Carl and Suzanne LaFlamme are Shaklee Ambassadors at All’s Well Health. Note: this post contains our product recommendations and links, so we may earn a commission on purchases but at no extra cost to you.
NAD+ Benefits Over 50: What It Does and How to Choose
If you’ve been reading up on NAD+ benefits over 50, you probably started where most of the people we talk to start: “I’m tired all the time.” We hear it more than anything else. Sometimes it’s said as a joke: “I’m not a spring chicken anymore.” Sometimes it isn’t a joke at all: “I just don’t feel as good as I used to.”
Nobody tells us their cells are running low on anything. You don’t feel a molecule dropping. You feel three o’clock in the afternoon.
That molecule has a name, NAD+, and if you’re past 50, you’ve probably started seeing it everywhere. Here’s what it does, when it starts to fall, what the research shows, how to choose a supplement without wasting your money, and why Suzanne and I take the one we do.
What NAD+ Actually Does, in Plain English
NAD+ stands for nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide. You’ll never need to say that out loud again.
It’s a helper molecule found in every cell in your body, and it has two big jobs.
The first is energy. Your cells turn the food you eat into usable energy inside tiny power plants called mitochondria. NAD+ is part of that assembly line. Without enough of it, the line slows down.
The second is repair. Every day your cells take small hits from ordinary living: sun, stress, a greasy lunch. Your body’s repair crews use NAD+ to fix that wear and tear, including damage to your DNA.
Think of NAD+ as the fuel in a work truck that does two jobs. It drives the deliveries (energy) and it runs the repair equipment (maintenance). When the tank runs low, something gets shortchanged.
At What Age Does NAD+ Start to Decrease?
There’s no birthday when it happens, but the direction is clear. In a study of human skin samples, NAD+ levels fell steadily with age in both men and women. Another study of healthy adults aged 20 to 87 found NAD+ in the blood declining with age as well.
Shaklee explains why in two parts.
- Supply drops. An enzyme called CD38 increases as we get older, and it breaks NAD+ down before your cells can use it.
- Demand rises. Over time, oxidative stress and inflammation cause more cellular damage, so more of your NAD+ gets spent on repair instead of energy.
Shaklee calls it a cycle of depletion and damage: less NAD+ weakens your cells’ ability to recover, and more damage uses up NAD+ faster. That’s a big reason the tiredness people describe after 50 isn’t just in their heads.
Is NAD+ Worth It? NAD+ Benefits Over 50
Supporting your NAD+ levels comes down to supporting those two jobs: energy and repair.
The research on NAD+ building blocks is encouraging. In a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of 80 healthy adults aged 40 to 65, people who took NMN (a building block your body turns into NAD+) for 60 days had higher NAD+ levels in their blood than the placebo group. They also walked farther in a six-minute walking test.
According to Shaklee, Vivix+:
- Increases NAD+ levels by 70% within 24 hours*
- Doubles mitochondria and cellular energy (as shown in laboratory studies of its key ingredients)*
- Reduces the inflammatory response to an unhealthy meal by 48% (as shown in a clinical study of its key ingredients)*
- Impacts all 12 hallmarks of aging, in clinical and laboratory studies*
Those “12 hallmarks” are a framework scientists use to describe how aging works at the cellular level, from DNA damage to worn-out “zombie” cells to slowing mitochondria. More on what Vivix+ showed in people in a moment.
At What Age Does It Make Sense to Start?
The human trials we’ve mentioned enrolled adults starting in their 40s. The Vivix+ trial studied people aged 45 to 65. Shaklee says Vivix+ is especially relevant if you’re noticing changes in your energy, recovery or resilience. For most of the people we talk to, that describes their 50s.
Is NAD+ Safe?
In the NMN trial above, the researchers reported no safety issues at any dose, and the supplement was well tolerated over 60 days.
Shaklee’s own precautions for Vivix+ are the ones we’d follow:
- It isn’t recommended for anyone under 18.
- If you’re pregnant or nursing, talk with your healthcare professional first.
- If you’re under a doctor’s care for a medical condition, or you take prescription medication, talk with your healthcare professional first.
And one more we’d add in plain words: if you’re being treated for cancer, check with your oncologist before taking any NAD+ supplement.
How to Choose an NAD+ Supplement
Walk down any supplement aisle, or scroll any online store, and you’ll find NAD+ in every shape: capsules, powders, drips, even patches. Here’s how we’d sort through them.
The Forms, Briefly
- NMN and NR. These are building blocks (precursors) your body converts into NAD+. Most of the human research on raising NAD+ uses one of these two.
- “NAD+” capsules. Some products put NAD+ itself in a capsule. Most of the human research has focused on the precursors instead.
- IV drips. Offered by clinics, often for a hefty fee per session. Shaklee reports that Vivix+ delivers 35 times more usable NAD+ than IV infusions.*
- Patches. There’s very little published human research on NAD+ patches so far.
What to Look for, in Order
After more than 30 years of reading supplement labels, this is our checklist.
1. A form with human research behind it. For most people, that means NMN or NR.
2. A human trial on the finished product, not just its ingredients. Plenty of companies point to studies of an ingredient. Fewer have tested the actual capsule you’d be buying, against a placebo.
3. A company that tests what it sells. Quality varies widely in this category. Buy from a manufacturer with a long, public record of testing its own products.
