20 Best NMN supplements 2023: Top Picks Reviewed & Ranked
Jules Walters • Last updated: July 17, 2023
Let’s start with what is NMN?
Nicotinamide mononucleotide or NMN for short provides energy to our cells and is vital for life — and healthy aging. It’s closely related chemically to vitamin B3, also known as niacin.
As we age, our production of NMN goes down. By the time we’re over 50, recent studies have shown that we’re making less than half of what we naturally produced in our 30s.
So the bottom line is, as we age, we need to try harder to maintain our energy levels and stay as vital as our younger selves. One way to top up the declining production of NMN by the human body as we age is to take NMN in the form of a dietary supplement.
At the foot of this article, you’ll find my top 20 recommendations for the best NMN products to help support our healthspan: the number of years we live healthy lives.
If you want to fast-track your own product research, you can go straight to my 5 picks for the best NMN brands.
You can also see here how I arrive at my rankings.
How does NMN work?
Until recently, the NMN molecule was thought to be a stepping stone on the way to another molecule, which actually does the energy work. That molecule that does the work is nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+). NAD+ is found in every cell of our bodies.
As we’ve learned more about NMN in the last decade, NMN has become a focus for its anti-aging potential as well as a potential protector against some common neurological disorders, like Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s.
Bear with me while I give a quick overview of the science, as it’s important to understand the context for NMN.
Our bodies turn NMN into NAD+. Recent research has shown that NMN is absorbed from our gut into our blood within a few minutes, and then used or stored immediately as NAD+ in our tissues and organs.
It is thought that NMN may be more bioavailable than NAD+, which is why supplements use NMN. Bioavailable just means being present in a form that our bodies can use.
Initially, NMN was studied as a possible treatment for a vitamin B3 deficiency, as it is closely related chemically to vitamin B3, also known as niacin. Extensive research and interest in recent years has led to the rising popularity of NMN – and to its advocates claiming even wider positive effects.
The claims of potential benefits range from promoting cellular health and protecting the immune system to guarding against declining cognitive function and future cardiovascular diseases.
What about nicotinamide riboside (NR)?
You’ll also hear about nicotinamide riboside (NR), once you start digging into the science. NR is turned into NMN by our bodies on its way to producing NAD+, which actually does the work of energy production.
So you could take NR instead of NMN. Both NR and NMN are precursors of NMN and orally bioavailable, which means you can take either in a pill form and they’ll both work. There are also formulations in my recommendations that are in powder form, which means you can mix with some food, like yoghurt, or just put under your tongue (sublingual delivery) to be absorbed straight into your bloodstream. Capsules have to be broken down in our gut to release the active substance.
A recent review of what are called NAD+ precursors concluded that both NR and NMN supplementation have exciting potential as an anti-aging therapy, through their role in DNA repair, and as a protector against metabolic and neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease.
In my top five choices is a company called Elysium, which is led by aging researcher and the company’s chief scientist Leonard Guarente PhD. Elysium has done the hard work of running a research study that shows their product Basis increased NAD+ levels by 40% compared to placebo. Elysium’s new product Signal was released early in 2022, so you can see this is an active space of new product development.
Similarly, Wonderfeel is founded by biomedical scientist and entrepreneur Dr Andrew Salzman, a graduate of Harvard Medical School, Yale and Columbia Universities. The company is due to publish research that shows that a 900 mg NMN dose delivers better health results than 300 mg or 600 mg of NMN.
NMN as an anti-aging molecule
NMN gets converted into NAD+, which is needed as an energy source in our cells, including for a group of gene-activating molecules called sirtuins. Sirtuins turn genes on and off (what the scientists refer to as gene expression. Some sirtuins work in the nucleus of our cells, others work in our mitochondria, the energy powerhouses of our cells.
Elysium’s Signal product contains NMN plus sirtuin 3 (SIRT3), which protects and generates new mitochondria to boost energy in our cells. As we age, the action of enzymes like SIRT3 slow down.
Research into the activity of sirtuins has been led by Dr. David Sinclair of Harvard University. (Dr. Sinclair is co-director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for the Biological Mechanisms of Aging and a Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School.) TIME magazine called him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2014 and I highly recommend his 2019 book Lifespan if you’d like to find out more about why we age and why we don’t have to.
NMN as a protection against Alzheimer’s disease
We know that NAD+ depletion happens in various tissues as we get older, including our brains. Researchers have identified what are called the Hallmarks of Brain Aging.
We’ve all seen the results of aging in friends and family. As we age, we forget things, we take longer to make decisions and we find it harder to coordinate our muscles. The decline gets faster once we’re over 50. Our brain literally shrinks. That decline accelerates in conditions like Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s. The decline gets faster once we’re over 50. Our brain literally shrinks.
