In this single‑speaker video Dr. A, an integrative naturopathic clinician with over 30 years of experience, explains how nicotinamide riboside (or other NAD‑boosting strategies) and red‑light therapy (RLT) work together to amplify mitochondrial energy production. He describes the basic biochemistry: NAD sits at the start of the oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) cascade, donating electrons; red light (620‑800 nm) penetrates ~5 mm into tissue and activates cytochrome c oxidase, accelerating the middle of the cascade. By increasing the substrate (NAD) and the catalytic speed (RLT), cells generate more ATP, translating into greater whole‑body energy. Dr. A then offers practical guidance—dose NAD in the morning, start RLT with short sessions (5‑20 min) and schedule it earlier in the day to avoid overstimulation, and monitor individual responses. He notes variability: some people feel sleepy during RLT, others become hyper‑energized. He outlines clinical scenarios where the combination is useful, such as post‑trauma recovery, surgery, long COVID, and chronic Epstein‑Barr infection, emphasizing that the goal is to restore mitochondrial function after illness or injury. The video concludes with a call to subscribe, a link to a continuing‑education webinar for healthcare practitioners, and a reminder to experiment cautiously with the synergistic protocol.
Chapters
Nicotinamide riboside to increase your NAD levels, and you got a good dose, that's all rolling really well, and you do feel better energy from it. Then you start to do red light therapy, and let's say you're doing a big whole body red light therapy. I would recommend— I'm Dr. A, this is my YouTube channel, and I use this channel to break down questions that people ask. Usually they're questions from other content we've done, or they're clinical questions I get, and I've been involved in researching and teaching in the integrative naturopathic community for 30-plus years at this point, been seeing patients for a long time, and I use that background to enlighten these questions as they come in. So when you're thinking about red light therapy, the first thing to think is red light therapy runs somewhere in the 620 to 700, maybe up to 800 nanometer range to create a red light you can see. It absorbs through the skin and down about 5 millimeters or a little bit more, and depending where on your body that is that gets down to the subcutaneous area. So that means there's a lot of blood flow through there. Now, red light itself can activate a number of enzymatic processes, one of which is a particular type of cytochrome oxidase. And that particular activation also is used in the mitochondria to help with the oxidative phosphorylation cascade. And so what is this oxidative phosphorylation cascade? Well, Think of it like your body sends in residues of nutrient that are going to be broken down. They get into the mitochondria and then your mitochondrial enzymatic system borrows an electron from that nutrient source. That electron is then put into the OXPHOS cascade, which has these different intermediates, and it sort of tumbles through just like electricity through a wire. And it comes out at the bottom and helps the body make ATP, the basic energy unit for your cells. To operate. This is where energy comes from, cellular energy. So if red light is activating the mitochondria, which it does, then it's working kind of in the middle of that oxidative phosphorylation cascade. Where does NAD fit in? When you have NAD, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, that is at the beginning, and it has a couple of different states that it goes into. One of them allows the borrowing of an electron. So the NAD is at the beginning. beginning of this cascade. Red light is in the middle. So imagine if we put more NAD in the system, we're going to have more energy substrate available to run the electrons through OXPHOS to create more energy. And then if we have red light available, we're going to speed up the middle of the train to make more energy available. This then gives us more ATP production, which is then going to give us more cell energy. And if you multiply that times the trillions of cells that you have, that would be More body energy. Quick interruption from the regular video. If you are a healthcare practitioner and you have an interest in this topic, we're going to put a link in the description below to my CE website and specifically the webinar that is about this topic. So, see you over there. Thanks. So, things to consider. Let's say if you're doing one or the other, you know, you're taking a primer for NAD or something like that, or getting NAD IVs, you probably know how that feels to you. So, for example, some people will do red light therapy and it actually makes them very They'll fall asleep during red light therapy. Other people will not be able to. They'll get kind of jacked up during the red light therapy. They won't be able to sleep after. And so, we'll recommend they do their red light therapy earlier in the day when they need more energy, right? What will happen then, same thing with NAD, because it's an energy substrate. You take your NAD or you get an NAD IV or whatever, and you may feel an energy boost from that, which is great. But you should always try when you're adding things that are additive, especially where energy's concerned, and see how the combo goes. So let's say you've been on nicotinamide riboside to increase your NAD levels and you got a good dose, that's all rolling really well and you do feel better energy from it. Then you start to do red light therapy and let's say you're doing a big whole body red light therapy. I would recommend you start with the red light therapy at a lower number of minutes, you know, 5 to 15 minutes, maybe 20 or 30, and then see how you feel after that. Now you may be calmer or you may feel more energy. So the first time you do it early Earlier in the day is probably better. Same thing if you've been getting regular red light therapy, whole body red light therapy, and then you're going to add NAD. Always take your NAD primer, whether it's nicotinamide riboside or one of the other ones, take it in the morning and then add it to your red light protocol. See how you do. Generally, people are fine because they need that energy shift. Some people though, like I say, you do it later in the day and it might be a little overstimulating. So it's a really good therapeutic combination. They work well together. And Remember that when we're doing these mitochondrial support therapies, our real goal is usually to help the mitochondria recover after a trauma. So physical trauma, a surgery, a long illness. We do this a lot in long COVID, chronic Epstein-Barr infection, all of those sorts of things. We're trying to get energy back into the body. And then a lot of times you don't need as much of these therapies as you go forward. All right. Well, I hope that answers the question about red light and NAD synergy. I'm Dr. A. I really appreciate you all subscribing. If you haven't subscribed, please do subscribe and hit the notifications, share with others, et cetera. And I'll see you guys on the next video, but we're gonna leave a couple of links here for you at the end. Thanks.
