NAD supplements or IV drip — what pharmacy products actually contain

If you have searched for "NAD supplement" or "NAD Farmacia Tei" (Farmacia Tei is a large Romanian pharmacy chain), you have seen boxes with NAD+ written in large letters. The first useful thing to know is that, in most cases, there is no NAD+ inside them.

What the products actually contain

We checked the composition declared by the manufacturers for the two products searched for most often in Romania (September 2026):

Neither contains NAD+. They contain precursors — molecules from which the body makes its own NAD+.

It is not a scam, it is a naming convention: the name describes what the product aims to raise, not what is in the capsule. But if you do not know that, you compare different things believing they are the same.

Why NAD+ is not put directly into a capsule

Because it would not do much good. NAD+ is a large molecule, unstable in the digestive tract, which does not get through intact. It would be broken down before absorption — which is why the industry works with precursors, which are smaller, more stable molecules.

That is also the reason intravenous administration exists: it bypasses the problem altogether.

The legal status of the ingredients in the EU — a real difference

Here is a distinction worth knowing, because it is a matter of regulation, not marketing:

Nicotinamide riboside chloride (Niagen, the ingredient in Herboxa) is authorised as a novel food in the European Union — by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/16 of 10 January 2020, as a source of niacin in food supplements for adults. Its use was later extended. NMN (the ingredient in Therapium) has a different status. In May 2026, EFSA issued a favourable safety opinion for synthetic β-NMN, up to 300 mg a day, in adults, excluding pregnant and breastfeeding women. But the EFSA opinion is not the authorisation: as of the date of this article, the Commission has not issued the implementing act, so NMN is not yet authorised as a novel food in the EU.

We are not saying anyone is breaking any rule — we are stating the status, with the date and the source. The situation may change, and probably will; check if you are reading this article later.

What the evidence shows for each route

Oral precursors. Human studies show that nicotinamide riboside raises NAD+ levels measurable in the blood. That has been demonstrated. What happens next — consistent clinical effects — is much less clear. The intravenous route. It bypasses digestion: the dose arrives in full and predictably. But the clinical evidence in humans for NAD+ infusions is limited, and we do not claim otherwise.

In other words, neither route has a body of evidence that would justify promises. What differs is predictability, not certainty of the result.

Oral precursors: what the studies actually found

The claim "it raises NAD+" rests on real studies. The claim "and so you feel different" — much less so:

The pattern is the same everywhere: the biochemical target is reached, the clinical result is not consistent. One study finds an effect; another, on a similar outcome, finds nothing. A 2026 systematic review of 33 human intervention studies reached exactly this conclusion: precursors consistently raise NAD+ metabolites and are generally well tolerated, but the functional and metabolic effects are heterogeneous and often null.

A detail worth knowing when you read these studies: some of them were sponsored by the ingredient manufacturers or have authors with declared interests in them. That does not invalidate them, but it is one more reason to wait for independent confirmation.

Nothing in the table is a reason to take a supplement for a medical problem. These are research studies, not indications.

The IV drip: what is known about NAD+'s path once it enters the vein

"It reaches the circulation in full" is true. But in full in the circulation does not mean it stays there.

Human data on what happens to NAD+ given directly into a vein come, essentially, from a single pilot study with a six-hour infusion. The result surprised even the authors: in the first two hours, the plasma NAD+ level did not rise at all — the molecule was taken up from the blood rapidly and completely. Changes appeared only afterwards, and by six hours urinary excretion of NAD+ and of one of its breakdown products, methylnicotinamide, had increased.

Where exactly it ends up and what it does in the tissues — we do not know. And the 2026 review found no study with clinical outcomes for intravenous NAD+ for longevity or general wellbeing.

The comparison, in a single table

How to read the label of a "NAD+" product

Before you compare prices, compare what is in the box:

The ingredient list, not the name on the front. Look for the exact name: nicotinamide riboside (NR), nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN), NADH, nicotinamide. Each is something different.

The amount per recommended daily dose, not per container. Two products with "500 mg" on the box can mean different things if one asks for one capsule a day and the other for two.

What else it contains. Combinations with resveratrol, coenzyme Q10 or plant extracts make a direct comparison with the studies impossible, since the studies generally used a single substance.

The ingredient's status in the EU — see above for the difference between NR and NMN.

The promises. A supplement presented as a treatment for a disease, or as a way to "reverse" age, tells you more about the seller than about the product.

An oral supplement with precursors makes sense for a daily, background intake that is cheap and needs no travel. If that is what you are looking for, you do not need us — and it is more honest to tell you so than to book you in. The IV drip makes sense if you want a known dose, given predictably, in a medical setting, as part of a protocol decided at the assessment. It costs more, takes time and carries a small risk of reaction.

What is not a good reason for either: the promise that it will reverse your ageing.

At Synerva

Intravenous NAD+, 100 mg (600 RON, about 90 minutes) or 250 mg (1,250 RON, two to three hours). It is given slowly, for tolerance, after a medical assessment. Details: NAD+ IV drip.

What the molecule is and what the research shows: NAD+ — what it is and where the evidence stops.

Sources

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/16 — authorising nicotinamide riboside chloride as a novel food (Romanian-language version on EUR-Lex).

EFSA — safety opinion on β-nicotinamide mononucleotide, 2026.

Composition declared by the manufacturers: Therapium NAD+, Herboxa NAD+ with Niagen.

Trammell et al., Nature Communications, 2016 — the first human pharmacokinetic study of nicotinamide riboside.

Martens et al., Nature Communications, 2018 — nicotinamide riboside, 6 weeks, healthy middle-aged and older adults.

Elhassan et al., Cell Reports, 2019 — nicotinamide riboside and the muscle NAD+ metabolome in older people.

Dollerup et al., American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2018 — nicotinamide riboside, 12 weeks, men with obesity.

Yoshino et al., Science, 2021 — NMN, 10 weeks, postmenopausal women with prediabetes.

Gallagher et al., Ageing Research Reviews, 2026 — systematic review of studies with NAD+ and precursors.

Grant et al., Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 2019 — NAD+ in plasma and urine during a 6-hour intravenous infusion.

Reyna et al., Frontiers in Aging, 2026 — tolerance of NAD+ infusions, retrospective analysis.

For information only. We do not sell supplements and have no commercial interest in any of the products mentioned. Regulatory status should be checked at the source; it may change.