Last updated: September 27, 2026 · Originally published: September 17, 2026 · By Eternal Elixir Editorial
Quick answer: People pair NMN and TMG because the body clears the nicotinamide left over from NAD+ use by attaching a methyl group to it, and TMG (trimethylglycine, also sold as betaine) is a methyl donor that helps keep that supply topped up. The best human evidence for the idea is indirect: in 30 adults, a single 300mg dose of nicotinamide cut blood betaine by 24.4% within three hours. No trial has tested NMN and TMG taken together, so the pairing is a sensible precaution, not a proven requirement. Our pick is Eternal Elixir NMN 500mg (one capsule a day, 90 per bottle, $0.67 a serve) with TMG 2000mg (three capsules give 2,000mg, $1.50 a serve). That comes to about $2.17 a day for both, sent from Sydney within 24 hours.
Eternal Elixir makes both products, and they are our pick. Competitor prices and doses below come from each brand’s own product page or the retailer listing we link, read in September 2026. We have not lab-tested any of these products. If you want a product-by-product ranking rather than the science, our comparison of five NMN and TMG stacks sold in Australia covers it. If you have not chosen an NMN yet, start with our guide to NMN supplements in Australia by cost per serve.
Why NMN and TMG get stacked together
The pairing comes from a real piece of biochemistry. Each step in the chain below is well established. The weak point is the last step, where the chain meets an actual person taking an actual capsule.
From NMN to NAD+ to nicotinamide
NMN (nicotinamide mononucleotide) is a building block your cells turn into NAD+, a coenzyme used throughout energy metabolism. Enzymes that use NAD+ break it down as they work, and one of the pieces left over is nicotinamide. The body does not let nicotinamide pile up. An enzyme called nicotinamide N-methyltransferase (NNMT) attaches a methyl group to it, and the product, N1-methylnicotinamide, is broken down further and passed in urine.
Where that methyl group comes from
The methyl group is taken from S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), the body’s main methyl donor. Once SAM hands over its methyl group it ends up as homocysteine, which has to be recycled back to methionine and then to SAM. Folate and vitamin B12 run one recycling route. Betaine runs the other: it gives one of its three methyl groups to homocysteine and becomes dimethylglycine (DMG).
TMG in a capsule is betaine anhydrous, the same compound found in wheat bran and spinach. So the argument runs like this. More NMN means more nicotinamide to clear, more clearing spends more methyl groups, and TMG gives the betaine route more raw material. Our explainer on what TMG does in the methylation cycle covers that route in more detail.
What has been measured in people
Two small human studies show the first half of the chain happening.
- NMN is cleared through the methyl route. In a Japanese study, 10 healthy men took single doses of 100mg, 250mg and 500mg of NMN. Blood levels of two methylated breakdown products (known as 2PY and 4PY) rose in step with the dose, and no clinical problems showed up over five hours of monitoring (Irie et al., Endocrine Journal, 2020).
- Clearing nicotinamide uses up betaine. In a Chinese trial, 30 adults were split into three groups given water, 300mg of nicotinic acid or 300mg of nicotinamide. Three hours after the nicotinamide dose, plasma betaine was 24.4% lower and homocysteine 61% higher than in the water group (Sun et al., Clinical Nutrition, 2017).
Read those results with care. The Sun trial used plain nicotinamide, not NMN, and it measured one dose over three hours. It shows that clearing nicotinamide draws on betaine in people. It does not show that a daily NMN capsule lowers betaine or raises homocysteine over months, and we could not find a trial that has measured that.
What has not been measured
We searched PubMed in September 2026 for a trial that gave people NMN and TMG together and found none. Claims you will see online, such as a required 1:1 ratio or side effects from skipping TMG, are inferences drawn from two separate bodies of research. They may turn out to be right. Nobody has tested them yet, and a supplement company that tells you otherwise is selling ahead of the data.
What the human evidence shows for NMN and for TMG
There is reasonable human research on each compound on its own. Here is what it says, with the numbers.
NMN in people
The largest dose-ranging trial so far gave 80 healthy middle-aged adults a placebo or 300mg, 600mg or 900mg of NMN once a day for 60 days. Blood NAD rose in every NMN group compared with placebo and with baseline, and it was highest in the 600mg and 900mg groups. Six-minute walking distance improved more than with placebo, and adverse-event reports and lab tests showed no safety problems (Yi et al., GeroScience, 2023).
