Guide
How to choose a good nicotinamide riboside (NR)
Choosing a nicotinamide riboside product means checking the salt form, whether it's sold alone or blended with something like pterostilbene, the dose against what trials have actually tested, price per serving, and whether third-party testing has a certificate to back it up.
Choosing a nicotinamide riboside product comes down to a handful of checks: which salt form it is, whether it's sold alone or blended with something else, how the dose compares to what's actually been tested, and what price and testing information back up the label. None of these checks depends on a brand name.
Which form, and why it matters
Nicotinamide riboside is unstable as a free molecule, so it's sold as a stabilized salt — commonly nicotinamide riboside chloride, the form used in the largest human trials (PMID 27721479, PMID 31278280). A label should name the specific form, not just the generic ingredient name "nicotinamide riboside," so you can tell it apart from related but chemically distinct compounds like NMN, niacin, or niacinamide — see what is nicotinamide riboside (NR)? A plain guide for how those differ.
Alone, or blended with something else
Nicotinamide riboside is sold both on its own and blended with other ingredients, commonly pterostilbene or resveratrol. That distinction isn't cosmetic: nicotinamide riboside taken alone, at doses up to 1,000 mg/day for 8 weeks, did not raise LDL cholesterol in the trial that measured it — but a separate trial of a combination product containing NR plus pterostilbene found a dose- and time-dependent rise in LDL cholesterol (PMID 31278280, PMID 29184669). That's a reason to read the "other ingredients" and "supplement facts" lines closely — a blend changes what's actually been shown about the product, for better or worse, and makes it harder to know which ingredient, if any, is responsible for any effect.
Dose against what's actually been tested
Human trials have tested nicotinamide riboside from single 100 mg doses up to a sustained 2,000 mg a day. See how much nicotinamide riboside (NR) should you take a day? for the specific amounts individual trials used. A serving size well inside that range is backed by more safety data than one well outside it in either direction — check the label's serving size against that range rather than assuming a bigger number is automatically better.
Price per serving
Products vary in both capsule count and milligrams per capsule, so price per bottle tells you little on its own. Price per serving — and what that serving actually delivers, in milligrams of the specific form on the label — is the number that lets you compare two products fairly.
Third-party testing
A certificate of analysis (COA) confirms a specific batch was tested for identity and contaminants by an independent lab. "Third-party tested" only means something when a batch has a linked, available COA to go with it — a claim with no link means there's nothing to actually check.
Questions people ask
Which nicotinamide riboside supplement should I choose?
This page doesn't recommend a specific product or brand. The checklist above — form, whether it's blended, dose against the trials, price per serving, and testing — applies to any product you're comparing, and tells you more than a marketing claim will.
Where can I buy nicotinamide riboside?
It's widely available through supplement retailers. This page doesn't point to a specific seller — the checks above apply no matter where you buy it.
Which nicotinamide riboside brand should I trust?
No brand has research specifically behind it beyond what's covered in nicotinamide riboside (NR) benefits: what the research does and doesn't show. Use the checklist above to compare any two products on their own terms.
Related reading: what is nicotinamide riboside (NR)? A plain guide, how much nicotinamide riboside (NR) should you take a day?, and nicotinamide riboside (NR) side effects.
Sources
- Nicotinamide riboside is uniquely and orally bioavailable in mice and humans The first published human trial of nicotinamide riboside (2016) found single oral doses of 100–1,000 mg produced a dose-dependent rise in blood NAD+ in 12 healthy adults, and that NR behaves differently in the body than the other two forms of vitamin B3.
- Safety and Metabolism of Long-term Administration of NIAGEN (Nicotinamide Riboside Chloride) in a Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-controlled Clinical Trial of Healthy Overweight Adults A 2019 randomized, placebo-controlled trial of 140 adults found nicotinamide riboside raised blood NAD+ dose-dependently at 100-1,000 mg/day over 8 weeks with no reports of flushing and no rise in LDL cholesterol or homocysteine, unlike the other forms of vitamin B3.
- Repeat dose NRPT (nicotinamide riboside and pterostilbene) increases NAD(+) levels in humans safely and sustainably: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study A 2017 trial of a nicotinamide-riboside-and-pterostilbene combination product in 120 older adults found dose-dependent NAD+ increases (about 40% and 90% at two doses) over 8 weeks with no serious adverse events — a combination-product result, not one isolating NR alone, and no clinical outcome beyond NAD+ was measured.
*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.