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Comment by UncleOxidant | Hacker News Reader

Which supplements are you taking? NMN? Niagen?

1 gram of NMN, metformin and resveratrol. Beyond that I take other things including carbon 60. Those are the most exotic items; the rest are your usual items such as fish-oil, krill oil, multi-vitiman most of which I tuned from my Inside-Tracker.com blood results.

I also have the right genetics; aka longevity gene(s), Ashkenazi Jew markers, etc and my farther is in his upper 80's; his mother lived to 98.

I don't want to claim that it's any one thing. I'm sure it's everything. The Tabata style sprinting 2-3 days a week, the hour+ workouts minimum of 5 days a week, the 16/8 fasting, the hockey/cryotherapy-like effects of being cold and working out/aerobic exhaustion of being on the ice or skating outside etc. And of course diet... I eat much much less than most people I know (big fan of Paleo menu by Green-Chef).

The way I see it is there are studies around NMN, metformin and resveratrol right now; let's say in 10 years they all prove they slow aging/extend life... to me it's worth the cost to take these now and bet on a positive outcome. If some of these studies don't pan out, so it goes, but so far it seems like it's working out pretty well if my increasingly annoyed friends are any indication.

Does your father looks a lot younger too? My father is in his mid 50s and he looks 40. I am in my mid 30s and I look younger too. This is genetics obviously. I am also doing fasting 16/8 and eat less than most people. It's possible that those supplements have 0 effects and it's all just genetics.

Not really but he smoked for 40 years before quitting around age 55.

Or it’s possible the preliminary results are correct.

> Not really but he smoked for 40 years before quitting around age 55.

My father smoked for around 30 years, I've smoked for around 16 years.

> Or it’s possible the preliminary results are correct.

Sure, it's a possibility too, I would like to see more long term studies tough, with enough participants to statistically exclude all environmental noise.

For now we can be sure of one thing, genetics is the main factor in how we age.

I do all of those things, but I am finding the NMN to be quite costly. I take almost the same amount as Dr. Sinclair, which means going through a bottle of pills every three to five days. I really hope someone makes a less expensive version soon. I do feel the difference and can probably attribute it to higher ATP production. I have no idea if it's helping my cardio vascular system.

You'll notice if you stop; that's what happened to me when my NMN went on back-order and stopped for 8 days.

Like metformin NMN doesn't produce any significant immediate noticeable effect like Alpha-GPC for example; it's more like working out - overtime the long-term effects are significant. At least that's the hope.

I buy my NMN in a month supply at a time (150 a month).

How many milligrams of NMN do you take each day?

Approx 800mg. The pill size varies with vendor so sometimes a little more and sometimes a little less.

How are you getting that much without bankrupting yourself? It's extremely expensive, even in bulk powder form.

I second that. I have to spend a lot to get 800mg/day. That's why I would love to see more companies make it and the price come down. I fully understand the molecule is a little more complex than its precursor, but maybe if more people made it, then the price would come down? /shrug

Are you taking metformin/etc as well?

I saw a video by Chris Masterjohn suggesting that it may not be safe for everyone to take that high of a dose: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWLv_iTpsXA

Could cause methylation issues for some as well as depleting creatine.

Don't you need a prescription for those supplements (or at least, metformin)?

You can substitute it with over-the-counter Berberine: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5839379/

Or take both like I do. Berberine is not as effective as metformin, but every bit helps when lowering blood sugar levels go.

Where do you get metformin from?

I've seen some articles suggesting that berberine (plus sylamarin) may be superior to metformin with fewer side effects (plus it's cheaper and doesn't require a prescription).

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