A separate safety trial gave 31 healthy adults aged 20 to 65 either 1,250mg of NMN or a placebo once a day for up to four weeks. Blood, urine and body-composition tests showed no changes beyond normal variation, and there were no severe adverse events (Fukamizu et al., Scientific Reports, 2022).
So the fair summary is that NMN raises blood NAD in people and was well tolerated at these doses over several weeks. For what people notice and when, see how long NMN takes to work. For the longer safety record, read what five years of research says about NMN safety.
TMG in people
Betaine’s human evidence is mostly about homocysteine. The most useful trial for dose questions gave 76 healthy adults, in four groups of 19, either a placebo or 1.5 g, 3 g or 6 g of betaine a day for six weeks. Fasting homocysteine ended 12%, 15% and 20% lower than placebo (Olthof et al., Journal of Nutrition, 2003). The authors put normal dietary betaine intake at roughly 0.5 to 2 g a day, so the lower doses sit in the range a betaine-rich diet can reach.
A meta-analysis of five randomised trials in healthy adults, all using at least 4 g a day for 6 to 24 weeks, found an average homocysteine drop of 1.23 µmol/L (McRae, Journal of Chiropractic Medicine, 2013).
The cholesterol trade-off at 6 g a day
The same research found a downside at the top dose. In a Finnish trial of 42 adults on a reduced-energy diet, 6 g of betaine a day for 12 weeks lowered homocysteine, but total and LDL cholesterol ended higher than in the placebo group (Schwab et al., American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2002).
When the Wageningen group pooled three of its betaine trials in 151 healthy people, 6 g a day for six weeks raised LDL cholesterol by 0.36 mmol/L and triglycerides by 0.14 mmol/L compared with placebo. Lower doses also nudged LDL up, though not by a statistically significant amount, and the LDL effect was visible within two weeks (Olthof et al., PLoS Medicine, 2005).
You cannot keep the homocysteine result and discard the cholesterol one, because both came from the same 6 g dose. If your LDL is already raised or you take a lipid-lowering medicine, talk to your GP before adding a daily methyl donor.
How much TMG to take with NMN: the dose arithmetic
Most of the confusion online comes from mixing up doses. The homocysteine benefit and the cholesterol signal in the betaine trials both sit at 6 g a day. Supplement serves are much smaller, and some NMN combination products carry less TMG than any trial tested.
| Daily TMG (betaine) | Where you meet this dose | What human trials show at this level |
|---|---|---|
| 499mg to 500mg | All-in-one NMN and TMG products (Gaspari Proven NMN/TMG, Bulk Nutrients NMN Extend) | Below the lowest supplement dose in the trials above |
| 0.5 to 2 g | Typical intake from food, as estimated by Olthof and colleagues | Background intake from diet |
| 1,000mg to 1,200mg | DoNotAge and Simply Nootropics serves, and the top of Bulk Nutrients’ TMG label | No trial at this dose that we could find |
| 1,500mg | Lowest dose in Olthof 2003 | Homocysteine 12% lower than placebo after six weeks |
| 2,000mg | One serve of Eternal Elixir TMG (three capsules) | Between the 1.5 g and 3 g doses tested, and a third of the 6 g dose |
| 3,000mg | Middle dose in Olthof 2003 | Homocysteine 15% lower than placebo |
| 6,000mg | Top dose in Olthof 2003, and the dose in Schwab 2002 and Olthof 2005 | Homocysteine 20% lower, with LDL cholesterol up 0.36 mmol/L |
That leaves the ratio question. The 1:1 ratio (500mg of NMN with 500mg of TMG, for example) and the advice to take 500mg to 1,000mg of TMG with NMN have no trial behind them that we could find. We sell TMG as a 2,000mg serve because that amount sits inside the range where a human trial measured a homocysteine change, while staying at a third of the 6 g dose tied to the LDL rise. If you take NMN at the higher end, our NMN dosage guide for Australians shows where those serves sit.
