Nutraceuticals/Supplements, and Metformin – Science-Backed Longevity Boosters

Want to hack your way to a longer life? While food, exercise, and sleep are the foundation of longevity, certain nutraceuticals and supplements can help optimize your health, slow aging, and even extend lifespan.

Despite the enthusiasm surrounding longevity supplements and medications—vitamin D, medicinal mushrooms, berberine, NAD/NMN, methylene blue, and metformin—it’s important to be clear: there are no high-quality, long-term human studies proving that any of these interventions extend human lifespan. Much of the excitement comes from cell, animal, observational, or short-term biomarker studies, which are informative but not definitive.

That said, not all compounds are equal. Vitamin D, metformin, and certain medicinal mushrooms (such as shiitake, maitake, and reishi) have the most robust human data, particularly for healthspan-related outcomes like bone health, metabolic function, immune regulation, and reduced disease risk in specific populations. Berberine has solid evidence for improving insulin sensitivity and cardiometabolic markers. NAD/NMN and methylene blue remain far more experimental, with promising mechanisms but limited human outcome data.