David Sinclair is arguably the most visible longevity scientist alive. His 2019 book Lifespan introduced the Information Theory of Aging to a general audience, and his personal supplement stack has been reproduced across thousands of forum posts and wellness articles. This piece does something most of those reproductions do not: it reads the primary literature behind each intervention and scores it honestly.
The core stack
Sinclair has publicly described taking the following daily: NMN (1,000 mg in the morning), resveratrol (1,000 mg with yoghurt to improve absorption), metformin (1,000–2,000 mg, typically at dinner — he skips it on heavy training days), and a statin (rosuvastatin, for cardiovascular risk). He also takes vitamin D3 with K2, and low-dose aspirin (83 mg). He has mentioned rapamycin intermittently — one dose per week.
NMN: the evidence
NMN is a precursor to NAD+, which declines with age in most tissues. Yoshino et al. (Science, 2021) showed that 250 mg/day of NMN for 10 weeks improved insulin sensitivity and skeletal muscle gene expression in postmenopausal women. Sinclair's dose (1,000 mg) is four times higher than the Yoshino trial dose; the dose-response curve in humans is not well characterised. Evidence tier: II.
Resveratrol: the evidence
Resveratrol activates SIRT1 and AMPK in vitro and in rodents. The human evidence is thinner. Timmers et al. (2011) showed metabolic improvements in obese men at 150 mg/day. Subsequent trials in healthy adults have been largely null. The bioavailability problem is real: resveratrol is rapidly metabolised in the gut and liver, which is why Sinclair takes it with fat. Evidence tier: II–III depending on the outcome.
Metformin: the evidence
Metformin is the most evidence-backed intervention in Sinclair's stack. The TAME trial is the first prospective RCT designed to test metformin as a longevity drug in non-diabetic adults; results are expected 2027–2028. The concern about exercise interference is supported by Konopka et al. (Aging Cell, 2019). Evidence tier: II for metabolic health, I for type-2 diabetes, III for longevity in non-diabetics.
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