Element 5™ NMN - Nicotinamide Mononucleotide

It is always your decisions when to take so you get the best result for you personally.

However, we have seen that taking NMN in the morning is preferred by many customers.

After taking NMN is it quickly transported to your cells and converted to NAD.

With benefits linked to increased energy production you may not want to have that happen at night when you're trying to sleep.

You can take with or without food, just some water is fine.

Once ingested, NMN is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream. Within minutes, it is transported into cells via a special transporter called SLC12A8, where it is converted into NAD+. This finding, published in Nature Metabolism (2019) by Dr. Shin-ichiro Imai’s team, debunked the earlier belief that NMN must first convert to NR before entering cells.

These transporters are especially active in tissues with high NAD+ demand, such as the brain, muscles, and liver.

Studies suggest that at dosages around 500mg per day you may feel an effect after 30-60 days.

Other studies suggest that taking just 250mg per day over a 12 week period can double blood NAD levels.

Whilst you may never 'feel' a difference it's important to know that you can get the benefit regardless. Just like how you may not 'feel' vitamin D working.

We recommend taking NAD tests before and after to track your intracellular NAD levels. This is a true way to get the data on your exact results.

Anecdotally within 1-2 weeks you may feel more energy with less brain fog.

After 30-60 days you may see better insulin sensitivity.

After long term use you can look to have effects of cellular repair showing.

The NAD+ molecule is too large to pass through cell membranes efficiently. NMN, being smaller and transported directly into cells, is a more effective precursor.

Analogy:

Imagine NAD+ as a fully assembled sofa—it won’t fit through the door. NMN acts as the smaller pieces, easily carried into the house and reassembled into NAD+ where it’s needed.

The recommended dose for Element 5 NMN is 500 mg per day (one capsule), taken in the morning with water.

Study Evidence:

A study published in Frontiers in Nutrition demonstrated that 250 mg of NMN nearly doubled NAD+ levels in humans over 12 weeks. NAD+ levels returned to baseline within 4 weeks after stopping supplementation.

Another study observed significant NAD+ increases with daily doses of 300 mg, 600 mg, and 900 mg. Improvements in muscle endurance (measured by a 6-minute walking test) with those at higher dosages walking further. As well as perceived health was greater at higher doses at 30 days compared to 300mg dosage. 

This evidence suggests consistent NMN use at 600 mg/day for 30–60 days may yield measurable benefits.

“The Molecule of Life”

NAD+ is a vital molecule found in every cell. It plays critical roles in:

1. Energy Production: NAD+ fuels the mitochondria to generate ATP, the energy currency of cells.

2. DNA Repair: NAD+ activates sirtuins and PARPs, enzymes that repair DNA damage caused by aging and stress.

3. Cellular Health: NAD+ regulates inflammation, metabolic efficiency, and immune function.

By age 50, NAD+ levels drop to approximately 50% of youthful levels (then halves every 10 years), contributing to fatigue, slower recovery, and age-related diseases. Boosting NAD+ levels helps counteract these declines and supports long-term health.

NR (Nicotinamide Riboside) is a precursor to NMN, but it requires an additional conversion step to become NMN by adding a phosphate then converting into NAD+

By taking NMN directly, you skip this extra step, ensuring faster and more efficient NAD+ production.

NMN has shown an excellent safety profile in studies. Dosages up to 1,200 mg per day have not reported significant side effects.

Methylation Concerns:

• High doses of NMN may theoretically strain your methyl pool (used to metabolise NMN). This is rarely observed at standard doses like 500 mg/day.

How to Support Methylation:

• Take Vitamin B9 (folate), B12, or TMG (Trimethylglycine).
• Foods like egg yolks (rich in choline) can also act as methyl donors.

Aging damages DNA, and cells lose their “identity” due to epigenetic changes. This dysfunction can lead to senescent cells (damaged cells that stop dividing but release harmful inflammatory signals).

Sirtuins, activated by NAD+, help repair DNA and maintain cellular identity, preventing the accumulation of senescent cells associated with age-related diseases like Alzheimer’s and heart disease.

Resveratrol has many benefits within cellular repair so makes sense to pair it with NMN.

However, as a best practice we take them separately as Resveratrol requires a fat (or food) to be absorbed.

Some people including Co-Founder Jonny take resveratrol dissolved in Extra Virgin Olive Oil to ensure maximum absorption.

With NMN, you do not need to do this, taking with water is absolutely fine.

We are currently developing Element 5 Resveratrol. You can join the waitlist at the bottom on the page.

Naturally sourced NMN is extremely unstable and very expensive meaning that even if you were to buy it, it may have been exposed to heats that it cannot stand, or simply it was on a shelf too long.

Globally the standard is to use synthetically produced NMN as it is far more stable at varied temperatures, stable for years and a lot cheaper to produce. Moreover, this is how we can get almost 100% purity so you're getting the most potent dose possible.

Synthetic NMN is by far a better method and is exactly why it is globally considered the standard.

There are many foods that naturally contain NMN. However you'd need to eat a tremendous amount!

Edamame has around 1.8mg of NMN per 100g, meaning you'd need to eat ~26.5kg per day to get the same 500mg dosage.

Or you'd need:

• ~40kg of Cucumber
• ~80kg of Avocados
• ~55kg of Cabbage