Nick Norwitz's thread on aged garlic's S1PC compound boosting eNAMPT — an enzyme that circulates in blood and feeds NAD+ production in distant tissues — surprised biohacking circles. Here's what the research actually shows.
Nick Norwitz's thread on X went viral in longevity circles: aged garlic extract, specifically a compound called S1PC, appears to boost levels of eNAMPT — extracellular NAMPT — a circulating enzyme that drives NAD+ production in tissues throughout the body. The mechanism is indirect, the evidence is early-stage, and garlic is an unlikely longevity supplement for most people to consider seriously. But the underlying biology of eNAMPT is genuinely fascinating, and the research is more substantial than the "garlic goes viral" framing suggests.
Here is what eNAMPT is, why it matters, what the garlic research actually shows, and where this fits in the broader NAD+ supplementation picture.
NAMPT (nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase) is the rate-limiting enzyme in the biosynthesis of NAD+ from nicotinamide, the most common pathway for NAD+ production in most mammalian tissues. It exists in two forms:
iNAMPT (intracellular NAMPT): Present inside cells, where it catalyzes NAD+ synthesis from nicotinamide locally.
eNAMPT (extracellular NAMPT): Secreted into the bloodstream, where it circulates and can enter cells in distant tissues, boosting NAD+ synthesis systemically. It is particularly concentrated in adipose tissue and muscle, and appears to function as a kind of NAD+ "hormone" — an endocrine signal that coordinates metabolic state across tissues.