Longevity evidence matrix
The longevity compounds people actually take, graded by how strong the human evidence is for the use they’re marketed for — not their mechanism, not their hype. Filter by evidence tier or family, and tap through to the primary source on every grade.
- FDA-approved
- Approved by the FDA for a defined indication on the strength of pivotal human trials.
- Clinical data
- Real human trial data exists — though the longevity/healthspan claim may rest on a surrogate marker, a single population, or remain unproven.
- Preclinical / minimal
- Evidence is largely animal, in-vitro, observational, or null in humans. Little or no controlled human outcome data for the marketed use.
- FDA-approved
Testosterone (TRT)
Marketed for: Low testosterone, vitality, anti-aging
FDA-approved for diagnosed hypogonadism; cardiovascularly non-inferior (TRAVERSE) — but not validated for anti-aging in normal-T men.
- Clinical data
Berberine
Marketed for: Blood sugar, lipids, 'nature's Ozempic'
Real (low-certainty) human evidence for glucose and lipids; the 'nature's Ozempic' weight-loss claim is not supported.
- Clinical data
Enclomiphene
Marketed for: Raising testosterone, preserving fertility
Randomized Phase III data: restores a man's own testosterone while preserving sperm — but never FDA-approved for men, and compounded.
- Clinical data
Glutathione
GSH
Marketed for: Antioxidant, detox, anti-aging, skin
Oral glutathione raises body stores in a 6-month RCT (reverses on stopping); but longevity/detox claims are unproven, skin-lightening is modest, and IV is the least-evidenced route.
- Clinical data
GlyNAC
Glycine + NAC
Marketed for: Glutathione, mitochondrial aging, healthspan
Randomized trials report broad aging-marker improvement — but they're small, almost all from one group, and the lone independent trial missed its primary glutathione endpoint.
- Clinical data
Metformin
Marketed for: Longevity, healthspan, metabolic aging
An approved diabetes drug with an intriguing longevity hypothesis — but the dedicated aging trial (TAME) is still pending; longevity in healthy people is unproven.
- Clinical data
Methylene blue
Marketed for: Mitochondrial energy, nootropic, anti-aging
An FDA-approved drug (for methemoglobinemia) with a single-dose human memory/fMRI signal and a plausible low-dose mitochondrial mechanism — but longevity claims are preclinical and it risks serotonin syndrome with antidepressants.
- Clinical data
NAD⁺ precursors
NR / NMN
Marketed for: Cellular energy, anti-aging
Oral NR/NMN reliably raise blood NAD⁺ in RCTs — but whether that translates into anti-aging outcomes is still open.
- Clinical data
Quercetin
Marketed for: Senolytic, blood pressure, immunity
Modest, real blood-pressure benefit; its senolytic fame belongs to the dasatinib+quercetin combo in tiny pilots, not quercetin alone.
- Clinical data
Rapamycin
Marketed for: Longevity, healthspan (off-label)
Extends lifespan in mice via mTOR; small human trials (PEARL) address safety, but a longevity benefit in people is unproven.
- Clinical data
Sulforaphane
Broccoli-sprout extract
Marketed for: Nrf2 / antioxidant defense, anti-aging
Genuine human RCTs — but in autism and type-2 diabetes, not aging; the longevity claims rest on the Nrf2 pathway in cells and animals.
- Clinical data
Urolithin A
Mitopure
Marketed for: Mitochondrial health, muscle, anti-aging
Strong RCT base for a supplement — reproducibly improves muscle endurance and mitochondrial biomarkers, but primary strength endpoints repeatedly missed.
- Preclinical / minimal
Calcium AKG
Ca-AKG / Rejuvant
Marketed for: Biological-age reduction, longevity
Compresses morbidity in mice and inhibits TOR in worms — but the human '~8 years younger' headline is from a single uncontrolled, industry-linked methylation-clock study, with no RCT on hard outcomes.
- Preclinical / minimal
Epitalon
Epithalon
Marketed for: Telomerase, longevity
Telomerase/longevity claims rest on old, small, mostly Russian studies; no robust modern human trial.
- Preclinical / minimal
Fisetin
Marketed for: Senolytic, anti-aging
The most potent senolytic flavonoid in mice, with lifespan data — but the human senolytic trials are still ongoing, with no published outcomes.
- Preclinical / minimal
MOTS-c
Marketed for: Mitochondrial / metabolic, anti-aging
Real mitochondrial-derived-peptide biology in animals; essentially no controlled human evidence for the marketed uses.
- Preclinical / minimal
NAD⁺ IV therapy
Marketed for: Anti-aging, energy, addiction
No controlled outcome trial of IV NAD⁺ for any wellness use; the one human study found infused NAD⁺ is cleared from plasma quickly.
- Preclinical / minimal
Resveratrol
Marketed for: Sirtuin activation, longevity
Spectacular in yeast and mice (SIRT1), disappointing in humans — modest benefit only in diabetics, and it blunted exercise gains in one RCT.
- Preclinical / minimal
Spermidine
Marketed for: Autophagy, longevity
Autophagy + mouse-lifespan data and a striking diet-mortality association — but the best randomized human trial (memory) was null.
- Preclinical / minimal
Taurine
Marketed for: Longevity, healthspan
Reversed aging markers and extended lifespan in animals (Singh 2023), with a human association — but no human outcome trial yet.
Evidence grades are editorial and deliberately conservative — they reflect the strength of the human evidence for the use each compound is marketed for, not its mechanism or popularity. A “Clinical” grade can still sit on a surrogate marker or an unproven longevity claim; the verdict line says which. Tap any source to read the primary literature.
How we grade
Each compound gets the tier that matches the strongest human evidence for its marketed use. A compound that extends lifespan in mice but has no human outcome data stays in “Preclinical” — because a mouse is not a person. A compound with real human trial data earns “Clinical,” even if the specific longevity claim is still unproven, and the verdict line says exactly what the data does and doesn’t support. We grade conservatively on purpose: the point is to not inflate. Every grade links to a primary source and to our full review where we have one. See our methodology for how we source every claim.
The tiers
- FDA-approved.
- Approved by the FDA for a defined indication on the strength of pivotal human trials.
- Clinical data.
- Real human trial data exists — though the longevity/healthspan claim may rest on a surrogate marker, a single population, or remain unproven.
- Preclinical / minimal.
- Evidence is largely animal, in-vitro, observational, or null in humans. Little or no controlled human outcome data for the marketed use.
Common questions
- Which longevity supplements actually have human evidence?
- The strongest human data sits with the approved or clinically-tested compounds: testosterone therapy (for diagnosed hypogonadism), urolithin A and NAD⁺ precursors (real RCTs, though on surrogate or modest endpoints), and metformin and berberine (metabolic data, longevity unproven). Resveratrol, spermidine, fisetin, MOTS-c and epitalon remain largely preclinical, observational, or null in humans for their marketed longevity uses.
- Is resveratrol or NMN proven to extend human lifespan?
- No. No supplement has been shown to extend human lifespan in a controlled trial. Resveratrol's lifespan data are from yeast and mice and its human outcomes are disappointing; NAD⁺ precursors raise blood NAD⁺ in trials but haven't shown anti-aging outcomes. Treat 'extends lifespan' claims as preclinical until a human trial says otherwise.
- What do the evidence tiers mean?
- FDA-approved means approved for a defined indication on pivotal human trials. Clinical data means real human trial data exists, though the longevity claim itself may rest on a surrogate marker or remain unproven. Preclinical/minimal means the evidence is mostly animal, in-vitro, observational, or null in humans for the marketed use.