Best Time of Day to Take an NAD+ Supplement (and With or Without Food)

The honest answer first: the human studies on nicotinamide riboside did not test timing head-to-head. What they did establish is that a daily oral dose raises NAD+ and that the effect builds with consistent use. So the best time is the time you will not skip. That said, there are reasons to prefer the morning.

Why most people take it in the morning

NAD+ is tied to the circadian clock — the sirtuin SIRT1 and the NAD+-producing enzyme NAMPT oscillate over the day, and animal work shows NAD+ levels peak in the active phase. Taking a precursor in the morning lines up with that rhythm. There is also a practical point from customer feedback on this formula: a minority of people report feeling more alert after their packet, and a few who took it late in the day said it pushed their sleep back. Morning avoids the question.

With food or without?

In the Trammell 2016 pharmacokinetic study, NR was given to fasted participants and absorbed quickly. Taking it with breakfast is fine and is easier on an empty-stomach-sensitive gut; a small amount of fat may modestly help absorption of the fat-soluble co-factors (resveratrol, PQQ) in simplyNAD+. Neither approach is wrong. Pick one and keep it.

How to take simplyNAD+

1. Shake the packet — natural settling is normal.
2. Tear at the notch (scissors work if the notch is stubborn).
3. Drink it straight. One packet a day.

No refrigeration needed. Keep the box wherever you already have a morning habit: next to the coffee maker, in the car console, in your gym bag.

What about doubling up?

Human safety studies have used up to 1,000mg/day of NR for eight weeks (Conze 2019) and 2,000mg/day for 12 weeks (Dollerup 2018) without serious adverse effects. simplyNAD+ delivers 600mg per packet. We formulate for one packet a day; if you are considering more, talk to your doctor.

How long until you notice anything?

Blood NAD+ rises within hours of a dose and is measurably higher after weeks of daily use. Whether you feel that is individual. Give it the full 30 days — that is why the guarantee is 30 days.

Timing around exercise

There is a small but interesting literature here. Dolopikou et al. (European Journal of Nutrition, 2020) gave older adults a single 500mg dose of NR before an exercise session and reported improved redox balance and physical performance compared with placebo — an acute effect, in the same time-frame as the pharmacokinetic rise seen by Trammell. If you train in the morning, taking your packet with breakfast beforehand lines up with that data. If you train in the evening, the morning dose is still on board; NR's effects on the blood NAD+ pool are measured in hours to days, not minutes.

Coffee, fasting and other supplements

Coffee: no known interaction. Many customers take the packet with their first cup. Intermittent fasting: a packet contains roughly 10g of liquid with fruit concentrates, so it will break a strict water fast; if you fast until noon, take it with your first meal. Other supplements: NR is a form of vitamin B3, and there are no well-documented interactions with common supplements such as vitamin D, magnesium, creatine or omega-3s. The polyphenols in the formula — quercetin and resveratrol — can affect how some medications are metabolised, so if you take prescription drugs, especially blood thinners or anything your pharmacist has flagged for grapefruit interactions, ask your doctor first.

If you miss a day

Take your next packet at the usual time. Do not double up. The trials that showed a sustained NAD+ increase used a steady daily dose; a missed day lowers the average slightly and a doubled day does not recover it. The habit matters more than any single packet.

Morning vs evening — the case for each

• Morning: aligns with the active phase of the circadian NAD+ cycle; avoids any chance of feeling more alert at bedtime; easiest to anchor to an existing habit (coffee, breakfast, commute).
• Evening: works for people whose mornings are chaotic and who reliably sit down to dinner. If you notice it affects your sleep, move it earlier.

Either is defensible. What the evidence does not support is alternating — pick a slot and keep it.

A simple 30-day routine

1. Day 1: put the box where your morning already happens. Tear one packet with breakfast.
2. Days 2–7: same time, same place. Notice how it sits with your stomach; if it is heavy on an empty stomach, keep it with food.
3. Days 8–30: no changes. This is the window the human trials used for a measurable blood NAD+ increase.
4. Day 30: decide. If you do not want to keep going, that is what the 30-day guarantee is for.

Read next: Liquid NAD+ vs capsules

References

Trammell SAJ et al. Nat Commun 2016;7:12948 · Nakahata Y et al. Science 2009;324:654–657 · Conze D et al. Sci Rep 2019;9:9772 · Dollerup OL et al. Am J Clin Nutr 2018;108:343–353 · Dolopikou CF et al. Eur J Nutr 2020;59:505–515

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This article is educational and is not medical advice — talk to your doctor before starting any supplement.