NMN Foods: Which Foods Contain NMN and How Much You Would Need

NMN foods include edamame, broccoli, cabbage, cucumber, mushrooms, avocado and tomato, with smaller amounts in raw beef and shrimp. The amounts are tiny: vegetables measured 0.25 to 1.88 mg of NMN per 100 g, while human NMN studies have used 250 to 1,250 mg a day. You can support your body's own NMN production through vitamin B3 in your diet, but food alone cannot come close to the amounts studied as supplements.

Key Takeaways

• Foods with measured NMN include edamame (immature soybean pods), broccoli, cabbage, cucumber, mushrooms, avocado, tomato, raw beef and shrimp (Nadeeshani et al., 2022).
• Reported amounts are 0.25 to 1.88 mg per 100 g for vegetables, 0.26 to 1.60 mg for fruits and 0.06 to 0.42 mg for raw beef and shrimp.
• Even at the top of the broccoli range, you would need about 22 kg (about 49 lb) of broccoli to get 250 mg, a daily amount used in several human trials.
• Your body makes its own NMN from nicotinamide, a form of vitamin B3, so eating enough B3 supports the raw material (NIH Office of Dietary Supplements).
• Food and supplements work together: a B3-rich diet covers the basics, and a supplement gives the amounts studied.

What NMN Is and Why People Look for It in Food

NMN (nicotinamide mononucleotide) is the step just before NAD+, a molecule every cell uses to turn food into energy. Inside your cells, an enzyme called NAMPT joins nicotinamide (a form of vitamin B3) to a sugar-phosphate to make NMN, which is then turned into NAD+. This recycling route is the main way the body keeps its NAD+ supply topped up (Nadeeshani et al., 2022). Our guide to how NAD+ is made walks through every route.

Because NMN sits so close to NAD+, many people want to know if they can get it from the grocery store. The answer is yes, in small amounts, and the numbers below show just how small.

Foods That Contain NMN

Most of what is known about NMN in food comes from one set of measurements published in 2016 and repeated in later reviews. Here are the foods with a stated range:

Food	NMN per 100 g	NMN per kg
Avocado	0.36 to 1.60 mg	3.6 to 16.0 mg
Broccoli	0.25 to 1.12 mg	2.5 to 11.2 mg
Cabbage	0.0 to 0.90 mg	0 to 9.0 mg
Tomato	0.26 to 0.30 mg	2.6 to 3.0 mg
Raw beef	0.06 to 0.42 mg	0.6 to 4.2 mg

Source for the table: Poddar et al., 2019, citing the 2016 measurements. Reviews also list edamame, cucumber and mushrooms, which fall inside the overall vegetable range of 0.25 to 1.88 mg per 100 g, and shrimp falls inside the meat and seafood range of 0.06 to 0.42 mg per 100 g (Nadeeshani et al., 2022). Plant foods came out higher than the raw beef and shrimp.

These are small numbers by any measure. A milligram is a thousandth of a gram, so even the best food on the list carries less than 2 mg in a 100 g serving.

How Much Food Would Match a Study Dose?

Human NMN trials have used 250 to 1,250 mg a day (Fukamizu et al., 2022 used the top amount); our NMN dosage guide lists them. Here is how much of each food it would take to reach 250 mg, using the highest value in each range:

Food (top of range)	Amount for 250 mg of NMN
Best vegetable value (1.88 mg per 100 g)	About 13 kg (about 29 lb)
Avocado (1.60 mg per 100 g)	About 16 kg (about 34 lb)
Broccoli (1.12 mg per 100 g)	About 22 kg (about 49 lb)
Raw beef (0.42 mg per 100 g)	About 60 kg (about 131 lb)
Tomato (0.30 mg per 100 g)	About 83 kg (about 184 lb)

So which foods are high in NMN? Honestly, none of them are high compared with a supplement. Food is still worth eating for everything else it gives you, and it supplies the vitamin B3 your body uses to make its own NMN.

Can You Get NMN Naturally?

Yes, in two ways. You take in small amounts from the foods above, and your body makes NMN itself from nicotinamide. Nicotinamide is one form of niacin (vitamin B3), and your tissues turn the niacin you eat into NAD, its main active form. The body can also make some NAD from tryptophan, an amino acid in protein: about 60 mg of tryptophan gives 1 mg of niacin (NIH Office of Dietary Supplements).

