David Sinclair’s Top Anti-Aging Supplements

David Sinclair is one of the world’s foremost longevity experts, & Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School.  He’s a peer of the brilliant neuroscientist Andrew Huberman, whose work I’ve discussed at length on this website, as I feel it’s very powerful information to have.  And Sinclair’s work is no exception.  In his book, “Why We Age ~ & Why We Don’t Have To,” he explicitly states what his peronal longevity-protocol is, based on years of research.  And in this article, “David Sinclair’s Top Anti-Aging Supplements,” I’ll break down three of his all-time favorite tools for a longer, healthier life.

David Sinclair's Top Anti-Aging Supplements, Girl Who Travels the World

David Sinclair is a Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, & one of the world’s foremost anti-aging experts. Photo by the Huberman Lab podcast.

 

YOU can have a bigger impact on your life than anything your genes give you. 80% is epigenetic (in your control) vs. genetic.”

 

– David Sinclair

David Sinclair & Andrew Huberman Video

  • At the 44-minute mark, Sinclair discusses the powerful effects of berberine to stabilize blood sugar.
  • At the 50-minute mark, he discusses the anti-aging effects of resveratrol (& explains that you’d need to drink 200 glasses of wine per DAY to get the recommended levels). 
  • At the 56-minute mark, he discusses NAD, NMN (the pre-cursor to NAD+), & Vitamin B3.

David Sinclair’s Specific Recommendations/What He Takes: 

  • NMN (Pre-cursor to NAD) = Sinclair takes 1 gram (1,000 mg) of NNM daily.
  • Resveratrol: Again he takes 1 gram (1,000 mg) of resveratrol daily, in the morning, in yogurt.
  • Berberine: Sinclair does not take berberine (or Metformin) daily; more like every other day. He typically skips days when he works out heavily, but says a dose of 200 mg of berberine is effective for lowering blood sugar ~ particularly after large meals.

**PLEASE NOTE: These are levels that David Sinclair takes himself, after 15+ years of study ~ both in the clinic & on himself. Work with your doctor to find out what levels of each supplement work best for your body.

Pharmaceutical-Grade NMN

$103.50

Resveratrol

$20.95

Berberine

$37.99

How Do These Supplements Work?

The question we’re asking here is, how do each of these three supplements work in terms of anti-aging?  What is the mechanism or lever they’re pulling that helps to ward off aging?  That’s what I’ll seek to answer below, in a “Cliff Notes” type format.

Berberine: The mechanism that berberine powerfully affects is blood sugar, or blood glucose levels; similar to Metformin (which Sinclair takes).  Most people know that we want these levels to be low.  But why??  In studies of mammals, those who restrict their calories (aka eat less), have clinically been found to live 30% longer than their peers, who are allowed to eat all day.  “If you have low levels of insulin ~ those low levels TURN ON the longevity genes.”  The reverse of this means that, if you’re eating all day long (three meals + snacking in between), your longevity genes never have the chance to turn on. “By always having food around, it’s not allowing your cells to have periods of rest, & to re-establish the epigenome.” 

Taking berberine is essentially, in Sinclair’s words: “Anti-type 2 diabetes.”  Meaning: it helps lower blood glucose levels, & cleans up excess glucose in the blood ~ which in turn affects longevity, for the better.

“Berberine does have wonderful effects on the metabolism of animals, & in some clinical trials, on dozens of people that are being tested. Berberine has been shown to be really safe in humans.”

 

– David Sinclair

Resveratrol: Sinclair takes 1,000 mg of resveratrol per day, WITH food (he mixes it with yogurt) ~ which he says is very important for its absorption in the body.  In research from Sinclair published in 2003, he found that resveratrol “mimics caloric restriction by stimulating Sirtuin 2 (Sirtuin genes protect our DNA & epigenome, & are associated with anti-aging), [increases] DNA stability, & [extends] lifespan by 70%.”  Additionally, resveratrol reduces the risk of heart disease, cancer, & neurodegeneration.

“So what you want to do is naturally boost the activity of these Sirtuins (genes that help control aging).  They are genes, but they also make proteins.  And then these proteins take care of the body in many different ways.  So how do you rev up this system?  Exercise will do it.  Fasting will do it.  But what about supplementation?  Resveratrol is one way to activate it.  But there’s something else the Sirtuins need to work & that’s NAD: it’s a really small molecule, a little chemical that we need for life.  It’s needed for hundreds of reactions in the body.  Without it, you’re dead. 

 

You need NAD.

 

– David Sinclair

David Sinclair's Top Anti-Aging Supplements, Girl Who Travels the World

Exercise helps turn on our longevity genes. So does fasting. And so does NAD ~ which can be enhanced by taking its pre-cursor, NMN.

NMN: And the quote above leads perfectly to our final supplement in this discussion, NMN: pre-cursor to the vitally important NAD.  NAD levels naturally decline in the body as we get older.  Sinclair says that while resveratrol is like the accelerator (of a car), the NAD is the gas.  You need both, for optimal function.  Enter: NMN.  From Sinclair: “The body uses NMN to make the NAD molecule in one step.”  Further, he states that if you take NMN for two weeks, on average that will double the amount of NAD in your body.

David Sinclair’s Top Anti-Aging Supplements

Bottom Line: After writing this article, my biggest takeaway is that NMN seems to be the most powerful anti-aging tool in the arsenal (aside from exercise & fasting).  But it works best with resveratrol, as they have synergistic effects.  Finally, berberine is a powerful tool for lowering blood glucose levels, which in turn increases longevity.

For more information on this topic, I highly encourage you to read Sinclair’s book, “Why We Age & Why We Don’t Have To,” for further discussion of all supplements mentioned here, along with other anti-aging protocols.

xoxo Noelia

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David Sinclair's Top Anti-Aging Supplements, Girl Who Travels the World

What Does David Sinclair Take for Anti-Aging? Girl Who Travels the World

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