Ep 613 | The 6 Longevity Supplements I Trust

Thank you for joining me today. It's Brian Gubernick, and welcome to the No Days Off podcast, where we believe that every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. Today we are going to do an episode about health. So of course, before I get into today's episode, I want to make something very, very clear. I am definitely not a doctor, and I am not giving you medical advice. What I'm going to do today is simply share what I personally do, which is based on a good amount of research and testing and, and just general experience. Now, for sake of this conversation today, I think it's important I mention 46 years old. I've been training and I've been doing all sorts of sports and endurance events for most of my life. I work out pretty much every day, and as our audience here knows, I've done some ultra-marathon type activities over the past couple years. I have my blood drawn pretty much every 3 to 6 months, and I'm pretty knowledgeable about what's working for me, what's not working, where I'm deficient, et cetera, et cetera. So I tried to take a scientific and tested and data-informed approach to how I treat my body. And I just, I share all of that because as we dive into some of this today, I just wanna make it clear, like, here's where I'm coming from. What works for me may work for you, or maybe it doesn't. My objective is to just plant some seeds and make you a little bit more knowledgeable. Over the years, I've really zeroed in on 3 people, 3 specialists, the individuals who— whose research I really trust. And they're usually who I look to when I think about longevity and I think about healthspan. The first is Dr. Peter Attia. Peter Attia, you may know him, he's all over the place. He has his own podcast. As a matter of fact, I think all 3 of these individuals have their own podcast. But he's a physician who really works on health and maximizing lifespan and performance. He's the one that got me into rucking years ago. I heard about the importance of doing things like that. And I've learned about VO2 max from Peter Attia, metabolic health. He's into resistance training. So, I lean into Peter Attia a lot. The second person is Dr. David Sinclair. who's a Harvard guy. And David Sinclair focuses most of his attention on how we age, specifically how we age at the cellular level, and what we can do potentially to slow down that process. And then the newest person in the mix for me is a woman named Dr. Rhonda Patrick. Actually found her on Instagram, of all places. And loved the content she was putting out, and then ran into an interview she just did with Tim Ferriss, and she's phenomenal. She is a biomedical researcher. She talks a lot about micronutrient nutrients and brain health and inflammation and proactive lab testing, all things that appeal to me. Now, these 3 people do not agree on everything. I'm mentioning them because maybe you want to dig a little deeper, but when I make my decisions, I kind of draw from the 3 of these. These guys and girls, and they don't always agree, but they are the best in the world at what they do. And my supplement list, which is what we're gonna go through today, or at least a portion of my supplement list, it was put together by kind of combining the thoughts of these three. I think when I look at my list, it is more or less a list of what if Dr. Attia and Dr. Patrick and Dr. Sinclair were all sitting around a table devised the top 6, this is what I think that they would come up with just based on how frequently they mention it, how much they emphasize the following supplements. So I'm gonna run you through the 6 that I believe they'd all get behind, and they're all— well, 5 of the 6 I presently take. The 6th, which we'll leave for last, is one I'm introducing right now. So in terms of the 6 longevity supplements, that I most trust. Hands down, number 1, no questions at all from the 3 of them, and certainly no question for me, even before I started studying the 3 of them, omega-3, fish oil, which is really EPA and DHA. Now, I've been taking fish oil for a very long time. For me, it really ramped up in my early CrossFit days, which started in 2007, '08. There was a— probably still is all the rage in CrossFit, but everybody was taking omega-3s, was taking fish oil, and was eating paleo. And I fell victim to that. But I found it to truly be beneficial. It's foundational for me. So without question, omega-3 fish oil is my primary go-to. It fights inflammation, which is frankly at the root of every major chronic disease. From heart disease to cancer, brain decline, all of that. All 3 of the experts would agree that getting enough omega-3s is critical. Now, Dr. Patrick recommends testing your omega-3 levels through blood work, and Peter Attia recommends supplementing if you don't eat a lot of fatty fish like salmon or sardines. No matter how you spin it, they would all put this at the top of their list. Now, I take anywhere between 1 to 3 grams per day, depending on how hard I am training. It's really simple, it's really effective. It's one of the most researched supplements in the world. So, omega-3s is where we start. Number 2, this is one that's moved up my list over the past few years. Number 2 is magnesium. Magnesium. It's a mineral that you're probably missing. Magnesium supports everything from muscle function to energy metabolism and sleep— to sleep. And yet most all of us are deficient. Peter Attia, I think, set me off on this. He takes it. Rhonda Patrick recommends it for its role in over 300 different bodily processes. And I've personally found it to really help me with my sleep and recovery, especially after some harder training blocks. Now, I personally use the variation of magnesium known as magnesium glycinate, and I take it at night to help me relax. I can't tell you, I take it and suddenly feel relaxed. I believe though it does aid in my sleep. Now, some other people, prefer magnesium threonate for brain health, or there's some others, other types of magnesium, but I find magnesium glycinate in the evenings is best for me. And I take about 200 milligrams per day. I know others though would take double that. It just depends on your needs and how much magnesium you get through food. I get a decent amount of magnesium through food, and I especially