Can A Pill Help You Live Longer?

The supplement contains 38 ingredients that aim to address all key factors of aging at the cellular level. A few years back they released Qualia which is designed to target the whole system to bring about “radical cognitive enhancement”, and the company says they “continually research to update all of their products to hone in on the most essential and important interactions.”  

Now the company has entered the space of longevity. Human susceptibility to most health ailments increases due to the aging process, as a result billions of dollars are spent on cosmetics and other products to try and mask it. Aging can lead to symptoms such as lower energy levels, reduced sleep quality, sagging skin, cognitive decline, and weaker muscles that can all take a toll on lifestyle options and self image.

While we may not be able to live forever, yet, we can do things to make us live healthier for longer. How long and how well we do this depends on how well we try to manage these symptoms, and whether we are trying to address aging where it begins at the cellular level. The company is claiming their new product is “the most comprehensive cellular energy and aging formula ever designed.”

That is a mighty big claim, can their comprehensive approach revolutionize delaying the onset of the negative symptoms of aging? According to the company this system focuses on what’s done and how the system responds over time to what is done, the learning and adaptation is what is most important to health that tends to be overlooked. This system is said to recognize the whole rather than the sum of it’s isolated parts, and the interactions and relationships between things such as the mitochondrial and cellular networks that help us to adapt to diet, lifestyle, and environments in ways to help us stay healthy as we age.

Mitochondrial networks produce about body weight of cellular energy every day, cells use this energy to do the work they need to clean up damage and other important jobs. NAD+ molecules are used to make ATP, it is used to activate sirtuins, and to promote DNA repair. Food we eat is converted in ATP by several pathways; hormones tell groups of cells how to respond; and our internal clock influences what cellular and mitochondrial processes are given preference to at different points during the day. Good or poor health does not happen because of any one of these pieces in isolation, it is a result of them happening together.

Despite the many medical breakthroughs life expectancy really hasn’t changed too much as one would think it would be over time; for example and English nobleman in the 1500s who reached 21 years of age might have had a life expectancy of 71 years, which is shorter than today, and is not what we would expect at all. After reaching 30 the chances of dying double every 8 years, this is fairly standard regardless of where you live. Height and weight may have to do with this, specifically with weight being something we can influence as healthier behaviors are one of the main ways to lengthen life expectancy, and impact the number of healthy years we have. Unfortunately this number was 63 as of 2015, which is rather low. Using lifestyle choices and behaviors to impact these factors is a long term game, one that will pay handsome dividends long after the investment into them. Many people only make these changes after they have had problems, but this is not the right approach if one wants to live longer and healthier lives, these changes need to be made as soon as possible for maximum benefit.

Aging varies from species to species, just as it does from person to person. We have a chronological age, and a biological age, the biological age can be older, younger, or the same as our chronological age. However biological age is an accurate predictor of healthy aging and lifespan, so the goal should be to have it be younger. Biological age is an ongoing process that starts with the cells that develop hallmarks of aging that are characteristics related to cells looking an acting old, which can be thought of as the cellular equivalent to wrinkles and gray hair. Rather than focus in on time and chronological age it would be better to focus on these biological hallmarks of aging that impact health, because while there is nothing we can do to impact time we can do things to impact the hallmarks of aging.

As we age one of the hallmarks of aging that is important is called senescence, these zombie cells are dysfunctional and are not cleared, rather they accumulate as produce toxic chemicals that harm cells and tissues. Senolytics are gaining much attention, such as the combination of dasatinib and quercetin has been shown to help eliminate these zombie cells. Metformin and rapamycin are also showing great promise. NAD+ can be boosted with vitamin B3 activity, this is also getting much attention as the molecule wanes with age and increasing it has been shown to have positive impacts on several hallmarks of aging.

According to the company Eternus was designed to comprehensively support molecules, pathways, and processes cells and mitochondria use to make energy. Nutrient sensing pathways turn genes on/off that tell cells and mitochondria what to do, and hormones tell cells in tissues what they should be doing while the internal clock tells them when to do it. Eternus was designed to provide nutritional support that will promote all of these areas, and to mimic much of what calorie restriction and exercise do at cellular levels. According to the company during testing 4 out of 10 noticed a positive difference in their workouts, and 1 out of 3 noticed improvements in sleep.

In terms of targeting the hallmarks of aging exercise, sleep, diet and proper supplementation can help to boost NAD+; produce more ATP; build fitter mitochondrial networks; upregulate AMPK and sirtuins; and improve how cells respond to hormones and our internal clock which should result in a better aging process leading to a longer and healthier lifespan.