December 12, 2025 — 4:00am
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It’s the supplement that longevity pin-ups, Andrew Huberman and David Sinclair, take for energy and mental clarity with the hope it might stave off cellular ageing.
“If I don’t take it I start to feel 50-years old, it’s horrible, I can’t think straight,” Sinclair told Huberman on Huberman’s podcast earlier this year.
Newly approved supplement key to eternal youth? Getty Images
On Wednesday, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approved NMN (nicotinamide mononucleotide) for use in Australia. The biotechnology company behind the change, Longevity Life Sciences (LLS) anticipates NMN will be on the shelves in the supplement aisle of chemists as early as Friday.
While it wasn’t legal to buy NMN in Australia until now, it could be purchased online from overseas suppliers.
“However, there was no certainty that it was safe, or it was what it said it was because it was coming from random entities offshore,” says Sally Panton, LLS co-founder and CEO. “So we saw this gap to bring it through the TGA and legitimise it.”
But, should you try it?
What is NMN?
To understand NMN, we have to start with a family of seven enzymes called sirtuins that help protect the body against ageing and age-related disease ranging from diabetes to Alzheimer’s, cancer to cardiovascular disease.
As we age, sirtuins become less active. To remain active, they require a DNA-repairing molecule called NAD (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) which also declines as we get older.
A 50-year-old has half the levels of NAD as a 20-year-old.
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“We want to bring the levels back up to a more youthful level,” Sinclair, a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, has said.
The issue is that NAD is poorly absorbed by the body, so scientists such as Sinclair have looked to boost levels via precursor molecules, including NMN.
NMN occurs naturally in small amounts in some foods, including avocados, broccoli, cabbage, edamame, cucumbers and tomatoes.
“But at levels much lower than what have been used in supplementation clinical trials,” explains Dr Tim Crowe, dietitian and nutrition researcher.
The idea is that NMN converts into NAD and improves our healthspan and, potentially, our lifespan.
Does it live up to the hype?
If you’re a mouse, yes.
Research has shown it is quickly synthesised by mice into NAD and suppresses age-related weight gain, enhances energy metabolism and physical activity performance, improves insulin sensitivity, mitochondrial metabolism and prevents age-related changes in gene expression.
If you’re a human, however, the findings are modest, conflicting and tend to be exaggerated.
One 2023 study cited by many proponents found that NMN supplementation led to significant increases in blood NAD concentrations and found it may also enhance physical performance, and prevent ageing.
However, in the words of longevity researcher Dr Peter Attia, it was “another game of smoke and mirrors”.
“The trial lasted 60 days, hardly enough time to see meaningful ageing changes,” Attia wrote in a critique. And yet… the placebo group aged approximately 5.6 years in that time. How can that possibly make sense for a non-treatment control group?”
A six-minute walking test, used to demonstrate physical performance, has little to do with endurance or energy levels, Attia added.
“The wash-up of all this is that most clinical trials to date are small, short-term, and often underpowered to detect meaningful clinical outcomes,” says Crowe, who questions the premise that declining NAD levels are necessarily the reason for many of the health problems associated with ageing.
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“Wrinkles are certainly a sign of ageing, but we don’t say that wrinkles cause many of the health problems of ageing.”
Dr Joanna Harnett, an associate professor of complementary medicine at the University of Sydney, says a study will commence in 2026 to explore whether increased NAD levels translate to improved health.
So, should you try it?
That is, of course, up to you.
Dr Ian Musgrave, senior lecturer in the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Adelaide, says it is “unlikely” the supplements will deliver any significant human health benefits.
“The TGA approval is for listed medicines only and only very general claims can be made [such as] ‘may assist with’,” he says. “The good news is the few clinical trials have not revealed any major side effects.”
Harnett adds that terms like “health and wellbeing”, which NMN is said to assist with, are broad, vague and encompass environmental, genetic, nutritional, social and other factors.
“While NMN may play a role, it should not replace the fundamentals: a balanced diet, limiting ultra-processed foods, regular physical activity, maintaining social connections and not smoking,” she says. “These remain the ‘knowns’ of healthy ageing.”
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Sarah Berry is a lifestyle and health writer at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via Twitter or email.Most Viewed in LifestyleFrom our partners