Longevity · Lifestyle

The longevity stack that's already proven

The supplement market sells $39–$1,000/month of NAD+ on biomarker promises. Meanwhile four unglamorous interventions carry mortality evidence no capsule has ever produced. Buy these first; they're mostly free.

Evidence-cited per our editorial policy · educational, not medical advice

1. Cardiorespiratory fitness — the strongest signal in the file

In a cohort of over 120,000 patients (Mandsager et al., JAMA Network Open, 2018), higher treadmill-measured fitness tracked with lower long-term mortality — with no ceiling detected: the extremely fit did best of all. Association isn't causation, but no biomarker interventions come close to this gradient. Zone-2 cardio plus some hard intervals is the whole prescription.

2. Strength training — 30 to 60 minutes a week

A meta-analysis in the British Journal of Sports Medicine (Momma et al., 2022) associated muscle-strengthening activity with 10–17% lower all-cause mortality, with benefits appearing at just 30–60 minutes per week. Muscle is also the organ that decides how you age functionally — see the same logic in our GLP-1 muscle playbook.

3. Sleep — the dose the meta-analysis agrees on

Pooled cohort data (Cappuccio et al., Sleep, 2010) shows a U-shaped curve: both chronically short and chronically long sleep track with higher mortality. Seven-ish hours, kept consistent, outperforms every sleep gadget sold to optimize around not doing it.

4. Protein and not smoking — the non-negotiables

Adequate protein defends the muscle the training builds (the same Morton et al. meta-analysis our diet guide cites), and smoking remains the single most reliable way to shorten a life in the entire literature. Nothing in a dropper bottle offsets either.

So where do NAD+ and the supplement stack fit?

As the experimental layer on top — never instead. Our NAD+ price table ships with its evidence caveat for a reason: precursors reliably raise the blood biomarker, and the controlled trials so far show little consistent clinical benefit. If the basics above aren't in place, a $73/month NMN subscription is optimizing the paint while the foundation settles. If they are in place and you want to experiment with eyes open — that's what honest price tables are for.

Cost of the proven stack: sneakers you own + $30 of dumbbells or a gym membership + going to bed on time + protein at the grocery store. Versus $39–$1,000/month for the unproven one. The market inverts the evidence because the evidence is unpatentable.

Sources

Educational content built on the cited literature — not medical advice, and observational mortality data describes populations, not your prescription. Exercise programs and supplements both deserve clinician input if you have existing conditions.