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I'm not interested in taking 50 or 100 supplements a day. It's expensive. It's unnecessary. And most of it doesn't move the needle.
But if I had to narrow it down to just five supplements from the hundreds on the market, these would be the ones. In fact, these are part of my core stack, the supplements I take consistently and the ones I believe have the highest return on investment. In this video, I'm going to break down exactly what they are and why they made a cut.
Number one is asexin. Asexanthin has become one of my favorite supplements because number one, it has a lot of human clinical evidence. Number two, it's not only good for metabolic health, but also has skin and aging effects. And three, it's got a good safety profile. I've been taking asexanthin for almost 2 years now. And here are the reasons.
To be honest, the main reason I'm taking asexin is to protect my skin against UV radiation. Asexanthin is a powerful carotenoid that mitigates the oxidative stress in the skin caused by UV radiation. A 2021 systematic review and meta analysis of randomized control trials found that oral asexanthin at a dose of 2 to 12 milligs a day was able to improve skin moisturization by about 10 to 15% and elasticity by 3 to 10%.
Secondly, asexantin protects the eyes, which is another reason I take it because I work a lot of hours in front of the computer. A 2025 randomiz control trial on children aged 10 to 14 saw that 4 milligrams a day of reduced digital eye strain and improved visual fatigue.
Asexanthin also improves health biomarkers like inflammation and cholesterol. Although these effects aren't very significant, they're a nice bonus. In this 2020 meta analysis of clinical trials, asexanthin at a dose of over 12 millig was seen to reduce CRP levels by 19 to 26%, which is quite significant. Doses below 12 millig and shorter than 12 weeks didn't have an effect. In the same study, they also found that asexanthin at 12 milligrams had the most consistent effect in raising HDL cholesterol by about 3%. Which isn't a massive amount, but still statistically significant. Another 2022 meta analysis of clinical trials saw about a 3.5% decrease in LDL cholesterol from doses of 4 to 20 milligs a day. Overall, Aexan is amazing, and I have no intentions to stop taking it.
Number two, omega-3s. Over the last few years, I've become more and more convinced that having a high omega-3 index and high amounts of omega-3 fats in your bloodstream is one of the easiest wins for your metabolic health, your cardiovascular health, and your brain health. The amount of omega-3s in your blood is termed the omega-3 index. Is a long-term marker of your intake of omega-3 fats, whether from food or supplements. There's consistent research linking a higher omega-3 index to lower rates of heart disease, Alzheimer's, and mortality.
A 2021 meta analysis of 17 studies saw that people with the highest omega-3 index over 7.55% had a 15 to 18% lower risk of total mortality. A 2022 study also found that the risk of Alzheimer's disease among the highest red blood cell DHA quintile over 6.1% was 49% lower compared to the lowest quintile below 3.8%. The omega-3 index associated with the lowest heart disease mortality is over 8%, whereas an index of 4% or below is linked to highest risk. So I'm aiming to keep my omega-3 index above 8%. I do consume seafood, fish, and different types of sea vegetables, but I don't do it every day, which is why I take an omega-3 supplement on a daily basis, just cover my daily omega-3 intake.
Moving on with glycine, which is my favorite supplement. In the interventions testing program, glycine has been seen to extend lifespan of mice by 4 to 6%. Which doesn't sound like a lot, but it's still significant. In terms of the hallmarks of aging, glycine induces autophagy, glycine lowers inflammation. It mimics methane restriction and has other systemic health benefits. In the human studies, glycine helps with sleep, lowers blood sugar, protects the skin against advanced glycation end products that cause skin aging, and it protects the liver against oxidative stress and visceral fat.
I'm one of the few people who has been mega dozing glycine. And the reason for that is your body produces only three grams of glycine a day. Those three grams will be used for essential functions such as glutathion synthesis, creatine synthesis, and hem synthesis. For collagen turnover, you need an additional 12 g. And most people in most cases are not going to consume 12 g of glycine from their diet. Collagen synthesis for your skin and your joints isn't a primary goal for your body. is a secondary goal that you can meet only if the first priorities are covered. That's why I take a larger amount of glycine, 5 to 10 grams.
Pairing up with glycine, I take NAC, not every day, but routinely. There have been several clinical trials showing that the combination of these supplements improves body composition, metabolic health, strength, inflammation, and mitochondrial function in elderly people. GLEAC, as it's called, has been also seen to extend lifespan in mice by up to 24%. So NASA deserves to be on the list because it's very cheap and it's effective with a lot of clinical evidence. NASA and glycine both increase glutathion synthesis, which is a powerful antioxidant that protects the brain, the heart, the liver and the skin. Glutathon levels decline with age and NEC is one of those supplements that will help to maintain antioxidant defense during aging. Additionally, taking NEC before workouts has been seen to increase time to exhaustion and power. So it can help with exercise if taken beforehand. Don't take NC after workouts since it reduces the muscle growth signal.
The last supplement on the list is ninomide. The reason is a dirt cheap NAD booster and I think every supplement stack should have some NAD element. Taking 200 mg of ninamide has been seen to increase NAD by about 10% within 12 hours. However, NAD levels decrease gradually to baseline over 48 hours. Keep in mind that ninomide increases NAD only about half as much as nicotenide or NMN. But I think that's actually a good thing because me as a healthy individual don't need to raise my energy levels that much. In fact, too much NAD could actually be harmful.
There's also research that nyinomide protects the skin against UV radiation and it has skin anti-aging effects. Part of the reason for that is the increase in NAD since NAD is used to counteract DNA damage caused by sunlight. Taking ninamide has also been seen to reduce the risk of skin cancer. So even as a generally healthy person, you can benefit from nyinamide, which is why I'll continue to take it on and off. So a moderate dose of nyinomide like 200 milligs can be a good and safe addition.
Lastly, I want to bring some honorable mentions for this list. Vitamin D is an absolutely essential hormone, and it's better to supplement vitamin D than be deficient. However, you're not getting all the benefits of sunlight from just the supplement. If your vitamin D levels are normal from sunlight, then you don't need to supplement vitamin D. But if it's low, then it might be worthwhile. Whenever you supplement vitamin D, you should also take vitamin K2 to reduce calcification risk.
Magnesium is something that's also beneficial to take when supplementing vitamin D because magnesium balances calcium, and magnesium in of itself is a supplement that most people could benefit from. It's hard to get it from just food. The evidence for direct additional health benefits from vitamin D, and magnesium is a little bit limited. They're more beneficial in people who are deficient. So supplementing vitamin D, vitamin K2, and magnesium are a safe bet for most people, but they're not inherently necessary if you get them from food or sunlight.
So there you have it. All of these supplements I mentioned are amazing, but if you want to know how I rank 100 other supplements from worst to best, then check out this video.