If your initial reaction to the headline is: “I don’t need any supplements,” then you might be right.
As for me, I spent my late teens and twenties living extremely recklessly in a way not conducive to optimal health — to put it mildly — so I’ll take all the help I can get.
Related: Little-known Southeast Asian Herb Boosts Testosterone Naturally
To avoid the predictable accusations of running an advertorial, I’ll decline to endorse any brands, although there are certainly some that are more trustworthy than others. Commit the cardinal sin, according to corporate state media, of “doing your own research” and you’ll eventually learn which ones are the real deal.
By way of further caveat, these are just the supplements most intriguing and potentially beneficial for me, personally. You might need different ones or none at all. I’m not a doctor, so please do your due diligence and, if you feel it’s necessary, consult with a professional that you trust.
That said, here are the three supplements I’ve added to my rotation and the reasons for doing so.
Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ)
Naturally occurring in modest amounts in chocolate and green tea, PQQ is a vitamin-like compound, a redox cofactor (meaning it facilitates the transfer of electrons between molecules), and potent antioxidant.
Via Biomolecules (emphasis added):
Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) is associated with biological processes such as mitochondriogenesis, reproduction, growth, and aging. In addition, PQQ attenuates clinically relevant dysfunctions (e.g., those associated with ischemia, inflammation and lipotoxicity). PQQ is novel among biofactors that are not currently accepted as vitamins or conditional vitamins. For example, the absence of PQQ in diets produces a response like a vitamin-related deficiency with recovery upon PQQ repletion in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, potential health benefits, such as improved metabolic flexibility and immuno-and neuroprotection, are associated with PQQ supplementation. Here, we address PQQ’s role as an enzymatic cofactor or accessory factor and highlight mechanisms underlying PQQ’s actions. We review both large scale and targeted datasets demonstrating that a neonatal or perinatal PQQ deficiency reduces mitochondria content and mitochondrial-related gene expression. Data are reviewed that suggest PQQ’s modulation of lactate acid and perhaps other dehydrogenases enhance NAD+-dependent sirtuin activity, along with the sirtuin targets, such as PGC-1α, NRF-1, NRF-2 and TFAM; thus, mediating mitochondrial functions. Taken together, current observations suggest vitamin-like PQQ has strong potential as a potent therapeutic nutraceutical.
If you follow supplement news, you might be familiar with the buzz around nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide+ (NAD+), a coenzyme found in every human cell that enhances metabolism (and therefore energy levels).
Via Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (emphasis added):
A wealth of evidence now demonstrates that a decline in cellular nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) is a feature of aging and may play a role in the process. NAD+ plays a pivotal role in cellular metabolism and is a co-substrate for enzymes that play key roles in pathways that modify aging. Thus, interventions that increase NAD+ may slow aspects of the aging trajectory, and there is great interest in methods for cellular NAD+ restoration.
PQQ exerts NAD+-boosting effects via increased Sirt gene expression.
Via Nutrition Research (emphasis added):
Sirtuin (Sirt) 1 and Sirt 3 are nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide ((+))-dependent protein deacetylases that are important to a number of mitochondrial-related functions; thus, identification of sirtuin activators is important. Herein, we hypothesize that pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) can act as a Sirt1/Sirt3 activator. In HepG2 cell cultures, PQQ increased the expression of Sirt1 and Sirt3 gene, protein, and activity levels (P < .05). We also observed a significant increase in nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase gene expression (as early as 18 hours) and increased NAD(+) activity at 24 hours. In addition, targets of Sirt1 and Sirt3 (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator 1α, nuclear respiratory factor 1 and 2, and mitochondrial transcription factor A) were increased at 48 hours. This is the first report that demonstrates PQQ as an activator of Sirt1 and Sirt3 expression and activity, making it an attractive therapeutic agent for the treatment of metabolic diseases and for healthy aging. Based on our study and the available data in vivo, PQQ has the potential to serve as a therapeutic nutraceutical, when enhancing mitochondrial function.
(Also, much more affordable niacin — vitamin B3 — increases NAD+ levels. You can get a month-long supply for easily under ten bucks.)
Shilajit
Sourced from the Himalayan mountains, the main therapeutic compounds in this resin-like substance are fulvic acid and humic acid, the former of which potentially decreases systemic inflammation, reduces oxidative stress from free radicals, and possibly even helps prevent cancer by promoting the death of cancer cells.
Via Journal of Diabetes Research (emphasis added):
The information gathered in this review indicate that FvA [fulvic acid[ can act as an immune modulator, influence the redox state, and potentially affect gut health. FvA is shown to decrease proinflammatory markers but also activate the immune system to kill bacteria. It is shown to reduce oxidative stress and even induce apoptosis in hepatic cancer lines. FvA is shown to also influence the microbiome and possibly improve gut function. FvA appears to have a yin-yang effect when it comes to these physiological states.
In addition to the above benefits, shilajit might also boost total testosterone as well as free testosterone (the more bioavailable form of the hormone that isn’t “bound” to either albumin or sex-hormone binding globulin and is therefore more potent than bound testosterone).
Via Andrologia (emphasis added):
Purified Shilajit, an Ayurvedic rasayana, was evaluated in healthy volunteers of age between 45 and 55 years for its effect on male androgenic hormone viz. testosterone in a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study at a dose of 250 mg twice a day. Treatment with Shilajit for consecutive 90 days revealed that it has significantly (P < 0.05) increased total testosterone, free testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEAS) compared with placebo. Gonadotropic hormones (LH and FSH) levels were well maintained.
Related: Men's Health Crisis: Unprecedented, Generational Decline in Testosterone Levels
Shilajit, like turmeric and other supplements, is liable to be contaminated with heavy metals, especially if it’s imported from a place like India.
Alpha GPC
You might have heard of the nutrient critical for brain health called choline.
Alpha-GPC, the abbreviated version of alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine, is definitively the most bioavailable form of choline because it readily traverses the blood-brain barrier, which otherwise keeps many supplements floating around in the blood supply out of the brain.
A study published in Nutrients found that Alpha-GPC “significantly increased cognitive performance in a group of young, healthy males as measured by changes in the Stroop Total Score.”
Again, please don’t misconstrue any of this as medical advice. Ask whatever healthcare provider you trust for his/her opinion, bearing in mind that MDs generally receive less than 20 hours of nutrition education in medical school.
Also, no cocktail of supplements can in any way replace a healthy diet; it can only, as the name suggests, supplement a good diet.
Related: ‘Lab-Grown’ Meat Increases Blood Pressure, Inflammation, Depression: Study
As the natural and synthetic world is chock full of potentially therapeutic compounds — which receive paltry attention from pharma-sponsored researchers if they can’t be patented and sold at a premium — it’s my hope that the HHS shakeup enacted by RFK Jr. will bankroll more of this type of inquiry and less in the pure and naked service of the pharmaceutical industry.
