Summary
Dave Asprey interviews Baran Dilaver, CEO and co-founder of Wonderfeel Biosciences, about NAD precursors and novel longevity compounds. The conversation covers why NAD is essential for mitochondrial function, how its decline with age affects cognition, sleep, energy, and even hair growth. They discuss the FDA's back-and-forth regulatory stance on NMN, the differences between NR and NMN as precursors, and why oral supplements have largely replaced IV NAD infusions. The episode goes deep on supporting ingredients in Wonderfeel's formulation including ergothioneine (from mushrooms like porcini and lion's mane), hydroxytyrosol (a polyphenol from olive oil that also inhibits CD38), and resveratrol. Asprey explains how the body allocates mitochondrial energy across competing demands and why boosting NAD early in life is a cost-effective longevity strategy. They also touch on NAD's role in fertility and ovarian health, and how CD38-driven NAD depletion from inflammation accelerates aging.
Key Points
- NAD is involved in virtually all cellular processes and without it you'd be dead in 10 seconds; levels decline linearly with age starting around 30-40
- Both NR and NMN are effective NAD precursors; NMN may be slightly more direct since NR converts to NMN before becoming NAD
- The FDA reversed its initial acceptance of NMN as a supplement, temporarily classifying it as a pharmaceutical, before recently re-allowing it as a nutraceutical
- CD38 is an inflammatory enzyme that rises with age and destroys NAD; ingredients like hydroxytyrosol can inhibit CD38 to slow NAD depletion
- Ergothioneine, found in mushrooms like porcini and lion's mane, is a powerful antioxidant that accumulates at sites of tissue damage for up to 30 days
- Common reported benefits of raising NAD include improved energy, better cognition and focus, improved sleep, and cosmetic changes like gray hair reversal and eyelash regrowth
- The body allocates mitochondrial energy to survival-critical functions first; boosting NAD gives the brain more energy for cognitive performance
- Clinical trials have shown NMN at up to 2 grams per day for two months with no serious side effects
Key Moments
NAD is essential for life and powers every organ differently
Baran explains that NAD is so essential to biochemistry that without it you'd be dead in 10 seconds, and uses a valley/river analogy to describe how NAD decline affects different organs at different times.
"NAD is so essential to the biochemistry. You know, without it, you'll be dead in 10 seconds."
The body allocates mitochondrial energy below consciousness
Dave Asprey explains how the body stack-ranks energy allocation, prioritizing species survival over individual cognition, and why boosting NAD gives the brain more available electrons for thinking.
"What I've learned about the body is that it, way below our consciousness, it very elegantly allocates every electron of energy you make."
Customer reports of cosmetic changes from NAD supplementation
Baran shares surprising anecdotes from Wonderfeel customers including gray hair reversal after 8-9 months and eyelash regrowth in a woman in her late 40s who had lost most of her eyelashes.
"So people will say after like eight months, nine months, oh, my gray hair."
CD38 inflammation problem and hydroxytyrosol as inhibitor
Asprey explains how raising NAD can drive CD38 inflammatory activity and how Wonderfeel's inclusion of hydroxytyrosol and other ingredients elegantly counterbalances this effect.
"But there's a specific type of cell called CD38. And CD338 So, if you were to take just a pure NMN without other things to protect that inflammatory side, you might over time feel a little bit more inflamed than you normally would be."
