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We may still be years away from billionaire-funded life-extending pills, but there are some supplements already on the market that can boost your longevity.
New York City physician Dr. Michael Aziz says the top supplement you can take can help you live longer by fixing your body all the way down to your chromosomes.
Dr. Aziz, author of the upcoming book The Ageless Revolution, says taurine has a lot of health benefits — chief among them being that it can significantly extend your life.
“It’s possible it can add seven to eight years of longevity. So that’s the number one supplement I would recommend, and I would recommend 2 grams a day,” he told The Post.
That figure comes from a 2023 study that showed that mice taking taurine lived three to four months longer than those that didn’t. That’s a 12% increase in lifespan for females and 10% increase for males — which is equivalent to 7 to 8 years when translated to humans.
The study’s lead author, Vijay Yadav, PhD, of the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, said the work “suggests that taurine could be an elixir of life within us that helps us live longer and healthier lives.”
So how does taurine help us live longer?
Taurine is an amino sulfonic acid that’s naturally occurring in the body, and while it can be found in meat, fish and eggs, Dr. Aziz says “you will never get enough” from your diet.
Interestingly, it’s also a popular ingredient in energy drinks like Red Bull.
Last year’s study link a loss of taurine to aging-related diseases in humans and found that adding a taurine supplement slowed down some major indicators of aging — including DNA damage, telomerase deficiency, impaired mitochondrial function and cellular senescence.
Dr. Aziz said it can fix chromosomes and stabilize cell membranes — the latter of which is critical so that cells can talk to each other.
“As we age, our chromosomes can get damaged. So think about like our chromosome like a CD — you cannot listen to good music if it’s scratched,” he explained. “And if you have chromosomes that are damaged, that can lead to mutations, which we don’t want.”
According to Dr. Yadav, “Taurine abundance goes down with age, so restoring taurine to a youthful level in old age may be a promising anti-aging strategy.”
Longer lives, healthier lives
Taurine has also been shown to be good for health in other ways, including in the 2023 study.
“Not only did we find that the animals lived longer, we also found that they’re living healthier lives,” Dr. Yadav said.
It can help manage diabetes and fight osteoporosis, and also has links to immune function, obesity, and the nervous system.