Multiple research studies in animals, what the pharmaceutical industry calls preclinical trials, have tested NMN and NR to see if boosting cellular levels can slow down the aging process.
These studies have shown that NMN has board health benefits, including reversing oxidative stress and improving insulin sensitivity. Studies in humans are underway to see if these results can be repeated.
How much NMN should I take?
As NMN remains a nutritional supplement rather than a pharmaceutical product, which would be tested in multiple studies to determine the best dose, there is no agreed daily amount as yet for NMN.
If you are concerned about combining NMN with other supplements or medication you are taking, do seek medical advice first. However, we do know that in healthy Japanese men, a single oral dose of up to 500mg of NMN was well tolerated with no significant side effects.
More clinical trials in humans have been done on NR compared to NMN. Among the in-human trials, one trial in NR found that it was bioavailable, safe and well tolerated in humans up to doses of 1,000 mg.
Can I get NMN from food?
The good news is that we can get some NMN from foods like broccoli and cabbage, as well as avocados and edamame. Cucumber has the most NMN at 0.56-0.65 mg per 100g, according to a 2016 study. Edamame comes next with 0.47-1.88 mg of NMN per 100g, and broccoli has 0.25-1.12 mg of NMN per 100g.
So you can see from these numbers that you are going to get more NMN in supplements, which typically carry a recommended dosage of between 250 mg and 900 mg of NMN per serving. Having said that, a healthy diet will always help boost our NMN levels.
What brand of NMN does Dr David Sinclair recommend?
David Sinclair has revealed that he takes NMN himself, daily, and he’s done more than anyone recently to draw attention to the role of NMN. He makes a point, though, of not recommending any one brand.
If you want to read more about the science of aging, see my blog here for an introduction to some of the most accessible recent books on the subject; including Dr Sinclair’s 2019 book Lifespan in which he outlines his view of the role of NMN in human health and longevity.
¹Statements made on this website and about these products have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, test, cure or prevent any disease.
Jules’ Picks
These are my choices for the 20 top NMN supplements, reviewed and ranked in descending order. You’ll find most NMN products come in pill form – NMN tablets to be chewed, swallowed, or absorbed under the tongue. A spray is another option. The best form is really a matter of personal preference.
1. Renue By Science – Fast Dissolve Powder Pure NMN
Renue By Science’s Fast Dissolve Powder Pure NMN contains just one ingredient: NMN.
The jar contains 60 servings and you can just put the 500 mg dose under your tongue where it gets absorbed straight into your bloodstream. As a powder, rather than a capsule, it doesn’t need to be broken down in your gut for the active ingredient to be released. If you don’t like the feel of powder, you could mix it into yogurt in the morning – for the same result.
2. Wonderfeel® – youngr™ nmn
Wonderfeel is a young company founded in 2018 by biomedical founder Dr Andrew Salzman, who has spent his career understanding how cells work.
This formulation contains 900 mg of NMN in a serving size of two capsules, plus a few added bonus ingredients. One of those bonus ingredients is ergothioneine, found in mushrooms, and it’s a powerful antioxidant. A further bonus is resveratrol, another antioxidant.
3. Elysium Health – Signal
Elysium’s Signal is a new product released at the beginning of 2022.
This formulation contains NMN plus what Elysium calls a SIRT3 activation complex of honokiol, extracted from magnolia bark, and viniferin from grape vines. Both are polyphenols from plants. Honokiol is used in traditional Chinese medicine and known for its neuroprotective properties.
4. Elysium Health – Basis
Elysium’s Basis contains 250mg of a crystalline version of nicotinamide riboside, another precursor of NAD+, which is needed for energy in cells.
This one also contains 50mg of pterostilbene, a polyphenol produced by plants to protect against stress. Elysium’s co-founder and chief scientist Dr Leonard Guarante has been a researcher in the anti-aging field for the past 40 years, starting his ground-breaking work in yeast.
5. ProHealth Longevity – NMN Pro
ProHealth Longevity’s NMN Pro is pure NMN powder.
This version contains 60 servings of 250 mg of NMN delivered in a scoop. It is believed that absorbing NMN directly under the tongue and straight into the blood vessels in our mouths, bypassing our gut, increases bioavailability. It’s really just a personal choice if you prefer a powder over a capsule. Both will work.
6. ProHealth Longevity – NMN Pro 300
ProHealth Longevity’s NMN Pro 300 is a capsule form of NMN. This formulation has no other ingredients apart from NMN.
ProHealth uses a branded type of NMN called Uthever® – which the company claims is one of the purest forms of NMN on the market. The Uthever team is led by doctors from a major pharmaceutical company, and the manufacturing team say they comply with US Pharmacopoeia (USP) quality standards.