NMN and TMG in Australia: cost per day compared
These are the practical ways to get both compounds in Australia, each converted to cost per day at the label serve. Prices are in Australian dollars, as of Sep 2026.
| Option | NMN per day | TMG per day | Price (AUD, as of Sep 2026) | Cost per day | Pack | Ships from | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eternal Elixir NMN 500mg + TMG 2000mg (our pick) | 500mg (1 capsule) | 2,000mg (3 capsules) | $59.99 + $44.99 | $2.17 ($0.67 + $1.50) | 90 capsules each: 90 days of NMN, 30 days of TMG | Sydney, within 24 hours | NMN and TMG at Eternal Elixir |
| Bulk Nutrients NMN Capsules + TMG Capsules | 500mg (1 capsule) | 1,200mg (2 capsules, the label maximum) | $79.00 + $29.00 | $1.14 ($0.66 + $0.48), lowest cost per day here | 120 capsules each | Tasmania | Bulk Nutrients |
| Bulk Nutrients NMN Extend (powder) | 499mg per 8 g scoop | 499mg, plus glycine, taurine, resveratrol and five other actives | $59.00 for 240 g | $1.97 | 30 serves | Tasmania | Bulk Nutrients |
| Gaspari Nutrition Proven NMN/TMG | 500mg per 2 capsules | 500mg, plus 125mg trans-resveratrol and B vitamins | AU$72.32 at iHerb Australia | $2.41 | 60 capsules (30 serves) | International, via iHerb | iHerb Australia |
| Simply Nootropics NMN Capsules + TMG B-Complex | 500mg (2 capsules of 250mg) | 1,000mg with B vitamins (2 capsules) | $69.00 + $49.00 | $3.93 ($2.30 + $1.63) | 60 capsules each (30 days) | New Zealand | Simply Nootropics |
| DoNotAge Pure NMN + Pure TMG (Australian store) | 1,000mg (2 capsules, the label’s recommended serve) | 1,000mg (2 capsules) | $129.00 + $32.00 | $5.37 ($4.30 + $1.07) | 60 capsules each (30 days) | Distribution centres in the UK, US and EU | DoNotAge |
Our prices are from our live product pages. Competitor prices were read from the linked pages in September 2026 and change with promotions, subscriptions and multi-buy offers, so check before you buy.
Add NMN 500mg to cart · $59.99 Add TMG 2000mg to cart · $44.99
Bulk Nutrients has the lowest cost per day in this table, at $1.14 for 500mg of NMN and 1,200mg of TMG, sent from Tasmania. If cost per day is the only thing you care about, that is the cheapest route here. The two all-in-one products are the most convenient, at one scoop or two capsules. Each gives about 500mg of TMG, which is a quarter of our serve and below every dose in the trials above. Simply Nootropics and DoNotAge ship from overseas and cost more per day. The DoNotAge figure is at its own recommended 1,000mg of NMN, which works out to $2.15 per 500mg of NMN.
Our pick stays the Eternal Elixir pair, for reasons you can check on the labels. You get the full 2,000mg TMG serve and one 500mg NMN capsule a day, both from one Australian shop that sends from Sydney within 24 hours. An order of both comes to $104.98, which clears the $100 free-shipping threshold, and buying two, three or five bottles takes 10%, 15% or 20% off on the product page.
Who the NMN and TMG pairing suits, and who it doesn’t
Rather than a blanket yes or no, sort yourself into one of three groups.
Worth adding TMG:
- You take 1,000mg of NMN a day or more, or you stack NMN with NR or another NAD+ precursor.
- You eat little of the richest betaine foods. In a US analysis of 145 common foods, wheat bran (1,339mg per 100 g), wheat germ (1,241mg per 100 g) and spinach (645mg per 100 g) had the most betaine (Zeisel et al., Journal of Nutrition, 2003).
- A blood test has shown homocysteine above the reference range. Talk to your GP about that result first, since the cause matters more than the supplement.
Probably unnecessary: you take 250mg to 500mg of NMN, eat a varied diet with wholegrains and leafy greens, and feel fine. The extra methyl demand from that much NMN has never been measured in people, and the $1.50 a day could go somewhere more useful.
Ask your doctor first: you are pregnant or breastfeeding, you have kidney disease, your LDL cholesterol is raised or you take a lipid-lowering medicine, or you take a prescription medicine that affects folate or methylation. TMG is a compound found in ordinary food, but the LDL finding at 6 g is real and dose-related, and your prescriber should be the one to weigh it.
Why Eternal Elixir NMN and TMG are our pick
Eternal Elixir makes both products. Here is what the labels give you, in plain numbers.
