NAD+ IV therapy works by delivering nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide – a coenzyme your cells use to make energy and repair DNA – straight into your bloodstream at 100% absorption, bypassing the digestive system where oral supplements are broken down. At YourMD Infusion in Los Angeles, this treatment supports cellular energy production, DNA repair pathways, and the everyday maintenance work your body does at a microscopic level.
This article offers a plain-language explanation of what this molecule does, how the IV format changes absorption, and who tends to be a good fit for it.
NAD+ stands for nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide. It is a coenzyme – it does not act alone, but partners with enzymes so they can carry out chemical reactions. Every living cell in your body contains NAD+, and your body makes it from precursors found in food, particularly forms of vitamin B3.
Think of NAD+ as a shuttle. It picks up electrons in one place, drops them off in another, and drives hundreds of reactions that keep cells running – including the metabolism that converts the food you eat into usable energy. Without enough of it, those reactions slow down or stop altogether.
NAD+ sits at the center of how your cells convert food into fuel. Inside the mitochondria – the small structures that generate energy – NAD+ is required for the steps that produce ATP, the energy currency your muscles, brain, and organs run on.
Research consistently shows NAD+ levels decline with age. Several factors accelerate that decline:
Chronic stress and poor sleep
Poor diet
Heavy or excessive alcohol use
Intense physical training
As levels fall, cellular communication breaks down, DNA damage accumulates, and energy production wanes – a pattern linked to low energy, cognitive decline, and a general decrease in vitality.
NAD+ is the raw material for two important families of repair proteins:
PARPs (poly-ADP-ribose polymerases) – enzymes that detect and patch damaged DNA. They consume NAD+ to do their job, so the more DNA damage your body handles, the more NAD+ gets used up.
Sirtuins – often called “longevity genes,” these proteins regulate cellular stress responses, mitochondrial function, gene expression, and inflammation, and help maintain the integrity of your chromosomes. They require NAD+ to activate.
When NAD+ is scarce, repair enzymes compete for a limited pool. Supporting levels gives those systems more to work with.
NAD+ IV therapy is an intravenous infusion that delivers a high concentration of NAD+ directly into a vein through a small catheter. At YourMD Infusion, it is offered as a full drip, as an add-on to other formulations, and as faster NAD+ injections for people who want a shorter appointment or ongoing maintenance.
Because the infusion bypasses the stomach and intestines, none of the dose is lost to digestive breakdown or limited gut absorption. That is the core reason people choose the IV route over oral supplements.
At our Los Angeles clinic, a customized dose of NAD+ is mixed into a saline solution and infused slowly. Once in the bloodstream, it circulates to tissues with high energy demands – brain, heart, and skeletal muscle – and feeds into mitochondrial energy production and repair work handled by sirtuins and PARPs.
The drip rate matters. Pushing NAD+ too quickly is what causes the flushing, chest tightness, or nausea some people describe; a measured pace keeps the experience comfortable. The entire process is overseen by our clinical team, who account for your health history and current medications to prevent interactions.
Oral NAD+ and its precursors must survive stomach acid, digestive enzymes, and first-pass metabolism in the liver. A meaningful portion never reaches the bloodstream intact. Intravenous delivery skips all of that – the dose enters circulation at 100% bioavailability, ready for your cells to use right away.
That difference is why IV formats are used across our full menu, from hydration to Myers’ Cocktail formulations. When absorption is the bottleneck, IV solves it.
Here is the sequence in simple terms:
NAD+ enters circulation and is distributed to tissues.
Mitochondria use it as an electron carrier in the reactions that convert glucose and fatty acids into ATP.
Sirtuins activate, influencing how cells respond to stress and how efficiently mitochondria operate.
PARPs draw on the supply to repair breaks and errors in DNA strands caused by environmental toxins, UV radiation, and normal metabolism.
Cellular maintenance improves as more of these processes run at once without competing for a shrinking pool.
Nothing here is magic. It is basic biochemistry – NAD+ is a required input, and supplying more of it removes a constraint.
The most discussed benefit is support for DNA repair and mitochondrial function. Because both depend directly on NAD+ availability, replenishing levels gives your cells more capacity to handle everyday wear – oxidative stress, metabolic byproducts, environmental exposures – and to stay resilient over time.
Anti-aging is a top concern for many YourMD Infusion patients, and NAD+ is one of the more researched molecules in that conversation. Sirtuin activity, mitochondrial efficiency, and DNA repair are all considered markers of biological aging, and supporting them extends to improved organ function and overall systemic health.
Patients often report improvements in skin appearance, and many pair NAD+ with a Glow Drip or Glutathione add-on when skin quality is also a goal.
Patients most often report improvements in two areas: physical energy and mental clarity. This isn’t a jittery, caffeine-induced feeling but sustained vigor from optimized cellular metabolism – and it tracks with the biology, since the brain is one of the most energy-hungry organs in the body.
Research on NAD+ biology is strong and well established – its role in mitochondrial function, metabolic regulation, and DNA repair is textbook science. Research on intravenous NAD+ as a therapy is younger and still developing. Studies on NAD+ precursors show promise for raising cellular NAD+ levels, and clinical trials on IV administration are ongoing.
You may be a candidate if you:
Feel persistently drained despite adequate sleep, or experience chronic fatigue and low energy
Notice slower mental processing, brain fog, or difficulty focusing
Train hard and want support for muscle recovery, performance, and reduced soreness
Travel frequently and struggle with jet lag or disrupted rhythms
Want a foundation therapy to build a broader wellness routine around
YourMD Infusion offers both virtual and in-person consultations at our Los Angeles office. Our medically guided approach means reviewing your health history and current medications for possible interactions, discussing relevant lab work, evaluating your wellness goals, and monitoring you during the infusion rather than simply starting a bag.
A NAD+ infusion is a slow drip, so plan for a longer visit than a standard vitamin bag – you can sit, work, or rest during treatment. Many patients begin with a series rather than a single session, and packages of 3, 5, or 10 are available. Current offers are listed on the specials page.
NAD+ IV therapy works by delivering a coenzyme your cells already depend on directly into your bloodstream, where it fuels mitochondrial energy production and powers the sirtuin and PARP enzymes responsible for DNA repair. Levels naturally fall with age and stress, and IV delivery restores them without the absorption losses of oral supplements.
A consultation with our team is the right place to confirm it fits your health history, medications, and wellness goals.
About the Author
Dr. Haleh Mehdizadeh
Haleh Mehdizadeh, PharmD, is the founder of YourMD Infusion, created to offer IV therapy that’s both accessible and medically monitored. In a space where many IV clinics lack true clinical oversight, YourMD Infusion stands apart with treatments guided by a licensed medical team, giving Los Angeles clients safer care, smarter protocols, and peace of mind with every infusion.
August 1, 2026
