Mitochondrial Energy:  NAD, B3, NMN

​Energy production in the mitochondria is “for” everything: for every cell, organ and function including detoxification, immunity, repairing tissue to stop pain, skin, etc.
This is much deeper than ‘take this for that’ symptom.  
 
The most direct path to the mitochondria is the NAD  or NADH pathway, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide
 
The NAD pathway especially has to be balanced with methylation or you will get symptoms, like depression, because you’re dealing with powerful essentials, not “dangerous” things.   
Many people can’t get methylation up since that whole approach has problems.
And all nutritional deficiencies must be addressed to get energy up.  
 
The NAD pathway has not caught the full attention of the chronic illness community since it is mainly promoted in longevity and biohacker types for high performance, not chronic illness, like Harvard medical school professor, David Sinclair. Sinclair’s protocol is to use NMN, niacinamide mononucleotide, with a handful of other supplements. This is easier to implement for people without chronic symptoms who don’t have to balance as many things.
 
I take it as a premise that NMN works better than other forms of B3: niacin (flushing) niacinamide (non flushing), NAD, NADP, NADH, etc. 
Sinclair’s protocol is too simple for people with major methylation issues who would freak out if on the high dose of NMN he recommends.
They see the connection in that they recommend TMG, trimethylglycine for methylation.
However, for people with low methylation levels they may need some combination of the others:  methionine, sam-e, b12, folate, choline, and TMG (betaine anhydrous).  
And the other B vitamin cofactors especially B2, riboflavin, which Chris Masterjohn says is a major cofactor for folate and often this is the problem, not genetics.

I actually found food works better as a balanced solution than trying to balance all of these separately. 

The whole MTHFR measurement industry does not lead directly to solutions.
If the “genetics” are off it could be the epigenetics of the environment of a missing cofactors.
Automatically prescribing methylfolate has backfired for many while another form works.
And then they forget the other sources of methyl donors and recyclers.
 
I personally like choline since it has many functions for the brain and liver, and it is used to make TMG.
 
Other cofactors in Sinclair’s protocol include firstly, resveratrol, and also quercetin, two powerful nutrients. These are often taken separately when they are already provided for in high quantities in Japanese Knotweed, which is the source from which isolates are often derived. The whole plant has many other nutrients.
 
An example of how these nutrients are for the energy pathways that are “for” everything is how Japanese Knotweed has been used for Buhner’s lyme infection protocol.  If it does not kill infection it certainly boosts the immune system, and is one of Buhner’s top three herbs. Sinclair’s followers have probably never heard of Buhner or even of lyme infection.
And visa versa.
 
Sinclair’s  following speaks  a different language and have no idea how to deal with sensitive people with many nutritional deficiencies that hold back their whole system.
They take the microscopic view of things like mtor and ampk, which leads to trying to manipulate mechanisms that they don’t fully understand, as in the medical model. .
 
I look for synergies between different approaches.
 
It is not “dangerous” to take things that create symptoms.
 It’s dangerous to not know what you are doing and how to take things in balance.
People jump in with things like NMM and get a reaction have fear carved into their brain of the thing itself, but do not know the context and the system the thing is a part of. They are still thinking of taking this for that, ‘I tolerate this but not that,’ all out of context.  
 
One must get methylation down, and other nutritional deficiencies as the whole system is more directly speeded up with the NAD pathway. I don’t see how people with depleted energy can avoid the NAD pathway when that is deeply depleted. This vitamin B3, niacin pathway is much more than just another B vitamin.
 
It’s going to lead to deeper detox even if you have done many direct “for” detox things.
  

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