7. Tru – Niagen 300mg
Tru Niagen’s 300 mg formulation is in a vegetarian capsule containing nicotinamide riboside (NR) chloride; a crystallized form of NR.
ChromaDex, the company behind Tru Niagen, has published more than 20 human studies using this formulation and it has 250 research collaborations with universities and institutions.
8. Renue By Science – LIPO NAD+ Complete
Renue By Science Lipo NAD+ Complete combines NMN with nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) and nicotinamide riboside (NR), inside tiny liposomes.
The company believes this method is the best way to deliver an effective dose that will boost NAD+ levels. By using all three compounds in this molecular pathway, the company is getting three shots on goal, rather than just one shot from relying solely on NMN.
9. Quicksilver Scientific – NAD+ Gold
Quicksilver Scientific’s NAD+ Gold contains 50mg of NMN per serving with 50mg of trimethylglcyine to support bioactivity.
Quicksilver is all about delivering active ingredients in a small body of fat called a liposome, which is delivered through a liquid squirted into your mouth and absorbed straight into the bloodstream. (Capsules on the other hand need to be broken down in the gut for active ingredients to be released.) This product needs to be kept in the fridge.
10. Double Wood Supplements – NMN
Double Wood NMN delivers one gram of NMN as a powder, which is about 1.5 of a teaspoon. Each pack contains 30 servings.
The maker recommends storing the powder in a cool, dark place and not to freeze or expose to moisture or heat above room temperature. A kitchen cupboard should do the trick.
11. Double Wood Supplements – NMN Capsules + Resveratrol Combo
Double Wood NMN Capsules + Resveratrol Combo has the advantage of delivering two anti-aging ingredients, taken in different capsules.
The NMN comes in serving sizes of 250mg in two capsules. The resveratrol comes in serving sizes of 500 mg and is extracted from Japanese knotweed, which is commonly used in Japanese and Chinese medicine.
12. Approved Science – NMN
Like all the supplements in this list, Approved Science’s formulation is vegan friendly, gluten free and made in a facility that complies with good manufacturing practices (GMP).
13. Toniiq – NMN Ultra High Purity
Toniq’s NMN Ultra High Purity’s formulation is in powder form with one scoop delivering 250mg of NMN, which Toniq says is 98% pure. The company recommends one scoop two to four times a day, giving a maximum of one gram of NMN; though you might find taking four scoops a day a bit annoying.
Note: Dr. David Sinclair, one of the leaders of longevity research, doesn’t recommend one NMN supplement or NMN brand over another, but he does mention in his book Lifespan how he takes one gram (1,000 mg) of NMN each day.
14. Toniiq – Elixir NMN & Resveratrol
Toniq’s Elixir NMN & Resveratrol combines 500 mg of NMN with 500 mg of resveratrol from Japanese knotweed, which you’ll see written in its formal name of polygonum cuspidatum.
Resveratrol is a strong antioxidant as a polyphenol, which is found in plant foods. 500 mg of trimethlyglcyine is also added to this formulation to boost bioavailability.
15. Novos – Novos Boost (NMN)
Novos Boost (NMN) delivers 250 mg of NMN in two capsules. There are 60 capsules per pack, giving 30 days of NMN – about a month’s worth.
Novos is advised by a stellar board of scientists, including genomics pioneer, Dr George Church PhD from Harvard Medical School and a Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
16. Tru Niagen – NMN 100g
This is an easy start to NMN if you want to start with a lower dose. Like all supplement manufacturers, Tru Niagen uses facilities that comply with Good Manufacturing Practices, called GMP for short. Tru Niagen’s facilities are visited and inspected frequently as part of GMP accreditation.
17. Elevant – Optima
Elevant Prime delivers 125 mg of NMN in one chewable tablet. The company offers pack sizes in capsule numbers of 60, 120 and 180.
Elevant uses a formulation of NMN from a Swiss biotech company called Seneque to produce what they call pharma-grade NMN-C. Seneque works with California’s Buck Institute for Research on Aging on a number of research programs.
18. Elevant – Prime
Elevant Prime delivers 125 mg of NMN in one capsule. The company offers pack sizes in capsule numbers of 60, 120 and 180.
Elevant uses a formulation of NMN from a Swiss biotech company called Seneque to produce what they call pharma-grade NMN-C. Seneque works with California’s Buck Institute for Research on Aging on a number of research programs.
20. GeneX Formulas – NMN 500
GeneX Formulas’ NMN formulation delivers 500 mg of NMN in a daily capsule.
The company uses a manufacturing facility that is certified for Good Manufacturing Practices and certified by a third-party called NSF.