NADH

ID: nadh

Aliases: reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, reduced NAD, ENADA

Type: compound

Route/form: oral supplement in human fatigue studies

Status: supplement

Evidence level: human RCT

Best data tier: human controlled/review

Support scope: human, review/regulatory

Source types: human_rct, review

Linked sources: 4

Broad outcomes: Brain / mood / sleep, Longevity / mitochondrial / redox, Muscle growth / performance / recovery

Reading note: These are curation notes anchored to linked sources, not a clinical recommendation or protocol.

Targets / mechanism

• reduced NAD redox couple
• mitochondrial electron transfer hypothesis
• cellular energy metabolism

Optimization domains

• fatigue
• mitochondrial
• ME CFS
• NAD metabolism
• redox
• cognitive support

Research basis

• NADH has small randomized fatigue/CFS anchors and is chemically distinct from NR/NMN because it is the reduced redox form.
• CoQ10-plus-NADH trials make it relevant to mitochondrial-fatigue discussions, though confounding is obvious.
• The most defensible claim is disease-specific fatigue exploration, not a broad stimulant or longevity claim.

Limits, risks, and missing evidence

• Human evidence is small, heterogeneous, and often disease-specific or co-supplemented.
• CFS/ME fatigue results do not generalize cleanly to healthy performance.
• NADH should not be collapsed with IV NAD+, NR, or NMN.

Risk flags

• supplement
• small human trials
• fatigue context
• clinical outcome uncertain

Linked papers, labels, and reviews

1. Therapeutic effects of oral NADH on the symptoms of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome
   human_rct / pubmed_nadh_cfs_pilot_1999
   Small randomized double-blind crossover NADH pilot in chronic fatigue syndrome; disease-specific and preliminary.
2. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome
   human_rct / pubmed_nadh_cfs_2010
   Randomized oral NADH study in CFS; relevant to fatigue discussions, not a general energy enhancement claim.
3. Effect of coenzyme Q10 plus nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide supplementation on maximum heart rate after exercise testing in chronic fatigue syndrome
   human_rct / pubmed_coq10_nadh_cfs_2015
   CoQ10 plus NADH randomized trial in CFS; combination evidence, so not cleanly attributable to NADH alone.
4. Therapeutic Potential of NAD-Boosting Molecules: The In Vivo Evidence
   review / pubmed_nad_boosting_molecules_review_2018
   Broad NAD-boosting review covering NR, NMN, CD38, PARP, sirtuins, aging, metabolic disease, and translational caveats.