If we found a strategy for actual  aging reversal, even if temporary – like taking 15 years off your current age and giving you the physical and mental capabilities of 15 years back – would you jump on it? What about the cost – would you pay $100/month for 3-4 months? What about $100/month for life to stretch that benefit for an additional 20 years of healthy living?

For the last 25 years I have spent on the order of $200-$400 a month to experiment with slowing my aging rate and hanging on to youthful capabilities, and have been reasonably successful at it. So as I approach my 79th birthday, I’ve run across a single supplement that in animal and preliminary human studies is showing just such promise, and I want to tell you about it. At today’s prices it runs about $180/month at 1 gram per day taken sublingually, which is a pretty  good deal if it avoids many of the big health expenses most of us see as we approach ‘Old Age’. More about that later.

The substance is Nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) and it is a precursor to a co-enzyme, NAD+, involved in burning food for energy, repairing DNA, and promoting gene expression involved in longevity, immune function and cardio-vascular health. Overall, it improves the operation of every cell in our bodies, keeping cellular operation at youthful levels. NAD+ levels decline with age, and that decline is proving to be a primary factor in overall aging.

I’m involved in a short study to see if real benefits can be realized in three months at 1 gram per day. I had been taking Nicotinamide Riboside (also a precursor of NAD+) at 250 mg/day for about a year, when my supplier was prohibited by the patent holder from selling to me at wholesale prices. I went looking for another product. I came across Alive By Nature who is sourcing the material in two forms: a 12 gram jar of Powdered NMN and 125 mg lozenges (tablets-60 per bottle). They are sponsoring a contest for older subjects, and I qualified in the Body Transformation class; they are looking for more subjects in their Older Athletes category at this time, so perhaps look into joining. They are supplying 3 months of NMN free for the contest. Such a deal! I opted for the tablets.

I’m just a week into the study, and the only thing I have noticed is less of a need for afternoon or morning naps, and even that is variable. For the last year, Jo and I have been first staging our house for sale day after day from May to December, finally selling and moving to an apartment for 3 months, then moving into our new smaller home and all the hassle of off-loading things that won’t fit, painting, window treatments and landscaping, hopefully for the last time. It has been an exhausting ordeal for us, being not far from 80. I may have been to the gym 6 times in the whole year, and my shoulders have taken a beating. I have restricted range of motion in both, they make crunching noises when I push or pull and they are sore all day and night. My big hope is that NMN lets them heal up like 15 years ago so I can push decent weights around again in the gym. I have seen a my weight increase from 156 lb to about 162 lb and it looks good in the mirror (muscle increase, not fat).

I will keep readers up to date with my progress, but in the meantime you should read the material at  Alive By Nature  on NMN, and they have a comprehensive list of reference studies to plow through. This is a fascinating supplement with great promise for a pain/disability-free old age.

To your Greater Health and Fitness,

Your Senior Fitness Coach,

Frank Wilhelmi