Peter Attia MD - Do resveratrol and NAD precursors promote longevity?
The conversation centers on the skepticism surrounding the health benefits of Resveratrol and NAD precursors. Resveratrol, despite being popular, lacks substantial evidence supporting its effectiveness in improving health or extending lifespan. The panel discusses a famous experiment where Resveratrol appeared to extend mouse lifespan, but the effect was due to a high-fat diet causing liver issues, not the compound itself. This highlights the difficulty in disproving health claims, especially when profit motives are involved.
Regarding NAD precursors like NR and NMN, the evidence is mixed. While NAD is crucial for many biological processes, current studies do not convincingly show that boosting NAD levels extends lifespan or significantly improves health. The panel notes that while NAD homeostasis declines with age, the benefits of supplementing with NAD precursors are not well-supported by data. Concerns are also raised about potential risks, such as kidney inflammation in aged mice, which could translate to similar issues in humans or pets.
Key Points:
- Resveratrol lacks evidence for health benefits and longevity, despite its popularity.
- A famous study misattributed lifespan extension in mice to Resveratrol, when it was due to a high-fat diet.
- NAD precursors like NR and NMN have mixed evidence regarding lifespan extension and health improvement.
- NAD is important, but current supplements may not effectively boost levels or provide benefits.
- Potential risks of NAD precursors include kidney inflammation, raising concerns for human and pet use.
Details:
1. 🌀 Initial Thoughts on Resveratrol
- The group is conducting a quick round of ideas related to resveratrol, aiming to gather initial impressions and thoughts on its potential benefits and applications.
- Resveratrol is a compound found in red wine, grapes, and several other plants. It is known for its antioxidant properties and potential health benefits, including anti-inflammatory effects and cardiovascular support.
- Participants are exploring various applications of resveratrol, such as its use in anti-aging products and its role in promoting heart health.
- Discussion points include resveratrol's bioavailability, challenges in delivering effective doses in supplements, and ongoing research into its efficacy.
- The conversation highlights the need for more robust clinical trials to substantiate resveratrol’s purported health benefits.
2. 🤔 The Persistence of Resveratrol in the Market
- Resveratrol maintains a significant presence in the market, with over 100 different products available on Amazon, indicating strong commercial interest and consumer demand.
- Despite being criticized for its lack of efficacy, particularly in the longevity field, Resveratrol continues to be marketed and sold, highlighting the difficulty of disproving popular health beliefs once they are established.
- There is a consensus among scientists in the aging field that Resveratrol does not have the purported effects on aging or longevity, yet it remains popular due to a combination of effective PR and profit motives.
- The persistence of Resveratrol in the market illustrates a broader issue where scientifically unsupported health products continue to thrive due to entrenched beliefs and commercial incentives.
- Marketing strategies such as celebrity endorsements and strategic placement in health and wellness publications contribute to maintaining consumer interest.
- Consumer beliefs are reinforced by anecdotal evidence and testimonials, which are often more persuasive than scientific data in influencing purchasing decisions.
3. 🔍 Debunking Resveratrol's Health Claims
- The initial experiment claimed that Resveratrol extended mouse lifespan, but it was flawed as it involved mice on a 60% coconut oil diet, which was lethal due to excessive fat accumulation in the liver, leading to thorax compression.
- Subsequent research revealed that the mice died from lung compression caused by liver expansion rather than Resveratrol's effects, effectively debunking the original claims of slowed aging.
- The scientific community initially received the claims with interest, but later studies discredited the findings by highlighting the flawed experimental conditions and lack of reproducibility.
- This case underscores the importance of rigorous experimental design and validation in nutritional and pharmacological research.
4. 🧬 Examining NAD, NR, and NMN: Current Skepticisms
- Current evidence does not compellingly support the lifespan-extending effects of NAD, NR, and NMN, according to Steve.
- Despite conceptual appeal, significant skepticism exists about the compounds' effectiveness.
- The ITP (Interventions Testing Program) provides the strongest negative evidence, showing no lifespan extension benefit from NAD, NR, and NMN.
- There may be potential health span benefits of NAD, NR, and NMN that remain unstudied, despite their failure to extend lifespan in current studies.
5. 🔎 Delving into NAD Precursors and Longevity
- NAD is a central molecule involved in thousands of chemical reactions, crucial for maintaining cellular functions.
- There is a hypothesis that NAD homeostasis declines with age, suggesting that restoring NAD levels might have beneficial effects on aging.
- The evidence on NAD precursors improving lifespan or health span is mixed, with both preclinical and clinical studies showing varied results.
- A key study by Johan A's lab suggested a significant effect on lifespan when treating at 20 months of age, but this was confounded by short-lived controls.
- In some cases, lifespan increases were reported when controls were short-lived, but not replicated with longer-lived controls, raising concerns about study validity.
- There is plausible biological reasoning for the potential benefits of NAD restoration, but conclusive evidence is lacking.
- Some studies in model organisms like C. elegans show lifespan extension with NAD precursors, supporting the biological plausibility.