This TikTok about NAD+ supplements needs major context

What did @drtrevorbachmeyer actually say?

The short version: NAD+ is essential for ATP production, oral NAD+ supplements are "a scam" with "zero bioavailability," and subcutaneous injection gives "100% bioavailability." He also claimed low NAD+ causes brain fog he called "early stage neurological decay," muscle loss, immune dysfunction, fat storage, and poor blood sugar control. He ended with a promise that replenishing NAD+ delivers a "system-wide operating system recalibration."

The biochemistry framing is mostly real. NAD+ does act as an electron acceptor at multiple points in cellular energy metabolism, including glycolysis, the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, and the citric acid cycle. Sirtuins are a legitimate family of NAD+-dependent deacylases involved in DNA repair and mitochondrial regulation. None of that is invented. The problem is what gets layered on top of the solid foundation.

Does the science back this up?

Partially, and with significant caveats. The oral bioavailability claim is the loudest in the video, and it is also where the evidence gets messy in ways the creator ignores.

NAD+ itself does have poor oral bioavailability because it is degraded in the gut before absorption. But precursors, specifically nicotinamide riboside (NR) and nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN), survive digestion and effectively raise blood NAD+ levels. Conze et al. (2019, Scientific Reports) showed oral NR raised whole-blood NAD+ in a dose-dependent manner. Yoshino et al. (2021, Science) found oral NMN improved muscle insulin sensitivity in postmenopausal women. Calling oral supplementation "a scam" while ignoring precursors entirely is a selective reading of the literature.

On the injection side, intravenous NAD+ infusions do raise NAD+ levels effectively, and subcutaneous delivery is being studied, but "100% bioavailability" for subcutaneous NAD+ is not an established figure in published literature. That specific number appears to be asserted rather than sourced.

What did they get wrong (or right)?

Credit where it is due: the metabolic biochemistry is largely accurate. NAD+ depletion with age is real and well-documented. Verdin (2015, Science) reviewed evidence that NAD+ declines significantly in aging tissues and linked that decline to mitochondrial dysfunction and sirtuin activity reduction. That part of the video is grounded.

What crossed the line:

• "Zero bioavailability" for oral NAD+ ignores the entire NR and NMN precursor literature. This is not a nuance. It is a major omission that serves a commercial framing.
• "Early stage neurological decay" as a label for brain fog is a significant overclaim. Brain fog has many causes. Connecting low NAD+ to amyloid plaques and tau tangles in a TikTok video, without citing human clinical trial data supporting that causal chain, is misleading.
• "100% bioavailability" for subcutaneous NAD+ is stated as established physiology. It is not confirmed in published pharmacokinetic studies for subcutaneous administration specifically.
• The claim that injected NAD+ makes inflammation "dissipate completely" is not supported by any trial showing complete resolution of systemic inflammation from NAD+ alone.

What should you actually know?

NAD+ biology is genuinely interesting and the research is active. Aging does reduce NAD+ levels, and restoring them shows promise in animal models and some early human trials. But the gap between "promising research" and "system-wide recalibration" is enormous, and this video jumps it without a net.

If you are interested in NAD+ support, the oral precursor data is more robust than this video admits. Martens et al. (2023, Nature Aging) found NMN supplementation improved walking speed and other functional measures in older adults. That is a real, peer-reviewed finding, not a scam. Injectable NAD+ and its precursors are being explored, but the clinical evidence base for subcutaneous delivery specifically is still thin compared to IV administration studied in clinical settings.

Anyone considering injectable NAD+ should have that conversation with a licensed provider who can review their individual health status. This video does not replace that evaluation, regardless of how confident the delivery is.