In this episode of Next Act Ninjas, Dr. Rachael Van Pelt pulls back the curtain on the biohacking trends flooding your feed. From rapamycin and NAD+ boosters to methylene blue and red light therapy, we separate real science from fountain-of-youth marketing spin. Learn how to evaluate anti-aging claims with a skeptical, empowered lens—and discover which strategies actually move the needle on healthspan. This is your no-BS guide to investing in vitality without falling for fads.
Is methylene blue the next longevity miracle—or just hype in a blue bottle? In this episode of Next Act Ninjas, Dr. Rachael Van Pelt pulls back the curtain on the biohacking trends flooding your feed. From rapamycin and NAD+ boosters to red light therapy, we separate real science from marketing spin. Learn how to evaluate anti-aging claims with a skeptical, empowered lens—and discover which strategies actually move the needle on healthspan. This is your no-BS guide to investing in vitality without falling for fads.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Biohacking Hype
01:07 The Hope of Longevity Supplements
02:22 Exploring Methylene Blue
05:32 Excitement AboutNAD+ Boosters
07:25 Rapamycin: The Potential Fountain of Youth
09:09 Red Light Therapy: A Non-Pharmaceutical Alternative
10:30 When Basics Beat Pills and Procedures
11:43 Evaluating Biohacking Claims
14:29 What is Worth Your Longevity Dollar?
Hey, hey, welcome back to Next Act Ninjas, the go-to podcast for mastering your health and wealth longevity. I'm your host, Rachael Van Pelt. Today, we're going to do something a little spicy. We're going to talk about biohacking hype. More specifically, how to separate what's promising from what's just marketing. Because let's be honest, in the world of longevity, I think it's really easy to get swept up in all the excitement. Methylene blue, rapamycin,
NAD+ boosters, red light therapy, they all sound cutting edge, sciency, full of potential. But the question I want us to ask today is what's just hype versus true fountain-of-youth hope? We're going to look at what the science actually says, what the limitations are and how to think critically before wasting any money or worse, risking your health on the latest biohacking trend. Because here's the thing, your healthspan is absolutely worth investing in. But we don't want to confuse trendy with transformational.
Let's start first by talking about why longevity supplements get so much attention in the first place. It's not just marketing, it's hope. It's the idea that we can take control of our aging process, that we can reverse time or at least slow it way down. And for those of us in our 50s, 60s and beyond, this hits a nerve, doesn't it? We feel time in our joints. We notice changes in our memory, our skin, our energy. So the promise of "cellular rejuvenation" is not just appealing, it feels urgent.
But that urgency can make us vulnerable to over-promising headlines. And we've all seen them, haven't we? Ads or posts on social media with phrases like, "Game changer!", "You're aging wrong!", or "This one pill will change your life!" These headlines, they're everywhere, and the frequency just increases as we age because those algorithms know they grab our attention. It's why I get questions every week about whatever is making it onto people's newsfeed. So I thought it would be a good time to walk through a few of these hot compounds in the longevity space right now, look at them with a skeptical as well as an open mind.
I'm going to start with methylene blue because that was one that a former client asked me about this week and it's fresh on my mind. This is one of the so-called "darlings" of the biohacking world right now. Methylene blue is a synthetic dye. It's something that's been used for all kinds of things over the past century. But lately it's being touted as a mitochondrial booster, one that increases energy and improves cognitive performance.
Originally, it was used in the textile industry to dye fabric. Then it made its way into medicine as a treatment for malaria and as an antidote to cyanide poisoning or carbon monoxide poisoning. Today, it's mainly used in science labs to stain cells for viewing under a microscope and by oncologists to stain lymph nodes prior to surgical removal. It's also routinely used for the treatment of a rare blood disorder called methemoglobinemia.
What's brought methylene blue into the limelight recently are mouse studies showing improved memory and brain metabolism. There've also been some studies in cells suggesting it may help stabilize mitochondrial function and reduce oxidative stress. Which sounds promising, doesn't it?