4. A guarantee. If a company believes in its product, it should let you send it back, no questions asked.
Why We Take Vivix+
Vivix+ meets all four. It uses NMN. Shaklee tested the finished capsule against a placebo. It comes from a company with more than 100 clinical studies behind its products. And it carries Shaklee’s 100% money-back guarantee. That’s why it’s the one we take. But we didn’t find it by reading a checklist.
We’ve Taken the Original Since 2008
Suzanne and I have taken the original Vivix since 2008. When I first read about it, my reaction was “wow.” Not because of how it made me feel, but because of the science behind it.
That’s still how we choose what we take. I think we look and feel better than a lot of people around our age, and we give some of the credit to taking our nutrition seriously for a long time.
What’s Different About the Plus
Vivix+ keeps the same patented polyphenol blend as the original, built around muscadine grape, to help defend your cells against oxidative stress.* Then it adds an NAD+ Boost Complex with two ingredients that work as a team:
- NMN helps replenish NAD+.
- Apigenin, from celery seed, helps preserve NAD+ by slowing that CD38 enzyme that breaks it down.
In other words, one side of the formula works on cellular energy and the other works on cellular defense. Shaklee designed it to break the cycle of depletion and damage from both directions.*
The Science Behind Vivix+: 8 Years of Cellular Aging Reversed, and How It’s Measured
Vivix+ is protected by 27 global patents and backed by 25 clinical and laboratory studies. Vivix+ has been studied through laboratory and mechanistic research as well as human clinical trials, giving both a scientific understanding of how it works and real-world evidence that it works. Together, these studies are why Shaklee calls Vivix+ the most clinically proven longevity supplement on the market.
Here’s the result that got our attention.
In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, healthy adults aged 45 to 65 took Vivix+ or a placebo for two months. The researchers tracked VO2 max, a measure of how well your body takes in oxygen and turns it into energy. Shaklee calls it the strongest predictor of healthy, active years.
Estimated with two standard equations, VO2 max rose by 2.6 to 3.8 points (mL/kg/min) compared with placebo.*
Now the arithmetic. With normal aging, VO2 max drops by about 0.3 to 0.5 points a year. Divide the gain by the yearly drop and you get roughly 6.5 to 9.5 years of typical decline. Take the midpoints (3.2 divided by 0.4) and you get eight. That’s where Shaklee’s headline comes from: Vivix+ is clinically proven to reverse the equivalent of eight years of cellular aging.* Shaklee also reports an 18% increase in endurance in clinical testing.*
One more thing about that two-month result: it came from taking Vivix+ every day, not now and then.
What does a better VO2 max look like in real life? Newelle M., a Shaklee Ambassador who had just turned 72, wrote this in her review on Shaklee’s site:
“I first noticed a change after about three weeks of using the Vivix+. I was coming up the stairs from the Ninth Street PATH train into New York, and I got to the top of the stairs when I noticed I had enough energy to just keep walking! I used to have to lean against the wall and pant to regain my breath before I could move. Such a big change!”
That’s the stairs, not the treadmill. That’s the point.
What We’ve Noticed Since Switching
We switched to Vivix+ and both have noticed more energy. It’s like the volume has been turned up a notch or two.
Who This Is For, and How to Start
Vivix+ is for people who are serious about taking care of their health, both now and for the long run, and who want to be on the front edge of what longevity science is learning.
It works alongside an active life, not instead of one. We still move every day. If you want to protect the muscle that keeps you moving, our article on whether women over 60 should take creatine is a good next read.
How to start: at two capsules a day with a meal, one bottle is a 30-day supply. Since the trial result came at two months, plan on at least two bottles before you judge it. If you want the bigger picture, Shaklee also pairs Vivix+ with protein, collagen and daily essentials in its Bio-Age™ Reset Stack, which we describe in our article on the long-term Shaklee user study.
Quick Answers to the Questions We Hear
How long until I notice anything?
In a 30-day Shaklee pilot study with Shaklee Ambassadors, Shaklee reports that people may notice an increase in energy in the first couple of weeks. By 30 days, they may feel more consistent energy and less fatigue, greater stamina, quicker recovery, better sleep quality and improved mood.* Shaklee says the benefits continue to build with daily use past 60 days.*
Is NAD+ the same as NMN?
No. NAD+ is the molecule your cells actually use. NMN is a building block your body turns into NAD+. That’s why Vivix+ is called an NAD+ booster: it supplies NMN, plus apigenin to help protect the NAD+ you make.
What should I feel?
For starters, more energy, as we did. But the reason we take it isn’t just a feeling. It’s for the improvements on the cellular level that we expect to keep building over time.
Can I take it with my other supplements?
Shaklee designed Vivix+ to be taken alongside its protein and other longevity products. If you take prescription medication, check with your healthcare professional first.
I’d Rather Be Playing Pickleball
At the end of the day here’s how I think about all of this. I don’t want a nurse helping me off the toilet when I’m 80. I’d rather be playing pickleball.
Every choice we make now is a vote for which 80 we get. Vivix+ is one of ours.
Have a question first? We’ve been doing this since September 1992, and we’d rather talk it through than sell you something you don’t need. Reach out.
Carl and Suzanne LaFlamme are Shaklee Ambassadors at All’s Well Health.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Individual results may vary.
This article is general nutrition information and not medical advice. Talk with your doctor before starting any new supplement, especially if you have a medical condition, are being treated for cancer, or take prescription medication.