- NMN 500mg: 500mg per capsule, one capsule a day, preferably in the morning. A 90-capsule bottle lasts three months at one a day and costs $59.99, which is $0.67 per serve.
- TMG 2000mg: three capsules with a meal give 2,000mg of trimethylglycine. A 90-capsule bottle makes 30 serves for $44.99, which is $1.50 per serve.
- Both together: about $2.17 a day. One order of both is $104.98, over the $100 free-shipping threshold.
- Buying ahead: the product page takes 10% off two bottles, 15% off three and 20% off five.
- Service: a 30-day money-back guarantee, dispatch from Sydney within 24 hours and Afterpay at checkout.
Where we do not win: Bulk Nutrients’ TMG capsules cost less per capsule and per day, and its NMN capsule is a cent cheaper than ours per 500mg at the single-tub price. What ours gives you is the 2,000mg TMG serve on the label and both products in one parcel from Sydney. You can check the NMN 500mg product page and the TMG 2000mg product page for the full labels, or browse the rest of our range.
If you already take our NMN as part of the Cellular Longevity Stack, which combines NMN 500mg, Spermidine 10mg and Trans-Pterostilbene 500mg, do not buy a second NMN bottle. Add TMG on its own, because the stack does not contain it. Our guide to building a complete longevity stack shows how the pieces fit together.
How to take NMN and TMG day to day
If you have landed in the first group above, the routine is simple.
Timing
Our NMN label suggests one capsule daily, preferably in the morning, and we look at the reasoning in morning versus night for NMN. The TMG label says three capsules daily with a meal. Taking both with breakfast is the version most people stick to. If three TMG capsules at once sit heavily, split them between breakfast and lunch.
Adding resveratrol
Resveratrol is often the third compound in an NMN stack. Our Trans-Resveratrol 1200mg is taken as two capsules, with or without food, so the same breakfast covers all three. Our trans-resveratrol dosage guide sets out the serves people use, and our NMN and resveratrol combination comparison covers the ready-made products.
NR works the same way
Nicotinamide riboside (NR) also ends up as NAD+ and then nicotinamide, so the same methyl reasoning applies if you take Pure NR 500mg instead of NMN. Our guide to NAD+ boosters compares the two, and our NAD+ supplement comparison covers the Australian products.
Starting sensibly
Add one product at a time, about a fortnight apart, so you can tell which one agrees with you. If you want numbers, ask your GP for homocysteine and a lipid panel before you start and again a few months later. That turns the methyl argument into a result you can read for yourself.
NMN and TMG: frequently asked questions
Should I take NMN with TMG?
You can, and it is a reasonable addition if you take 1,000mg of NMN or more a day or eat few betaine-rich foods. It is not required. No trial has tested the pair, and no study has shown that a standard 500mg NMN serve drains methylation in healthy adults. The strongest human hint is that a single 300mg dose of nicotinamide lowered plasma betaine by 24.4% within three hours in a trial of 30 adults.
Add TMG 2000mg to cart · $44.99
What is the best NMN and TMG combination to buy in Australia?
Our pick is Eternal Elixir NMN 500mg with TMG 2000mg. One NMN capsule and three TMG capsules a day give 500mg of NMN and 2,000mg of TMG for about $2.17, sent from Sydney within 24 hours. Eternal Elixir makes both. Bulk Nutrients is cheaper per day at $1.14 with a smaller TMG serve, and the all-in-one capsules and powders are the most convenient but give about 500mg of TMG.
Add NMN 500mg to cart · $59.99
How much TMG should I take with NMN?
There is no tested ratio. Human betaine trials used 1.5 g to 6 g a day, and 1.5 g and 3 g lowered homocysteine by 12% and 15% against placebo over six weeks. A 2,000mg serve sits between those two doses. The 6 g dose raised LDL cholesterol, so staying well under it makes sense unless your doctor advises otherwise.
What should you not mix with NMN?
There is no established list of dangerous NMN combinations, so be sceptical of confident ones. The sensible caution is about medicines rather than other supplements. If you take anything for blood pressure, blood sugar, blood thinning or cholesterol, run your full supplement list past your pharmacist or GP before adding to it.
Is TMG hard on the liver?
We found no human trial at supplement doses that reported liver harm from TMG. The documented side effect in healthy people is a rise in LDL cholesterol and triglycerides at 6 g a day, three times a 2,000mg serve. If you have a liver condition or abnormal liver test results, ask your doctor before you take it.