The recommended daily amount of niacin for adults is 14 mg for women and 16 mg for men (measured as niacin equivalents). These foods are good sources, per the NIH:

Food	Serving	Niacin
Chicken breast, grilled	3 ounces	10.3 mg
Turkey breast, roasted	3 ounces	10.0 mg
Salmon, sockeye, cooked	3 ounces	8.6 mg
Tuna, light, canned in water	3 ounces	8.6 mg
Brown rice, cooked	1 cup	5.2 mg
Peanuts, dry roasted	1 ounce	4.2 mg

How to Increase NMN Naturally

There is no food that delivers large amounts of NMN, so the natural approach is to give your body what it needs to make its own and to look after the habits that support NAD+:

• Cover your vitamin B3. Poultry, fish, peanuts and brown rice from the table above make it easy to reach 14 to 16 mg a day.
• Eat enough protein. Protein supplies tryptophan, which the body can turn into some of its niacin.
• Add the NMN foods. Edamame, broccoli, avocado and cabbage add a little NMN along with fiber and other nutrients.
• Look after daily habits. Exercise, sleep and meal timing all come up in NAD+ research; our guide to how to increase NAD+ naturally covers each one.

Food and NMN Supplements Together

Food and supplements are not rivals here. A diet with enough B3 keeps the body's own NMN production supplied, and a supplement adds the 250 to 1,250 mg a day that human trials have used, an amount no realistic diet can reach. In a 60-day trial in healthy adults aged 40 to 65, NMN raised blood NAD levels at every amount tested (Yi et al., 2023); see our guide to NMN supplement benefits for what each one measured, and NMN forms compared for capsules, powders and other options.

With a supplement, benefits build with consistent daily use: months 1 to 2 can bring early changes, and 3 months and beyond is where the full benefit builds. Most people tolerate NMN well. Talk with your clinician first if you are pregnant, breastfeeding or take prescription medicine.

Where Our Enhanced NMN Fits

Our Enhanced NMN gives 750 mg of NMN in every 2-capsule serving. To match that with broccoli, even at the top of its range, you would need about 67 kg of it. Each serving also has 200 mg of trimethylglycine (TMG), 200 mg of resveratrol, 100 mg of pterostilbene and 750 mcg of vitamin B12 as methylcobalamin, with ginger extract in vegan capsules, made with third-party tested ingredients. Take 2 capsules in the morning, with or without food, every day.

If you like to keep your morning routine simple, our Forage mushroom blend uses the same 2-capsule morning directions, with lion's mane, cordyceps, reishi, chaga, maitake, turkey tail and shiitake extracts plus shilajit and ashwagandha. Learn more on our NMN ingredient page and in our guide to cellular energy and mitochondrial health.

Frequently Asked Questions

What foods are high in NMN?

Avocado (up to 1.60 mg per 100 g) and broccoli (up to 1.12 mg) are among the higher measured foods, and edamame sits in the vegetable range that tops out at 1.88 mg. No food is high in NMN compared with a supplement.

Can you get NMN naturally?

Yes. You get small amounts from vegetables, fruits, beef and shrimp, and your body makes its own NMN from nicotinamide, a form of vitamin B3.

How do you get NMN naturally?

Eat enough vitamin B3 from foods like poultry, fish, peanuts and brown rice, get enough protein, and add NMN-containing vegetables such as edamame and broccoli.

How can I increase NMN naturally?

Support your body's own production with B3 and protein and look after exercise and sleep. To reach the amounts used in studies, people use a supplement.

How much broccoli would I need to eat for 250 mg of NMN?

About 22 kg (about 49 lb), even at the highest measured value of 1.12 mg per 100 g.

Is niacin the same as NMN?

No. Niacin is vitamin B3, and its nicotinamide form is the raw material cells use to make NMN, which then becomes NAD+.

Is there NMN in meat?

Raw beef and shrimp contain a little, 0.06 to 0.42 mg per 100 g, which is lower than the plant foods measured.

Is it better to get NMN from food or supplements?

Both have a place. Food supplies B3 and small amounts of NMN, while a supplement gives the 250 mg or more per day used in human trials.

Sources

• Nadeeshani H, Li J, Ying T, Zhang B, Lu J. Nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) as an anti-aging health product: promises and safety concerns. Journal of Advanced Research, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jare.2021.08.003
• Poddar SK, Sifat AE, Haque S, et al. Nicotinamide mononucleotide: exploration of diverse therapeutic applications of a potential molecule. Biomolecules, 2019. https://doi.org/10.3390/biom9010034
• NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Niacin: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Niacin-HealthProfessional/
• Yi L, Maier AB, Tao R, et al. The efficacy and safety of beta-nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) supplementation in healthy middle-aged adults. GeroScience, 2023. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36482258/
• Fukamizu Y, Uchida Y, Shigekawa A, et al. Safety evaluation of beta-nicotinamide mononucleotide oral administration in healthy adult men and women. Scientific Reports, 2022. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36002548/

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This content is for education and is not medical advice. Our products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Talk with a healthcare provider before starting a new supplement if you are pregnant, breastfeeding or taking medication.