“No, I don’t.” That’s my answer to the increasingly frequent questions I’ve been asked about whether I take anti-aging supplements containing polyphenols or NAD (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) boosters. Those questions are clearly triggered by the number of articles and videos by “wellness influencers” who sing the praises of these supplements as being instrumental in combating aging. These influencers range from the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, an actress with zero science background, to serious scientists such as Andrew Huberman.

I think it is fair to say that we are all interested in slowing the aging process. The multiplying wrinkles, achy joints and lapses in memory are hardly welcome. But the notion that any simple intervention is going to have a dramatic effect on retarding the very complex process of aging is primitive thinking.

As time passes, damage to our DNA accumulates, cells become less adept at disposing of debris, our microbiome changes, the immune system becomes less effective, stem cells are less likely to replace worn-out cells and the mitochondria, the so-called “power houses of the cell,” become less efficient at producing the energy needed to run the trillions of chemical reactions going on in our body every second — the reactions that taken together constitute “life.”

While slowing aging is a “pie in the sky” concept, extending our “health span” — meaning the number of years free of chronic disease — is a reasonable quest. Increasing blood levels of NAD has been suggested as a way of doing this.

That notion started with the discovery in the 1930s that NAD is found in all living cells and acts as a coenzyme, a helper molecule that allows enzymes — those special proteins that facilitate the chemical reactions going on in the body — to function. NAD plays an essential role........

© Montreal Gazette