Is NMN toxic to the liver?
Not in the human trials published so far. In the 80-person GeroScience trial, doses up to 900mg a day for 60 days showed no safety issues in lab tests. In the 31-person Japanese safety trial, 1,250mg a day for four weeks caused no changes in biochemical tests beyond normal variation. These were short trials in healthy adults, so they cannot speak to years of use or to people with liver conditions.
What is the best time to take NMN and TMG?
Morning, with breakfast, suits both labels: our NMN is labelled for the morning and our TMG for a meal. Taking them at the same time each day matters more than the exact hour.
Can you take NMN, TMG and resveratrol together?
Yes, and it is a common three-part stack. Our Trans-Resveratrol label says two capsules, with or without food, which fits the same breakfast. Add one product at a time over a fortnight so you can tell what is doing what.
Who should avoid taking TMG?
Anyone pregnant or breastfeeding, anyone with kidney disease and anyone with raised LDL cholesterol should speak to their doctor before starting, because 6 g a day of betaine raised LDL in trials. If you take a statin or another lipid-lowering medicine, clear TMG with your prescriber first. For more detail, read our summary of TMG side effects in the research and our comparison of TMG supplements in Australia.
The bottom line on NMN and TMG
NMN and TMG are paired for a sound biochemical reason. Clearing nicotinamide spends methyl groups, and in people a dose of nicotinamide measurably lowers blood betaine. What nobody has shown is that daily NMN at normal doses leaves you short, or that adding TMG changes any health outcome. If you take a higher NMN dose or eat few betaine-rich foods, a 2,000mg TMG serve is an inexpensive addition that stays well under the dose tied to the LDL rise. Our pick for both is Eternal Elixir NMN 500mg with TMG 2000mg.
Sources
- Irie J, Inagaki E, Fujita M, et al. Effect of oral administration of nicotinamide mononucleotide on clinical parameters and nicotinamide metabolite levels in healthy Japanese men. Endocrine Journal. 2020;67(2):153-160. PubMed 31685720
- Sun WP, Zhai MZ, Li D, et al. Comparison of the effects of nicotinic acid and nicotinamide degradation on plasma betaine and choline levels. Clinical Nutrition. 2017;36(4):1136-1142. PubMed 27567458
- Yi L, Maier AB, Tao R, et al. The efficacy and safety of β-nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) supplementation in healthy middle-aged adults: a randomized, multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, dose-dependent clinical trial. GeroScience. 2023;45(1):29-43. PubMed 36482258
- Fukamizu Y, Uchida Y, Shigekawa A, et al. Safety evaluation of β-nicotinamide mononucleotide oral administration in healthy adult men and women. Scientific Reports. 2022;12(1):14442. PubMed 36002548
- Olthof MR, van Vliet T, Boelsma E, Verhoef P. Low dose betaine supplementation leads to immediate and long term lowering of plasma homocysteine in healthy men and women. Journal of Nutrition. 2003;133(12):4135-4138. PubMed 14652361
- McRae MP. Betaine supplementation decreases plasma homocysteine in healthy adult participants: a meta-analysis. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine. 2013;12(1):20-25. PubMed 23997720
- Schwab U, Törrönen A, Toppinen L, et al. Betaine supplementation decreases plasma homocysteine concentrations but does not affect body weight, body composition, or resting energy expenditure in human subjects. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2002;76(5):961-967. PubMed 12399266
- Olthof MR, van Vliet T, Verhoef P, Zock PL, Katan MB. Effect of homocysteine-lowering nutrients on blood lipids: results from four randomised, placebo-controlled studies in healthy humans. PLoS Medicine. 2005;2(5):e135. PubMed 15916468
- Zeisel SH, Mar MH, Howe JC, Holden JM. Concentrations of choline-containing compounds and betaine in common foods. Journal of Nutrition. 2003;133(5):1302-1307. PubMed 12730414
- Product pages read in September 2026: Bulk Nutrients NMN Capsules, Bulk Nutrients TMG Capsules, Bulk Nutrients NMN Extend, Gaspari Proven NMN/TMG at iHerb Australia, Simply Nootropics NMN Capsules, Simply Nootropics TMG B-Complex, DoNotAge Pure NMN and DoNotAge Pure TMG.