But here's the catch, there have been almost no robust human clinical trials using the doses that people are taking now for cognitive or anti-aging purposes. Those few small studies that do exist show modest benefit at best and at much lower doses than some supplement companies are recommending.
And methylene blue isn't without risk. We know it can be toxic at high doses. Even moderate doses have been shown to reduce brain blood flow. Worse, it can interfere with certain medications like SSRIs, and it can cause serotonin syndrome in rare cases. That's because it has an effect on MAO, or monoamine oxidase, which is an enzyme that impacts our neurotransmitters.
Now, even if it appears safe at low doses, at least based on social media testimonials, we have no idea what the long-term risk-to-benefit ratio is in humans. And there are many products out there that aren't pharmaceutical grade and likely have contaminants in them.
I think it's important to remember that methylene blue is not a nutrient or a natural compound. It is a synthetic chemical that's derived from coal tar, and there's no inherent role in human biology. While short-term non-human studies do show anti-aging potential, human translation and long-term benefit is completely speculative.
So where does that leave us? Methylene blue, I think it's revealed an interesting mechanism for anti-aging therapies. But I would not mess with it. The hype, I think, has far outpaced the science. Now, if you're experimenting with it, I would say at the very least talk to your doctor, especially if you're on any medications, because it can be neurotoxic.
But let's move on to NAD+. That's one of the most well-marketed molecules in the longevity world right now. It's a coenzyme that's involved in energy metabolism and mitochondrial health. Levels decline with age, and that decline has been linked to age-related disease and reduced cellular function.
That's why there's been a ton of interest in NAD+ boosters like nicotinamide riboside (NR), and nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN). The theoretical benefit of these molecules makes sense. If you boost NAD +, you can potentially enhance your cell's ability to generate energy and repair DNA. So you could theoretically slow aging. David Sinclair's lab at Harvard popularized this idea and the supplement industry took off like wildfire.
But again, the human evidence is less impressive than the headlines would suggest. Some trials have shown that NR and NMN can increase NAD+ levels in the blood. But does that translate to improved energy or cognition or lifespan? Not necessarily. In fact, recent placebo-controlled clinical trials have showed that NR has no effect on markers like insulin sensitivity or physical performance in older adults. That said, NMN studies in humans are still emerging. And there have been some positive signals, but I think we're still a long way from proving that this extends lifespan or meaningfully delays aging.
So what's the verdict? NAD+ is biologically plausible and relatively safe, but it is expensive and unproven. If you have disposable income and want to experiment, great. But if you're hoping to pop NMN rather than strength train, please think again. Nothing is going to take the place of strength training for anti-aging.
Now, rapamycin is a different story. This one actually does extend lifespan in virtually every organism that's been studied, from yeasts to worms to flies to mice, and not just a little, a lot, by 10%, 20%, even 30%. Rapamycin is an mTOR inhibitor, and the mTOR pathway is your body's nutrient sensor. When you inhibit it, cells shift into a more repair-focused state. It's the same mechanism by which calorie restriction improves lifespan. In mice, even starting rapamycin late in life can significantly increase longevity. That's huge!
So is this finally the pill we've been waiting for? Maybe, but we're still lacking long-term safety data in healthy humans. Rapamycin is approved as an immunosuppressant for transplant patients at high doses, but that doesn't mean it's safe for normal healthy adults. The biohacking community is already experimenting with weekly or biweekly micro-dosing to try to get the benefits without immunosuppression. Some doctors are even prescribing it off label for longevity purposes. But again, I don't think we know yet the long-term ramifications of taking this.
The upside, I think, rapamycin has real potential, but it's not a DIY protocol. You need medical supervision and a clear understanding of the risks and unknowns. In terms of aging, it's likely the most promising pharmaceutical candidate out there, but I think we're still in the early stages of discovery.
Red light therapy, on the other hand, that could be a nice non-pharmaceutical biohacking alternative. It's gotten a lot of attention lately for skin health, muscle recovery, improved sleep, even cognitive performance. And there's some legitimate science behind it. Red and near-infrared light can penetrate tissue and interact with mitochondria to improve cellular energy metabolism and reduce inflammation. It's been studied in wound healing, joint pain, even hair growth, with some encouraging results.
