Professor David Sinclair is a Professor at Harvard University studying aging.
His research focuses on epigenetic changes during aging, and the sirtuin-NAD metabolism, including NAD-boosters like NMN.
He coined the term “Information Theory of Aging,” which refers to how epigenetic changes cause the cells to lose information and their identity, contributing to the aging process.
We explain more about the role of the epigenome in aging here.
He is an authority in the field of aging and wrote a bestselling book called Lifespan: Why We Age — And Why We Don’t Have To. (You can find more great books about longevity and health here.)
Professor David Sinclair does not promote or endorse any supplement products. We compiled this list from interviews and books in which Professor David Sinclair mentions supplements he takes. We don’t know if he still takes these supplements, or whether he takes additional supplements, that are not included on this list.
For example, in his book Lifespan, he mentions on page 304 that he takes NMN and resveratrol every morning, often mixed in his yogurt.
Based on multiple interviews and his book, Dr. David Sinclair’s health routine probably looks as follows:
1. Nutrition
- A healthy, mainly plant-based diet, consisting of vegetables, mushrooms, pulses, whole grains, white meat, and fish. This diet has a lot in common with the longevity diet we describe here.
- He consumes a self-made probiotic yogurt, adding two spoons of probiotics in the morning. He also adds supplements like NMN and resveratrol to his yogurt (see further on).
- He avoids sugary drinks and sugary foods.
- He recommends eating less food. David Sinclair often consumes only one to two meals per day.
- He practices intermittent fasting: fasting 16 hours and eating within a timeframe of eight hours. Sinclair believes we should feel much more “hungry.” We wrote more about the best way to fast here.
- He drinks little to no alcohol.
2. Supplements
- Nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN): 1 x 1 gram per day, in the morning. We wrote more about NMN here.
- Resveratrol: 1 x 1 gram per day, in the morning.
- Vitamin D3.
- Vitamin K2.
- Alpha lipoic acid (ALA).
- Coenzyme Q10.
We agree with many of these supplements he takes but also caution for some other ones.
We discuss the supplements David Sinclair takes in more detail here.
3. Drugs
- Metformin: 2 x 500 mg per day, in the morning and in the evening.
- Statin: he takes a statin daily since his twenties due to a family history of cardiovascular disease.
- Low-dose aspirin: 1 x 83 mg per day.
We discuss the drugs David Sinclair takes here.
4. Tests
- InsideTracker to measure blood-based biomarkers (he invested in InsideTracker), like cholesterol, LDL, HDL, triglycerides, HbA1c, us-CRP, and so on.
We discuss the best blood tests here.
5. Tech
- Freestyle Libre: to track glucose levels. This allows him to see which foods cause high sugar peaks, which can increase insulin resistance and accelerate aging.
We discuss Continuous Glucose Monitors as a tool for longevity here.
6. Lifestyle
- Regular exercise, including high-intensity interval training (HIIT). We cover the different forms of exercise and their relation to longevity here.
- Cold therapies (e.g., sauna, then steam room, then a cold pool).
- Regular meditation. We wrote the best tips for relaxation and happiness here.
Conclusion
David Sinclair looks considerably younger for his age (he is currently 52 years old). Also, he claims he has the blood profile of someone who is 20 years younger.
He probably also did epigenetic tests to determine his biological age, but to our knowledge he has not yet publicly talked about this.
Of course, looking younger for your age can be because you have “good genes.” However, mostly, it has to do with lifestyle.
In fact, 10% of your rate of aging and lifespan is determined by genetics, the other 90% is lifestyle (R).
The only exception are centenarians; these are people who become at least 100 years old and in them, we see a very important genetic component. That’s why some centenarians can get to 100 years old despite smoking and eating hamburgers — something we would not recommend doing!
We often see that people who look considerably younger for their age have the following things in common:
- They only eat two meals or less per day. Every meal you consume creates lots of inflammation, oxidation, glycation, and lipotoxicity, while the body tries to process all these nutrients, toxins, and phytochemicals entering the bloodstream and cells.
- They exercise regularly, often at low intensity. So instead of going to the gym for two hours twice a week and working out like crazy, it’s better to exercise for 20 minutes every day, doing low to moderate exercises. This can just be a brisk walk.
- They drink little or no alcohol. Alcohol can be toxic and very taxing for the body.
- They have a positive mindset (learn more about positive thinking and happiness here).
- They eat little meat.
Professor David Sinclair is a shining example of these important longevity lifestyle factors.
We compiled a whole list of things you can do to live longer here.