Here's my logic. If you spend your career studying how cells age, you read thousands of papers. You understand mechanisms. You know which studies are garbage and which are real. And when you choose to take something yourself -- with your own body, your own money, your own risk assessment -- that tells you more than any marketing campaign ever could.
I'm not talking about one rogue researcher. I'm talking about a pattern across dozens of published interviews, podcasts, and self-reported regimens from scientists at Harvard, MIT, the Buck Institute, and the Salk Institute. The overlap is striking.
1. NMN or NR (NAD+ precursors). Nearly universal. David Sinclair takes NMN. Charles Brenner developed NR. The mechanism is clear: NAD+ drops with age, these compounds raise it. The debate is which one, not whether to take one.
2. Resveratrol or pterostilbene. Sirtuin activators. Sinclair takes resveratrol with yoghurt for fat-soluble absorption. Others prefer pterostilbene for its 4x better bioavailability. Either way, SIRT1 activation is a recurring target.
3. Metformin. The diabetes drug that longevity researchers keep taking off-label. TAME trial data will tell us if it actually extends lifespan. But many researchers aren't waiting for the results. They're already on it.
4. Rapamycin (low-dose, pulsed). mTOR inhibitor. The most controversial one on this list. Some researchers take it weekly at low doses. The animal data on lifespan extension is the strongest of any compound. The human data is still being written.
5. Vitamin D3 + K2. Almost every researcher who's published on it takes it. The deficiency rates are staggering and the downside risk is near zero at standard doses. This one's a no-brainer.
6. Omega-3 (high-dose EPA/DHA). Anti-inflammatory baseline. The researchers who study inflammaging -- chronic low-grade inflammation that drives aging -- almost all supplement with omega-3. Typical dose: 2-3g EPA+DHA daily.
7. Fisetin or quercetin. Senolytic compounds. They clear senescent cells -- the zombie cells that accumulate with age and pump out inflammatory signals. Some researchers do periodic senolytic "pulses" rather than daily dosing.
8. Creatine. The surprise on the list for many people. Not just for athletes. The cognitive benefits in aging populations are well-documented, and the safety profile after 500+ studies is essentially bulletproof. Multiple longevity researchers have added it to their daily regimen in the last two years.
Collagen. Ashwagandha. Turmeric. Probiotics. The stuff that fills the bestseller lists on Amazon. Not that these are useless -- some have decent evidence. But they don't show up consistently in researcher regimens. The scientists aren't taking them. Draw your own conclusions.
The gap between what sells and what works has never been wider. The supplement industry is worth $150 billion. The actual science points to maybe 8-10 compounds that have real mechanistic evidence for slowing aging. Everything else is noise.
Even the scientists admit they're making bets. None of these compounds have been proven to extend human lifespan in a completed clinical trial. Every researcher who takes them is gambling -- educated gambling, but gambling nonetheless.
The difference is they're gambling with the best information available. They've read the papers. They understand the mechanisms. They've weighed the risks. And they've decided that the potential upside of slowing their own aging is worth the uncertainty. That's not reckless. That's rational. And it's the most honest signal you'll find in a market full of lies.
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