get a decent amount of magnesium through the electrolytes that I take. I take a specific electrolyte for a lot of my training, and there's about 40 milligrams of magnesium in that electrolyte. So if I take 1 or 2 of those a day, plus my 200, I end up somewhere in the mid-200s to 300 in milligrams per day. So magnesium is number 2. Number 3, big one for all of us, vitamin D3. Vitamin D3. Now, most of us think vitamin D, don't you get that through the sun? And I'm always outside and, you know, so on and so forth. I'll tell you what, most people don't get enough sun. And even if you think you get enough sun, even if you live in a sunny climate like me, your vitamin D levels could still be low, especially if you wear sunscreen, which, which you should be doing, or if you're indoors a lot. But even— I'm outside a lot, and there's times I've had my blood tested, and I train outside, I live in Arizona, and my vitamin D is borderline low. So I do supplement with vitamin D3. Vitamin D helps regulate your immune system. It helps support your bone density. It may even protect against certain cancers and autoimmune conditions. So, this is another one of those where I'll keep an eye on the levels of my D3, of my vitamin D3 through blood testing. For most people, I think you're probably looking to supplement between 2,000 up to 5,000 IU per day. I take 2,000 IU per day. And I usually take it with meals 'cause from what I understand from Peter Attia, is that it improves absorption. So the third supplement's vitamin D3. The fourth, this is probably the most tested of them all, and some of you may pause when you hear me say this, but the fourth is creatine monohydrate. Creatine monohydrate. Now why might many pause? 'Cause they think it's just for lifters. Well, creatine is one of the most misunderstood supplements. Again, most people think it's for bodybuilders or athletes athletes and heavy training, but it's actually one of the most researched compounds in existence. It supports muscle strength and performance, but it's also shown promise in improving brain function and mood and even neurological protection as we get a little older. All three of these individuals take creatine, none of which are professional athletes or bodybuilders. So I've been taking about 5 grams per day for a very long time. You don't have to cycle it. There are times where I'll go off it for a little while and get back on and then go off and get back on. For a little while, I thought there was a downside with endurance training, but I no longer believe that's the case. And there's no downside according to research if you're healthy and you stay well hydrated. Number 5, not usually one that everybody takes, but I'm certain would fall on the list for all 3 of these individuals. That is the supplement known as NMN or NR. You've probably heard of NAD+. Well, these are the precursors to NAD+. And it's used for DNA repair and cellular energy and keeping your mitochondria, which are really the engines of your cells, keeping your mitochondria functioning properly. David Sinclair is actually best known for this space. And he's been taking NMN for years. As I mentioned, NR is another one, and that's actually what I take. It's what's found in the supplement directly that I take called niagen. That's the— if you look up niagen, N-I-A-G-E-N, That is what I'm taking as a precursor to NAD+. In other words, it aids in allowing your body to produce NAD+ on its own. So, I use that. Again, some of it depends on my training load and my recovery needs. I think the science on this one is really still evolving, but the early results clinically and anecdotally are really promising, at least promising enough for me to put it in my top 6. And here's number 6 for you. This is the last one in my list. This is not one that I've been taking. I've been taking a component of it or what it leads to, but I'm going to change it up and I'm gonna start taking this product, this supplement, and it's known as, I'm gonna mispronounce it, sulforaphane. Sulforaphane, sorry, sulforaphane, which is broccoli sprouts. This one comes from Dr. Patrick. Sulforaphane, which is found in broccoli sprouts, is this natural compound that activates your body's built-in defense systems. Things like detoxification enzymes and antioxidants and anti-inflammatory pathways. I've been taking glutathione for a while, and that's kind of further down the rank, the, the, the, further down the road. Sulforaphane is kind of up channel there. So I'm gonna move to that now. And again, this is one that reduces the risk of cancer and supports brain function. And it's number 6 on my list. I will report back in the next 60 days and let you know how I'm feeling, if it's changed anything up. I think there's some really good providers out there. Thorne is the maker of a lot of the products I take. Thorne, T-H-O-R-N-E. They also produce the electrolyte I take. So I just ordered some sulforaphane from Thorne. So as we wrap up, I want you to recognize that these 6 supplements form the core of what I take. Now I take other things beyond this, like ashwagandha, um, some digestion or probiotic related stuff. I take a handful of other things, but these 6 make up the core of what I take for healthspan and for performance and for longevity. They're the ones that show up with the 3 people that I most trust. And if they say it, well, I kind of follow their guidance. I think I should be really, really clear here though. There is not a supplement that's going to replace a healthy diet. There's no pill that's going to replace exercise. If your nutrition is garbage, if you're not sleeping, if you're not exercising and training, if you're not managing stress, These supplements aren't gonna save you. They're called supplements for a reason, because they supplement a strong foundation. So I think you've gotta build that foundation first, which means eat real food. It means move your body every day, get outside, sleep, and then surround yourself with some really great people. Then if you wanna enhance the edges and stack the deck a bit more in your favor, I think that's where you get into this list. That's all I have for you today, the No Days Off podcast. Thank you so much for listening, and remember, every single day brings a new opportunity to get better, so let's get after it.