NADH Energizes Mental and Physical Performance
Every living cell, from bacteria up to human, contains coenzyme nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH), a coenzyme critical to cellular energy production. Cells that use the most energy, such as brain and muscle cells, also hold the highest amounts of NADH. Human heart cells, for instance, contain a whopping 90 mcg of NADH per gram of tissue.
Like Co-Q10, NADH is involved in the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the body’s primary intracellular energy source.2 When NADH is oxidized in cellular energy-producing organelles called mitochondria, and it forms water and energy. This energy is preserved as ATP. Every energy-consuming reaction requires ATP, so the more NADH a cell has available, the more energy it can produce. To keep up with the cellular demand for energy, the body continuously synthesizes NADH (a process that involves niacin, a B-complex vitamin).3
Although NADH occurs naturally in all plant and animal cells, its most plentiful sources are red meat, poultry and yeast. Vegetables are not as rich in NADH as animal tissues, because food processing, cooking and stomach acids can destroy the NADH present in most foods, sprinkling yeast and meals is a good way to increase NADH consumption.