What Is Apigenin? Benefits, Anti-Ageing Effects & How It Supports NAD+

NAD boosting has emerged as one of the key strategies for improving our healthspan. The notion that NAD levels decline with age has led many of us to respond with supplementation of NAD boosters such as NMN (Nicotinamide Mononucleotide). NMN is an NAD precursor that, when it enters the cell, restores the levels of NAD to more youthful levels. The trouble is, there are many pressures on NAD biology with age, which cause NAD levels to decline.

While taking NMN can lead to excellent results in our energy levels, it is only one part of the strategy that we employ to restore our NAD levels. To create a comprehensive strategy, we need to also consider the role of an enzyme called CD38. CD38 increases in activity as we age and acts to consume our precious NAD, preventing it from entering the energy cycle in the cell.

Recent research from the Buck Institute has revealed this to be caused by age-related inflammation. This ‘inflammaging’ is related to the activity of white blood cells called ‘macrophages’, trying to intervene with the age-related damage. Engaging with this problem requires intervening in a way that decreases the expression of CD38 enzymes in this process.

What can be done to help fix this problem?

It turns out, we have an unlikely ally in this struggle - one that might be growing in your home garden right at this very moment...

Parsley!

Now before you go chomping down like a rabbit on this green miracle plant, we’ll need to better understand what the active compound in parsley is that can assist with inhibiting CD38. This active ingredient is called ‘apigenin’, and it’s been found to ‘switch off’ the pro-inflammatory genes leading to the inflammaging problem, driving the response of those macrophages involved in expressing CD38.

Apigenin is a flavonoid, which is a compound that exists in many types of plants, including the humble (and delicious) parsley. Thanks to a significant body of recent research (here’s one such example), we now know that supplemental apigenin can inhibit CD38 directly, and result in increased NAD levels. This also shows up in better maintenance of your protein regulation, as your genes become less ‘acetylated’, and more youthful as a result.

So, as you venture forward, aiming to improve your NAD levels, and express a more youthful version of yourself with NAD precursors like NMN, you’d be wise to make sure you suppress your CD38 expression with an inhibitor such as apigenin.

Aim for a 1:1 ratio with your NMN supplement as a starting point and run your own ‘self-experiment’ to see how you fare. You now have the ability to measure your NAD levels using Do Not Age's NAD test kit, so that you can know for certain.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact [email protected]

Post Contributed by Dr. Nick Engerer

If so, you’re not imagining it, chronic stress, poor sleep, and cellular damage can accelerate the ageing process. But there’s one powerful natural compound that’s quietly being recognised for its role in slowing down biological ageing and supporting long-term vitality.

It’s called Apigenin, and chances are, you’ve never heard of it, yet.

What Is Apigenin?

Apigenin is a flavonoid, a type of antioxidant found in certain herbs, vegetables, and fruits, especially parsley, celery, chamomile, and citrus peel.

But this isn’t just another plant-based antioxidant.

Emerging research has linked apigenin to a wide range of anti-ageing benefits, including:

  • Supporting healthy cortisol levels

  • Enhancing sleep quality and circadian rhythm balance

  • Inhibiting CD38, an enzyme that depletes NAD+

  • Promoting DNA repair and cellular integrity

  • Helping the body manage inflammation and oxidative stress

Its multi-targeted effects make it one of the most promising natural compounds in the field of healthy ageing.

Why NAD+ and CD38 Matter

One of the most exciting discoveries in longevity science is the role of NAD+, a molecule that helps cells produce energy, repair DNA, and function optimally.

Unfortunately, NAD+ levels decline significantly with age, and one of the biggest culprits is an enzyme called CD38, which becomes more active over time and breaks down NAD+ faster than your body can replenish it.

Apigenin has been shown to naturally inhibit CD38, which in turn helps preserve NAD+ levels in the body.

This makes apigenin a powerful companion to NMN or other NAD+ precursors. By slowing NAD+ depletion, it supports everything from brain clarity to energy production and skin health, all at the cellular level.

Stress, Cortisol and Ageing: The Hidden Connection

If you’re constantly wired, anxious, or struggling with poor sleep, you’re not just tired, your cortisol levels could be elevated.

Cortisol, the body’s primary stress hormone, is essential in small amounts but harmful in excess. Chronically high cortisol can:

  • Disrupt sleep and digestion

  • Increase inflammation

  • Accelerate fat storage

  • Damage brain cells

  • Contribute to premature cellular ageing

Apigenin has been studied for its ability to modulate cortisol, promoting a more balanced stress response without causing drowsiness. This may help support better mental clarity, emotional resilience, and restful sleep,  three crucial pillars of healthy ageing.

Sleep, Repair and Cellular Reset

You might not feel “older” after a bad night of sleep, but your cells do.

Sleep is when your body carries out essential repair functions, including:

  • Clearing metabolic waste from the brain

  • Repairing DNA

  • Regulating hormones

  • Recharging mitochondria

By promoting calmness and sleep quality, apigenin supports the processes that help you look and feel younger, day after day.

Why Supplement Apigenin?

You can get apigenin from food, chamomile tea, parsley, and citrus peels all contain small amounts. But to reach therapeutic levels for longevity benefits, supplementation is often necessary.

DoNotAge.org’s Pure Apigenin offers a high-strength, research-backed dose in a convenient daily capsule, free from unnecessary fillers or additives.

It’s ideal for anyone who:

  • Is over 35 and wants to age healthily

  • Struggles with stress or poor sleep

  • Takes NMN and wants to protect their NAD+

  • Feels burned out or mentally foggy

  • Seeks a non-drowsy way to support calm and resilience

Why Choose DoNotAge’s Pure Apigenin?

  • Third-party tested for purity and potency

  • No fillers, binders or artificial ingredients

  • Backed by longevity science and trusted by health optimisers worldwide

  • Designed to work in harmony with DoNotAge’s NAD+ optimisation stack

Learn more here Pure Apigenin

A Natural Way to Age Better

In the world of longevity, some compounds stand out because they work with your body’s natural rhythms instead of trying to override them.

Apigenin is one of those rare, elegant solutions.
It doesn’t just fight the signs of ageing,  it supports the systems that keep you resilient, clear-headed, and well-rested.

And isn’t that what healthy ageing is really about?