One of the greatest killers of older folks is heart disease, often caused by cardiovascular aging. As we get older, our arteries age, get thinner, clog up with plaque, both of which can lead to higher blood pressure which impacts the heart and increases the chances of strokes and aneurisms.

For many years, doctors have been telling people that if they cut back on their total food (caloric) intake, that it will help improve heart health. It helps to reduce being overweight, which in turn helps lower blood pressure and reduces the chances of developing type 2 diabetes and in some cases, can actually help reverse type 2 diabetes and put it in remission.

Cutting one’s intake of calories has also been reported to help slow the aging process and who doesn’t want to do that? If you knew that cutting calories could help extend your lifespan, would you go on a diet?

What if you were told about a dietary supplement that could help reduce, slow and even reverse some of the effects of aging arteries? Would you be interested?

According to a new report, there is such a supplement and I, for one, intend to try it out, if it isn’t too expensive.

“But a new University of Colorado Boulder study published today indicates that when people consume a natural dietary supplement called nicotinomide riboside (NR) daily, it mimics caloric restriction, aka ‘CR,’ kick-starting the same key chemical pathways responsible for its health benefits.”

“Supplementation also tends to improve blood pressure and arterial health, particularly in those with mild hypertension, the study found.”

“‘This was the first ever study to give this novel compound to humans over a period of time,’ said senior author Doug Seals, a professor and researcher in the Department of Integrative Physiology. ‘We found that it is well tolerated and appears to activate some of the same key biological pathways that calorie restriction does’.”

Doing some further research, I found this promising report on nicotinomide riboside:

“Nicotinamide Riboside is a precursor to nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, which has a lot of health benefits. It activates sirtuins, which means it is anti-aging and can help support a healthy circadian rhythm. It can also help generate energy in mitochondrial-dense tissues like muscle, brain, and liver.

To put this in more understandable terminology:

• NR helps muscle function
• NR helps fight against cancer
• NR reduces diabetic symptoms
• NR helps to protect the brain
• NR helps protect the liver
• NR is reported to help prevent or reduce hearing loss
• NR increases metabolism
• NR may help weight loss
• NR is reported to help longevity
• NR protects mitochondria

One side effect that has been reported in some people is a worsened exercise performance but this is based on animal trials and have not been reported with humans.

Natural sources for nicotinamide riboside are cow’s milk, whey protein and Brewer’s yeast. It can also be obtained in many health food stores and online.

What kind of dose is recommended? One site reports:

“Nicotinamide riboside is a naturally occurring form of vitamin B3. There was no risk of death at an oral dose of 5000 mg/kg.”

“The lowest adverse effect level on organs for NR was 1000 mg/kg/day, and the no adverse effect level was 300 mg/kg/day.”