While waiting for Elysium to release results from its last summer trial of Basis (NR and pterostilbine), I thought I’d mention what I’m reading about various doses.
Elysium, as with many vendors like HPN who sell NR, recommends 250 mg a day. Basis also includes 50 mg of pterostilbine found in blueberriers. Elysium tested 40 healthy, non-obese people between the ages of 60 and 80 as well as a similar group of 40 at 500 mg of NR and 100 mg of pterostilbine a day and a 40 person placebo group for 8 weeks.
Elysium then reported on their website in December that the 250 mg NR/50 mg pterotilbine increased NAD+ levels by 40% and that 500 mg NR/100 mg pterostilbine raised NAD+ levels by 90%.
Extrapolating these results downward, then 125 mg of NR with 25 mg of pterostilbine should increase NAD+ by around 20%.
Yet Chromadex, the sole supplier of NR, conducted a one day trial of 12 people in 2015 which showed that 100 mg of NR raised NAD+ levels by 30%, 300 mg raised NAD+ 50% and interestingly 1000 mg also raised NAD+ 50% so at the time it seemed that taking anything over 500 mg might be unnecessary.
But Charles Brenner, an NR researcher at the University of Iowa, published a study on an NR trial of one – himself – at 1000 mg a day for one week that showed a 170% increase in his NAD+ levels without adding pterostilbine. This happens to be similar to taking Elysium Basis at 1000 mg: You would see a 60% increase in NAD+ at 375 mg by interpolating their results, and then through extrapolation, a 140% increase at 750 mg and a 190% increase in NAD+ at 1000 mg, which is about what Brenner found without the pterostilbine.
My guess is that if the Elysium trial results are positive in at least one area, they will show more measured improvement(s) at 500 mg of NR than at their current recommended dose of 250 mg. The difference may be great enough that a higher dose like 500 mg may be the obvious level to take, creating a potential marketing problem as that would cost the regular customer not $45 a month but $90 a month, or $3.00 a day.
Coincidently, David Sinclair of Resveratrol fame, who conducted the NMN study on mice in 2013 that showed a human eivalent of reversing muscle from a 55 year old to a 35 year old, said a decade ago that the first pharmaceutical health pill would probably cost around $3.00 a day, which is what BASIS at a double dose of 500 mg of NR and 100 mg of pterostilbine would cost.
Sinclair also reportedly said in mid 2014 that you need to take 500 mg of NR for it to be effective: “In June, David Sinclair told me you need to take at least 500mg of NR for it to do anything.” – Kane Pappas, longevity documentary maker.
That may turn out to at least be partly true, and we’ll know more once Elysium releases its results.
The Whims of Change 