is linked to sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss) and frailty, the decreased strength and endurance that limits mobility and independence.
Cognitively, reduced NAD+ is associated with cognitive decline and appears to play a role in the development or progression of neurodegenerative diseases. The connection extends to systemic inflammation as well. Low NAD+ contributes to chronic, low-grade inflammation (sometimes called "inflammaging"), which itself drives a cascade of age-related disorders affecting multiple organ systems.
What can accelerate NAD+ decline?
Several factors speed up depletion beyond natural aging. Chronic stress increases your body's demand for NAD+ while simultaneously reducing production capacity. Poor sleep quality, excessive alcohol consumption, and metabolic conditions like obesity create similar dynamics—higher consumption, lower synthesis.
Research also indicates that chronic inflammation, often present during aging, upregulates certain NAD+-consuming enzymes (particularly CD38 and PARPs). This creates a feedback loop: inflammation drives NAD+ consumption, which impairs cellular function, which can perpetuate inflammatory states.
Why NAD Shots May Be The Superior Treatment Option
Not all NAD+ delivery methods are created equal. The route of administration significantly impacts how much actually reaches your bloodstream and cells.
The oral supplement problem
When you take NAD+ orally, it faces a major obstacle: your digestive system. Research using isotopic tracing has demonstrated that oral NAD+ and even its precursors (like NMN and NR) undergo extensive breakdown during digestion.
Your gut and liver metabolize a significant portion before it ever reaches systemic circulation. This is called "first-pass metabolism," and it's why oral bioavailability of many compounds may be lower than expected.
How NAD injections bypass the problem
NAD shots deliver NAD+ directly into tissue via intramuscular or subcutaneous injection. This bypasses the digestive system entirely, allowing for more efficient absorption into the bloodstream.
Because NAD shots may provide more predictable absorption, they allow for consistent dosing protocols. This is particularly relevant for individuals dealing with significant age-related NAD+ decline, where restoring levels efficiently can make a measurable difference in energy, recovery, and cellular function.
NAD Shots: The Bottom Line
NAD shots deliver this coenzyme directly into tissue, aiming to restore what time and stress have depleted.
Research indicates that declining NAD+ contributes to many age-related symptoms, persistent fatigue, reduced cognitive clarity, slower recovery, and decreased cellular resilience.
While the science on NAD+ supplementation continues to develop, the early evidence suggests that restoring NAD+ levels may help support mitochondrial function, cellular repair mechanisms, and overall metabolic health.
The injection format offers a direct delivery method for those seeking to address NAD+ decline as part of a broader approach to maintaining vitality and function with age.
Ready to Explore NAD+ Therapy 100% Online?
NAD+ levels decline with age, that's biology. But how you respond to that decline is a choice.
Strut Health offers physician-formulated NAD+ injections designed for convenience and consistency. Our approach prioritizes medical oversight, quality compounds, and protocols tailored to your specific health goals—whether that's sustained energy, sharper focus, or supporting your body's cellular resilience as you age.
Here's how it works:
Take a 5-minute online medical assessment. A licensed physician reviews your health history and determines if NAD+ therapy is appropriate for you. If you qualify, your NAD+ injections are shipped directly to your door with clear administration instructions.
No clinic visits. No waiting rooms. Just physician-guided NAD+ therapy that fits into your life.
See if you qualify →
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