Quick answer

Edamame, avocado, broccoli and a few other plant foods hold the most NMN measured in foods, up to about 1.9 mg per 100 g. Trials used 250 mg or more a day, so food alone cannot come close. The body also builds NAD+ from vitamin B3 and the amino acid tryptophan.^1,2

Key facts

Raw beef and shrimp contained 0.06 to 0.42 mg of NMN per 100 g.¹
Human milk was the richest NMN source among the milks tested.³
Only a few studies have measured NMN in food.⁴
About 60 mg of tryptophan gives the body 1 mg of niacin, a form of vitamin B3.²

NMN measured in foods

NMN per 100 g of food, from the first study to measure it¹
Food	NMN, mg per 100 g
Edamame	0.47 to 1.88
Avocado	0.36 to 1.60
Broccoli	0.25 to 1.12
Mushroom	0 to 1.01
Cabbage	0 to 0.90
Cucumber, seed and peel	0.56 to 0.65
Tomato	0.26 to 0.30
Beef, raw	0.06 to 0.42
Shrimp	0.22

In the first study to measure NMN in foods, edamame, broccoli, cucumber and cabbage contained up to 1.88 mg per 100 g, and avocado and tomato 0.26 to 1.60 mg per 100 g.^1,4

Raw beef and shrimp contained less, about 0.06 to 0.42 mg per 100 g.¹

The ranges are wide because the researchers tested several samples of some foods, and the samples differed.¹

Only a few studies have measured NMN in foods, and whether a normal diet supplies enough to raise NAD+ is not known.⁴

Food compared with a supplement

At the top of the measured range, 100 g of edamame holds about 1.9 mg of NMN. Reaching 250 mg, the amount most trials used, would take more than 13 kg of edamame a day, by our arithmetic.^1,2

So the blood NAD+ rise seen in trials cannot be expected from diet. Whether the small amounts in food change NAD+ at all is still an open question.⁴

NMN in milk

Milk contains NMN too. Among the milks tested, human milk had the most.^3,4

Milk also carries nicotinamide riboside, a related NAD+ building block. Cow's milk had the most of it, and ultra-high-temperature processing destroyed it while ordinary pasteurization did not.^3,4

Where NAD+ comes from in an ordinary diet

NAD+ is a helper molecule cells use to release energy from food. The body makes it from forms of vitamin B3, and can make vitamin B3 from the amino acid tryptophan: about 60 mg of tryptophan yields 1 mg of niacin.²

Adults need roughly 11 to 22 mg of niacin a day, depending on how much energy they use. That need is set for vitamin B3 in general, and there is no separate requirement for NMN.²

Foods also contain NAD+ itself, and digestion breaks some of it down into NMN and nicotinamide riboside, which is one more way a normal diet supplies these building blocks.⁴

What's in ours

What’s in ours

NMN: β-Nicotinamide Mononucleotide, 500 mg per serving, from the label

Supplements are a different matter

The cautions on this site concern NMN supplements, which supply more than a hundred times the NMN in 100 g of the richest food measured. Ask your doctor before taking a supplement if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, under 18, or take prescription medicines.^1,2

Questions people ask

Which food has the most NMN?

Edamame had the highest amount measured, 0.47 to 1.88 mg per 100 g, followed by avocado at 0.36 to 1.60 mg.¹

Can I get enough NMN from food?

Not the amounts used in trials. Even the richest food measured gives under 2 mg per 100 g, against 250 mg or more a day in trials.^1,2

Which foods are high in NAD+?

Plant and animal foods contain NAD+, and digestion turns some of it into NMN and nicotinamide riboside. Few foods have been tested for these compounds, but the body also makes NAD+ from vitamin B3 and the amino acid tryptophan.^2,4

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Sources

This page is information, not medical advice. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about your own situation.