Did a Longevity Supplement Make Someone “10 Years Younger”? What Does the Science Actually Show?

The “10 years younger” result comes from a customer testimonial published by NOVOS, the company that sells the longevity supplements NOVOS Core and NOVOS Boost.

According to the company, the customer was 72 when his blood epigenetic test showed a biological age of 71. After six months taking Core and Boost, he was 73 and the test reportedly showed a biological age of 63.

That's certainly interesting.

But it is one person's result. There was no placebo group, no randomization, and no way to know from this result alone whether the supplement caused the change.

Epigenetic biological-age tests are also estimates based on biological markers. A change in a test result is not the same thing as proving that a person has actually become biologically younger in the ways that matter most — such as having fewer diseases, better physical function, longer life, or more years of healthy independence.

This is where the story gets more interesting — and more complicated.

NOVOS Core has been studied in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled human trial called STAMINA, conducted by researchers at the University of Surrey.

The study randomized 61 adults aged 40 and older to either NOVOS Core or placebo for six months. The prespecified primary outcome was flow-mediated dilation, or FMD, a measure of how well blood vessels respond and relax.

The reported six-month results showed a difference of about 2.9 percentage points in FMD in favor of NOVOS Core.

There was also a striking acute effect: one hour after the first dose, FMD was about 3.9 percentage points higher than placebo.

That immediate response is important to consider. It suggests that at least part of the observed effect could reflect an acute effect on vascular function rather than evidence that the supplement is slowing or reversing the underlying aging process.

It's tempting to dismiss FMD because it isn't a hard clinical outcome. That would go too far.

FMD is a recognized measure of endothelial function, and large meta-analyses have found that better FMD is associated with lower future cardiovascular risk.

But there's a crucial distinction:

An association between FMD and cardiovascular outcomes does not prove that increasing FMD with a particular supplement will prevent heart attacks, strokes, disability, or death.

The STAMINA trial measured vascular physiology. It did not show that NOVOS Core prevents cardiovascular disease, extends lifespan, reverses biological aging, or extends healthy years of life.

And it did not measure cognitive function, physical independence, disability, or longevity.

The researchers also reported favorable changes in pulse-wave velocity, another measure of vascular health, and a reduction in systolic blood pressure among participants whose blood pressure was already in the normal range.

Those findings are potentially interesting, but they still don't establish that the supplement changes meaningful long-term health outcomes.

NOVOS also compares the changes seen in STAMINA with results reported in other studies of exercise, diet, supplements, and other interventions.

Those comparisons are exploratory, cross-study comparisons — not head-to-head clinical trials. They cannot establish that NOVOS is better than exercise, diet, or another intervention.

Although 61 people were randomized, the reported six-month analysis included 43 participants with six-month data.

That means results from roughly 30% of the original randomized participants were not represented in the six-month analysis.

The study is also a preprint currently undergoing peer review. That means the results have not yet gone through the full peer-review process of a scientific journal.

NOVOS supplied the supplement and placebo and provided an unrestricted research grant to the University of Surrey. NOVOS says it had no role in data collection, primary statistical analysis, or interpretation, and that the academic investigators retained control of the data and publication.

Those relationships should be disclosed and considered while the findings await peer review and independent replication.

NOVOS Core is not one ingredient. Its current formulation contains 12 ingredients, including vitamin C, magnesium, glycine, calcium alpha-ketoglutarate, glucosamine sulfate, rhodiola rosea, L-theanine, hyaluronic acid, fisetin, ginger, pterostilbene, and micro-dosed lithium.

NOVOS Boost is a separate product containing NMN.

That distinction matters. The STAMINA trial tested NOVOS Core, not the Core-plus-Boost combination used in the customer's “10 years younger” testimonial.

And because the clinical trial tested the 12-ingredient formula as a whole, it cannot tell us which ingredient — or combination of ingredients — caused the observed changes.

NOVOS Core currently provides 1 mg of elemental lithium per serving from lithium aspartate. The company describes this as “micro-dosed” lithium.

That is a very small amount compared with prescription lithium doses, but “small dose” does not automatically mean “no potential issues.”

Lithium can interact with certain medications, including some NSAIDs and diuretics, and prescription lithium requires attention to kidney and thyroid function.

For older adults taking multiple medications — particularly those with kidney or thyroid problems — it is reasonable to discuss a supplement containing lithium with a doctor or pharmacist before using it.

There is real human evidence here, and that deserves to be acknowledged.

The STAMINA trial provides randomized human evidence that NOVOS Core can affect measures of vascular function. That's more substantial than simply pointing to laboratory experiments or animal studies.

But the evidence stops well short of demonstrating that NOVOS reverses biological aging by 10 years.

The “10 years younger” result is a single customer's blood-test result, not a randomized clinical trial.

The human trial did not measure biological age and did not demonstrate longer life, longer healthspan, fewer cardiovascular events, better cognition, greater physical independence, or fewer age-related diseases.

That's the line between an intriguing finding and a proven longevity intervention.

And that distinction matters because the goal of longevity isn't to make a number on a biological-age test look younger.

It's to help people remain healthy, capable, and independent for longer.

A longevity supplement producing a “10 years younger” result sounds extraordinary — but the evidence is considerably more modest.

NOVOS Core has been tested in a real randomized human trial, and the reported improvements in vascular-function measures are worth paying attention to. FMD is a legitimate measure of endothelial health, not meaningless laboratory noise.

But the trial did not show that the supplement reverses aging or extends healthy lifespan. The dramatic 10-year result comes from one customer's epigenetic test, not from controlled clinical evidence.

For now, the fairest conclusion is: interesting human evidence, but no proof of age reversal or longer healthy life.

And remember: a supplement can have an interesting biological effect without being proven to improve the things that ultimately matter most — staying healthy, functional, independent, and alive longer.