At the request of the Natural Product Association (NPA) and Alliance of Natural Health USA, the FDA has finally banned NMN from online sites. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already sent a warning letter to Elysium Health in 2015, the company responsible for marketing Nicotinamide Mononucleotide (NMN) as a dietary supplement.
The organization stated that Elysium Health was unable to claim NMN’s ability to treat, prevent, or mitigate the diseases that it was made for.
So, the question here arises: what are NMN made for, and is it worth banning the supplement for direct selling? We have explored all the questions in this article in detail so that you can choose the product wisely.
What Are The Benefits Of NMN: Why Did The FDA Ban NMN?
Elysium Health marketed NMN as a dietary supplement that helps maintain the overall health of an individual. The company claimed that it is a precursor of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), an organic compound required for many enzymes and catalytic activities. These coenzymes are responsible for many cellular activities.
The company claims that NMN supplements help increase NAD levels, which improve metabolism, provide energy to the body, and play a vital role in DNA repair. However, the main highlight of this supplement is its anti-aging properties that help individuals stay younger for a long time. According to Elysium Health, NMN supplements can stimulate NAD production in the body, which may improve age-related health issues.
The thing you must note is that the nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) is present in various food items but in small amounts. If you want to consume NMN naturally, then you can get it from crunchy food and vegetables such as avocado, cabbage, broccoli, and cucumbers. Then, what is the need to include such an NMN supplement in your daily diet?
Well, as we have said previously, the NMN present in these foods is available in a very small amount, which is not enough to meet the body’s needs. Therefore, many people prefer to outsource the NMN need from these types of dietary supplements. Elysium Health claims to provide the best NMN dietary supplement that often increases the NAD level.
Why Did The FDA Ban NMN From Marketing As A Dietary Supplement?
The controversy started with the petition of one of the citizens in the USA to the FDA in November 2022. The petition stated that the NMN supplement lacks evidence that the company claims anti-aging properties and needs more substantial clinical investigations. The campaign caught fire when NPA and ANH submitted a request to the FDA to exclude NMN from dietary supplements.
Seeing so many requests, the FDA has asked for the supplement’s ingredients and test reports conducted by the company. The FDA found the experiments of NMN supplements were only conducted on rats rather than humans. Due to a lack of evidence, the organization has banned the market of the NMN as a dietary supplement.
Till now, the FDA has not claimed any side effects regarding the dietary supplement due to lack of evidence. Food and Drug Association stated that the ban on NMN supplements is just a precautionary decision to understand the potential of the product. Additionally, the organization itself conducted the investigation procedure to coin its pros and cons.
What Are The Findings Of The NMN Supplement?
According to the FDA, NMN is a new dietary ingredient (NDI) that has a lack of evidence regarding its health benefits. The ingredients that are used to make the NMN are likely to increase the NAD level in the body. Metro International Biotech (BIM), the manufacturer of NMN supplements, also concluded that NMN is a great source of NAD coenzyme that helps maintain the overall health of an individual.
But this evidence doesn’t mean that it is safe for human beings to consume- said the FDA. The research is still going on, and this time, the organization is planning to experiment on humans. Hence, the experiment will require so many precautions because human life matters.
In this regard, Daniel Fabricant, the present CEO of NPA, said that the organization should prioritize the NMN petition. NPA has expressed deep concern for the NDI notification and stated that public health matters. Further, the CEO of NPA also concluded that supplements should be studied under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act 1994 (DSHEA ) to demonstrate their safety against novel ingredients.
Are You Considering Adding An NMN Supplement To Your Daily Diet?
As per the FDA’s statement regarding the NMN product, they do not have any new scientific evidence that supports the anti-aging properties and health benefits. At the same time, they also did not find any element that can harm human health. The FDA has only taken a precautionary step to study the ingredients used in the NMN supplement.
Additionally, some research has also found that people who have already consumed this supplement earlier faced some minor side effects such as headaches and body pain. The research observed no major health issues for the people who used to consume it daily. The thing here to note is that NMN only helps to increase the NAD coenzyme that is available naturally in the body.
With this research, scientists have concluded that it is safe to consume NMN supplements that contain negligible side effects. Still, if you want to include NMN in your daily diet, kindly consult your doctor and professional dietitians to get better suggestions for the supplement.
Also Read:- Can NMN Damage Kidneys? Exploring The Potential Impacts And Considerations
Final Words
FDA banned NMN or Nicotinamide Mononucleotide to market it as a dietary supplement. The organization still has not provided any evidence regarding the efficiency of the product. They banned the supplement to sell it in the market due to a lack of scientific evidence that claims the health benefits of the NMN product.
So, the FDA has suggested all e-commerce sites remove this product from their sites till further instruction. Studies are still going on to understand the NMN’s ingredients and its potential health benefits in detail.
