The £350 Wellness Jab Hollywood Swears By

Could an at-home pen provide the energy boost to get you through the festive period?

If you're entering the festive season worried about how to handle the morning after the night before, there is a secret weapon you could keep in the fridge, ready to fight back. Injectable NAD+ (or nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide), is the latest bio-hacking tool of Californian longevity experts, as well as serious partygoers Kim Kardashian and Hailey Bieber.

What makes it appealing is that NAD occurs naturally in the body, responsible for many cellular processes. 'NAD affects everything from energy production and metabolism to inflammation and tissue repair', says Rhian Stephenson, nutritionist, naturopath and founder of Artah. But it's a sensitive little molecule: alcohol, stress and poor diet (gifts of the festive season) seriously deplete it. 'When you're sleep-deprived or consuming alcohol your NAD+ levels deplete rapidly, explains cosmetic doctor and medical director Dr Joshua van der Aa.

The answer? Boosting your body's NAD levels at home, judging by the host of products hitting the market. The latest injectable at-home kits range from Inside Out Biotech's Vive-NAD+, a product that Dr van der Aa recommends to his patients, to the GP-founded Hum2n and NAD+ At Home (which range in price from £195 for two weeks to £495 for a two-month supply) to a snazzy new NAD+ 4u pen from Body Brilliant (€350 for 20 doses). Melanie Chisholm and Henry Holland are already said to be fans.

All promise big things, including boosted energy, enhanced brain clarity and improved sleep. Some people rave about how they've recovered from injuries quicker, others use it to tackle menopause symptoms. 'NAD's ability to bolster energy at the cellular level means it can sustain you through long days and nights, supporting your wellness even through the demanding party season, says Gemma Wilkins, founder of Body Brilliant.

'By supplementing with subcutaneous NAD+, you enhance your body's ability to produce ATP (adenosine triphos-phate), the energy currency of your cells, helping you combat fatigue', says Van der Aa. 'NAD+ supports the activity of sirtuins, a family of proteins that regulate cellular health and have been shown to reduce inflammation and promote repair. This means that, after a night of partying, NAD+ can aid in restoring balance and accelerating recovery'.

While it might sound niche, the global NAD market was valued at over $535m in 2022, Polaris Market Research found, and is expected to reach nearly $1.5m by 2031. Already huge in the US, it's catching on quickly over here too. I've tried it myself, injecting a shot of Vive-NAD+ before a workout and found myself pumped and more raring to go than normal. The night after my next shot, my Oura ring told me my REM sleep was 30% better than normal. But overall, I'm already pretty healthy, so I'm not expecting to see a big difference. (I have prescribed it instead to my husband with a frozen shoulder.) For me, as a very rare drinker, it's the festive hangovers that I want to tackle - never helped by a bad night's sleep that more than a glass of wine always delivers.

'I'd advise an injection either before you go out or before going to bed, so you can optimise the recovery process during the night, that's when the body is focused on repair, Van der Aa says. He adds that even if you've pulled an all-nighter, a shot of NAD+ 'can help reset your body clock, making it easier to recover'.

I try out the NAD+ 4U pen after an evening in a wine bar with a girlfriend. Once I work out how to attach the needle into the pen (you have to replace it before each shot to keep it sterile), it is less daunting to administer than injecting myself with a needle. The next morning, I woke up to a near-perfect Oura sleep score and feel up for a 10k run, rather than a day face down on the sofa. I can't tell if it's a placebo effect, but it's welcome either way. 'NAD+ is a powerful detoxifier, assisting in the breakdown and elimination of lingering substances (such as alcohol) in the body', Wilkins explains.

While it sounds like a magic pill, there are caveats. First, none of these injectables is designed to be used for the odd hangover. They are meant to be taken three times a week, ideally for life. Professor Shin-ichiro Imai from Washington University School of Medicine, who has been studying NAD biology for 20 years, has found that boosting NAD levels in the body - especially after the age of 40 - is essential for healthy cells. But he believes that the molecules in injectable NAD+ formulations are too big for the cells to incorporate it. It is possible, but it's not efficient'.

Imai recommends NAD-boosting sup-plements, which he says are more effective (and cost-effective). 'A lot of people feel so much better when they take a NAD precursor supplement, that the craving for alcohol and less healthy foods or habits diminish', Stephenson says, noting this applies to those who have a healthy relationship with food and alcohol. She says that because the supplement can support stress and mood 'this can help individuals feel less inclined to overly indulge'.

She's clear, however, that, "There's no miracle supplement for hangovers'. The only way to totally avoid them? Drink mindfully. Which, for many, could just be a Christmas miracle.