Could the answer to eternal youth really be as simple as popping a daily ‘wonder’ pill?
That’s the suggestion from experts about one supplement available in high street pharmacies and shops across the country.
For Nicotinamide Mononucleotide, otherwise known as NMN supplements, ‘can knock years off your age’, doctors have suggested.
Sold for as little as £34 for 30 capsules—£1 a day—in the likes of Boots, advocates claim the supplement can also help boost energy, enhance metabolism, and even improve brain health.
Some research has also suggested it could knock decades off the age of certain cells and muscles.
Infamous biohacker and longevity entrepreneur Bryan Johnson—who is 47 but has the body of a man in his 30s—also includes NMN supplements into his reverse ageing regime.
Other experts, however, urged caution over the findings arguing most research to date has involved either mice or short-term trials on humans. Further research, they say, must first be undertaken to prove it is safe to take the higher level doses given to mice.
In the body, NMN is converted into a related chemical called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), which is found in every cell of living organisms and is essential for life.
Sold for as little as £34 for 30 capsules—£1 a day—in the likes of Boots, advocates claim the supplement can also help boost energy, enhance metabolism, and even improve brain health
Infamous biohacker and longevity entrepreneur Bryan Johnson— who is 47 but has the body of a man in his 30s — also includes NMN supplements into his reverse ageing regime
NAD is crucial in fuelling the seven different genes in our body that govern ageing.
However, our NAD levels decline by about 50 per cent as we age, turning off the body’s defences against ageing and age-related diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and Alzheimer’s.
NMN supplements, in theory, act against the effects of ageing and supports NAD levels as they decline.
Dr Paul Banwell, a Sussex-based consultant plastic and cosmetic surgeon and longevity expert, told the Daily Mail: ‘NMN and NAD supplements can knock years off your age.
‘This is why I would certainly recommend taking NAD supplements as a first line biohacking and wellness routine.
‘I personally take ARTIS London Regenerative Complex, which contains sirtuin activators and these help synergistically to boost NAD levels.
‘Low levels of NAD in the body can lead to reduced DNA repair, low energy, metabolic disorders, which could lead to further complications such as insulin resistance and high blood pressure, as well as having a higher chance of developing age-related diseases.’
Dr Sabine Donnai, meanwhile, a GP and founder of private London health clinic Viavi, told the Daily Mail: ‘No other molecule comes close to helping your cells function optimally as much as NMN.
Dr Paul Banwell, a Sussex-based consultant plastic and cosmetic surgeon and longevity expert, told the Daily Mail: ‘NMN and NAD supplements can knock years off your age’
For Nicotinamide Mononucleotide, otherwise known as NMN supplements, ‘can knock years off your age’, doctors have suggested
‘Which means pain, inflammation, fatigue, brain function all decrease and mental clarity, stamina, recovery, energy, and youthfulness all increase when NAD is optimized by NMN.
‘More importantly it promotes cellular repair and regeneration and thus promotes longevity.’
Indeed, Dr David Sinclair, a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School and co-author of Lifespan: Why We Age—and Why We Don’t Have To, has spent two decades investigating how to ‘cure’ ageing and also believes NMN is the best prospect of providing the answer.
In one study he found that after just a week of being fed NMN dissolved in their drinking water, the cells of ageing mice were indistinguishable from those of young mice.
Their muscles looked and behaved like those of a young mouse, too.
In human terms, it was the equivalent of a 60-year-old’s cells and muscles transforming into those of a 20-year-old, he said.
According to the team’s paper in the international journal Science, the mice suffered no negative side-effects.
However, he cautioned that that what can often work well in lab mice doesn’t always translate to the more complex systems of humans.
Dr David Sinclair, a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School and co-author of Lifespan: Why We Age—and Why We Don’t Have To, has spent two decades investigating how to ‘cure’ ageing and believes NMN is the best prospect of providing the answer
Dr Cathy Slack, an associate professor at the University of Warwick specialising in the biology of ageing, also warned more research needed to be done before researchers can conclusively prove NMN’s anti-ageing ability.
‘Most of the research conducted so far has been carried out on cells in culture or in animal models,’ she said.
Human trials must first investigate how safe it is to take in humans over much longer periods at the relatively high doses given to mice.
Trials often involve mice being given between 500 to 1000mg of NMN per day.
NMN supplements sold in Boots for instance, contain 250mg and are only suitable for those aged 25 and above.
Indeed, one 2021 trial involving 48 young and middle aged runners, found taking the supplement at a high dosage over just six weeks increased aerobic capacity in runners.
Another 12-week trial published in the journal Nutrients in 2022, a low dose of NMN increased muscle response and drowsiness in older adults.
A third study, a 2023 review on the safety and potential anti-ageing effects of NMN supplements in ongoing human clinical trials, concluded that while the supplement was becoming hugely popular, most previous studies on its effects had been performed on cell or animal models.
Writing in the journal Advances in Nutrition, Chinese researchers highlighted that 12 human clinical trials studying NMN supplementation were underway.
Assessing their progress, they added, that while oral NMN use is generally safe, and that while only a limited number of indicators had been studied, the results did suggest anti-ageing potential.
But ‘longer, larger and better-designed human trials are needed to investigate NMN administration’s safe dosage, tolerance and frequency’.
Dr Leonard Josipovic, a plastic surgeon and supplement specialist also told the Daily Mail: ‘People who take NMN often report feeling more energetic, sharper mentally, and less fatigued.
‘Early studies also point to possible benefits for cardiovascular health, muscle endurance, insulin sensitivity, and resilience to oxidative stress.
‘In short, while it isn’t a “forever young” pill, NMN could be a valuable tool in maintaining cellular health and vitality as we age.’
For now, experts suggest the best things people can continue do to prevent ageing are the classics—good sleep, plenty of exercise, and a nutritious, vegetable-rich diet.
Dr Slack, added: ‘We normally derive it from our diet, from fruits like avocados, dairy, and red meat. Our cells can also produce NMN indirectly from vitamin B3.’
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .