A large study out of Singapore that examined 84 commonly used supplements found that, on average, people who took supplements showed a younger biological age than those who did not. According to NutraIngredients, one ingredient in particular, a delayed-release form of alpha-ketoglutarate, was linked to the lowest biological age in the analysis. The findings, published in the journal Aging Cell, come with important caveats about what the data can and cannot show.
What the study looked at
The research was led by scientists from the Healthy Longevity Translational Research Programme at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, part of the National University of Singapore. The team set out to assess the association between 84 widely used supplements and biological age, measured through a metric the researchers call Age Residual. Biological age is an attempt to gauge how well or poorly a body is aging relative to its actual years, rather than counting birthdays.
To do that, the researchers analyzed data from more than 4,200 individuals who had taken at least one saliva-based DNA epigenetic test, sold commercially as TruMe, between 2020 and 2025. Epigenetic tests estimate biological age by reading chemical marks on DNA that change with age. About 71% of the participants also reported using supplements, which allowed the team to look for correlations between what people took and how their biological age measured out.
The most commonly used products were multivitamins and minerals, reported by 34.3% of participants, followed by vitamin D at 8.5%, omega-3 fatty acids at 6.5%, and joint-support formulas at 5.4%. The remaining supplements included NAD+ precursors such as NMN and NR, along with berberine, carotenoids, creatine, resveratrol and both regular and delayed-release forms of alpha-ketoglutarate.
The alpha-ketoglutarate finding
The standout result involved delayed-release alpha-ketoglutarate, or dAKG, sold in a proprietary product called Rejuvant that also contains vitamin A and vitamin D3. In a cross-sectional analysis of 143 Rejuvant users, the researchers found an average 1.8-year reduction in biological age, and dAKG was associated with the lowest Age Residual in both men and women. The difference held up in models adjusted for age, sex, smoking, health status and other factors, and appeared regardless of weight, weekly exercise volume or alcohol intake, with slightly larger benefits among those who exercised more often.
The researchers offer a biological rationale for why the link is plausible. Alpha-ketoglutarate is an intermediate in the citric acid cycle and plays roles in amino acid synthesis, collagen production and the activity of epigenetic-modifying enzymes. They note that plasma AKG declines with aging in mice, that AKG can extend lifespan in flies on a low-protein diet, and that calcium-AKG supplementation late in life has been reported to reduce frailty and extend lifespan in mice, though a later mouse study did not confirm the lifespan effect.
Why the results should be read cautiously
The findings are associations, not proof that supplements reverse aging, and the researchers are explicit about the limits. The strongest signal came from the cross-sectional analysis, which compares different people at one point in time and cannot establish cause and effect. In the longitudinal analysis, which follows the same people over time and is better suited to testing whether dAKG actually changes biological age, no significant improvement was seen. The team attributed that null result partly to a small sample of only 26 participants.
There are other reasons for restraint. People who buy longevity supplements may differ from non-users in ways that also affect biological age, such as income, diet or general health consciousness, and observational data like this cannot fully separate those factors. The study also relied on self-reported supplement use and a commercial epigenetic test rather than a controlled trial with assigned treatments.
Beyond AKG, the researchers reported that carotenoids, calcium, CoQ10, curcumin, vitamin D3 and NAD+ booster supplements were associated with a lower score on a second biological-age measure after statistical correction. For readers, the sensible takeaway is that these results are hypothesis-generating: they point to ingredients worth studying in rigorous randomized trials, not to a confirmed anti-aging regimen. Anyone considering supplements for longevity would be better served waiting for controlled evidence, and discussing options with a clinician, than drawing firm conclusions from an observational study the authors themselves say needs further research.
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*This article was researched with the help of AI, with human editors creating the final content.
