NAD+ and Fertility
What the Research
Shows About Egg Quality and Energy
If you’ve spent any time researching ways to support fertility naturally, you’ve probably come across NAD+. It’s having a moment in wellness and reproductive health circles — and for good reason. While it’s not a magic fix, the science behind it is genuinely fascinating, and it offers a helpful window into how our bodies prepare an egg for conception.
Here’s what NAD+ is, why it matters for egg quality, and what the current research actually says.
What Is NAD+?
NAD+ (Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide) is a molecule found in every cell of your body. Its main job is energy production — it helps your cells convert nutrients into usable fuel — and it also plays a role in DNA repair, helping cells fix damage that accumulates over time.
Think of NAD+ as part of your body’s power grid. When levels are abundant, your cells have what they need to function, divide, and repair themselves efficiently. As we age, NAD+ levels naturally decline, and that power grid becomes less reliable.
Why Egg Cells Need So Much Energy
Here’s something many people don’t realize: egg cells contain more mitochondria — the energy-producing structures inside cells — than any other cell type in the human body.
That’s not a coincidence. Maturing an egg and preparing it for fertilization is an energy-intensive process. The egg needs enough fuel to divide its chromosomes correctly, a process that has to happen with precision. When energy supply falls short, that precision can suffer, which is part of why chromosomal abnormalities become more common in eggs as women age.
Because NAD+ is so central to cellular energy, a decline in NAD+ levels with age has become a focus of interest for researchers studying egg quality and reproductive aging.
What the Research Has Found So Far
The most cited study in this area is a landmark 2020 mouse study, where researchers gave aging mice a NAD+ precursor called NMN (Nicotinamide Mononucleotide). The result: egg quality improved, and some fertility outcomes were restored, in the mice studied.
It’s important to be clear about what this does and doesn’t mean. This was animal research, not a human clinical trial, and results in mice don’t automatically translate to people. That said, it was a significant enough finding that it helped launch a wave of interest in NAD+ as a potential tool to support reproductive aging in humans — and that research is ongoing.
In clinical fertility settings, some specialists now incorporate NAD+ supplementation — oral or IV — into preconception protocols, particularly for patients preparing for IVF. The thinking is straightforward: if eggs need substantial energy to develop normally, supporting the body’s NAD+ levels in the months leading up to egg retrieval may help create a better environment for healthy development. This is an area many clinics are watching closely as more human research emerges.
Two Ways to Support NAD+ Levels
If you’re considering NAD+ as part of your fertility preparation, there are two common approaches:
Oral precursors. Supplements like NMN or NR (Nicotinamide Riboside) give your body the raw materials to produce NAD+ on its own. This is a gradual approach — typical doses used for fertility support range from 150 mg to 300 mg daily, taken consistently over time as part of a broader preconception routine.
NAD+ IV therapy. For those on a more immediate fertility timeline — for example, in the months directly before an IVF cycle — NAD+ can be delivered intravenously. This bypasses digestion and replenishes systemic levels more directly and quickly than oral supplementation alone.
Neither approach is inherently “better” — the right fit depends on your timeline, your existing health picture, and what you and your care team decide makes sense for your specific situation.
Should You Consider NAD+ Support?
NAD+ isn’t a guarantee, and anyone who frames it that way isn’t being fully honest with you. What it is, is a genuinely promising area of fertility research, grounded in real biology about how much energy your eggs require and what happens when that energy supply declines with age.
If you’re preparing for conception, going through fertility treatment, or simply want to understand your options before an IVF cycle, NAD+ is worth a conversation with your provider — not as a cure-all, but as one tool among several that may help support your body during this process.
Be Well,
Lainey Kopinga, CNM, NP
Curious whether NAD+ support makes sense for your fertility journey? We’re happy to talk through your options, your timeline, and what the current research can and can’t tell us. Reach out to schedule a conversation.
