NAD+ is everywhere right now — but Jon Andersen’s latest podcast cuts through the hype with a simple truth: NAD+ works for some people fast, and does almost nothing for others. The difference isn’t dosing. It’s whether you were depleted in the first place.
What NAD+ Actually Does
NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) is a coenzyme your mitochondria use to turn food into ATP — the energy currency every cell runs on. Levels fall with age, hard training, chronic stress, alcohol, and bad sleep. When NAD+ is low, you feel it: brain fog, sluggish recovery, flat training response, low motivation. When you replenish it, the lights come back on.
Why It Works Fast for Some — and Does Nothing for Others
Jon’s point in this episode is the one most NAD+ content skips: people who are genuinely depleted usually feel a noticeable lift in energy and focus inside the first week. People who are already topped up — younger, well-rested, eating clean, not drinking — often feel nothing because there’s nothing to replace. That isn’t a failure of the molecule. It’s the marker telling you what your real bottleneck is.
So the first question isn’t “what dose?” It’s “am I actually depleted?” Hard training, poor sleep, chronic stress, regular drinks, and age over 35 are the usual depletion markers. If none of them apply to you, NAD+ probably won’t move the needle — and you’d be better off fixing the upstream input first.
The Mitochondria Peptide Sequence: SS-31 → MOTS-c → NAD+
This is where the episode gets practical. Rather than throwing NAD+ at everyone, Jon walks through a sequenced stack that goes after the mitochondria from three angles in the right order:
- SS-31 repairs the mitochondrial membrane. You run it first because everything downstream depends on a healthy membrane to operate.
- MOTS-c tells your body to make more mitochondria (biogenesis) — but only after the existing ones are repaired. Skipping straight to MOTS-c builds more broken engines.
- NAD+ feeds the now-larger, repaired population so they can actually produce ATP at the level you can feel.
Stack them in any other order and you’re either feeding a broken engine or replicating a broken one. The sequence is the whole point.
How to Know If You’re a Responder
You don’t need a blood test to find out. Inside the first 7–10 days of a NAD+ run you’ll know: either energy lifts, focus sharpens, and training feels lighter — or nothing changes. If nothing changes, you’re not depleted. If the lift is dramatic, you were running on fumes and you needed it.
Jon also covers timing, why subcutaneous beats oral, and the cycling cadence he uses personally in the full episode.
Going Deeper
For the broader picture of how peptides and NAD+ fit into an anti-aging stack, see Jon’s anti-aging hacks breakdown covering GHK-Cu, BPC-157, and TB-500 alongside the SS-31/MOTS-c/NAD trio. For the longer-form protocol — peptides + TRT + sleep — read the slow aging protocol.
Watch the Full Breakdown
Jon’s full 14-minute episode covers dosing specifics, sourcing, who shouldn’t run NAD+, and the SS-31 and MOTS-c protocols he uses with clients. Watch above, then subscribe to Jon Andersen Coaching on YouTube for new episodes every week.
