PILL TO POWER

Can supplements boost longevity?

- DANA G. SMITH

It seems like every longevity influencer has a supplement (or several) they swear by.

Bryan Johnson, the founder of the “Don’t Die” movement, takes fistfuls of pills throughout the day, many of which he now sells. Gary Brecka, the host of The Ultimate Human podcast, promotes powders, tablets, beverages, nasal sprays, skin patches and even injectables on his website.

And countless Instagram and TikTok personalities will assure you that they've never felt or looked better, thanks to their favourite supplements (which they’re often paid to promote). Are any of these magic beans legitimate?

Half-a-dozen doctors and scientists interviewed for this article pointed out that there are no supplements that have been shown to extend human lifespan in a large clinical trial. As a result, some said that the evidence supporting supplements for longevity was too weak, and the industry too unregulated, to endorse people spending their money on them.

“That whole gemish of things that are hawked and being promoted by influencers and longevity so-called experts or whatever, there’s just no data,’ said Dr Eric Topol, founder of the Scripps Research Translational Institute and author of Super Agers.

Others, however, are optimistic about the potential for supplements to improve health span — how long a person lives without serious disease — and said that the pills and powders can have a place in supporting people's health as they get older.

“I look at the whole space as one of opportunity,” said Dr Eric Verdin, the president and CEO of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, “But one also that’s fraught with dangers for consumers and false promise”

Supplements promoted for healthy ageing generally fall into two camps: traditional vitamins and more experimental products. Here's a look at each.

TRADITIONAL VITAMINS