That said, most studies are small, and they use very controlled conditions. Only specific wavelengths, durations, and distances seem to work. And the problem is that home devices vary wildly in quality, power and consistency. So, if you're contemplating spending hundreds of dollars on a red light panel or thousands on a sauna, I would say do your research. Make sure that it's going to give you the same dose that's been studied in the past and has been shown to have benefit.
In other words, the science is promising, but the consumer products may or may not deliver. It's probably not harmful. You may see skin improvements and mood boosts, but just to be clear, it's probably not the miracle cure for aging that we'd like it to be.
But let's zoom out for a moment. In every episode of Next Act Ninjas, I try to ground our conversations in what actually moves the needle for healthspan and wealthspan. And here's the inconvenient truth for the supplement industry. The basics still win every time.
Strength training outperforms all longevity supplements in extending functional healthspan.
Endurance training, also known as cardio, is the master for improving mitochondrial function and inflammation and oxidative stress and insulin sensitivity, not to mention heart, lung, and vascular function.
Good sleep and stress management improves mitochondrial function, hormone balance, cognitive function, way more consistently than any pill.
Adequate intake of protein and nutrient-dense foods is foundational for preserving muscle and bone as an anti-inflammatory to the gut microbiome.
And look, I get it, these pillars of healthspan may not come with slick influencer reels or affiliate codes, but they do work. And that's why I want to leave you with a framework for evaluating any future biohacking claim. I want you to think about these five questions the next time that you see a headline or a reel claiming to hack aging.
#1. Is there scientific evidence in humans? Not mice, not cells in a dish, humans.
#2. What exact compound dose and duration was studied? Is that product you're buying using the same protocol as the human clinical trials that worked? For that matter, do you even know what's in the product? Is it pharmaceutical grade and free of contaminants, for example?
#3. Are the effects clinically meaningful or just statistically significant? For example, scientists might be able to demonstrate some compound has a small statistically significant effect, let's say on mitochondria under a controlled lab condition, but that rarely translates to improved health outcomes or increased longevity in humans living out in the real world. So I want you to look closely at the data. Does the product actually improve a meaningful outcome? I don't care about testimonials from random people online. Anyone can claim that something works for them. I mean, does it produce a meaningful effect in a relatively large group of people over and above the placebo effect, and is it safe?
#4. What's the risk-to-benefit ratio for someone my age and health status? Sometimes compounds are only tested in young healthy study volunteers. Other times they're tested in older unhealthy adults. Make sure that you know where the data are coming from and what population the supplement is shown to help, or conversely who it may harm. Just because something is good for cancer patients doesn't mean it's good for the general population, that sort of thing.
#5. Who's profiting? And do they have a conflict of interest? You always want to look at who's doing the marketing and whether they have a financial incentive. That in and of itself is not a deal breaker, but if the only science that shows something works is coming from the company that's selling you the product, I wouldn't trust that science in and of itself. Ideally, you want to see replicable results. You want to see consistent results coming from multiple labs that don't have financial conflicts of interest.
And here's a bonus question. What else could you do with the money that's more proven to improve healthspan? Because listen, I get it. It's tempting to look for shortcuts. But as someone who's been in the research more than 25 years, I can tell you this. True anti-aging is not passive. It's not a pill or a procedure. It's something that you practice every single day.
So what is worth your longevity dollar? Maybe NMN and a red light panel is just what you need to top off your anti-aging routine. But I would recommend investing first in a home gym, maybe an online coach, someone who's going to get you sleeping better, eating better, exercising regularly. At a bare minimum, find a walking buddy and a calisthenics workout that you're willing to follow every day.
If you're going to invest in your longevity, which you absolutely should, invest with intention, not desperation. We are not victims of aging. We are agents of our own vitality. The biohacks we're waiting for, most of them are already here. They just don't come with a glowing blue liquid or lifelong subscription to medication. They come with sweat, sleep, self-respect.
That's it for today. If you found this episode helpful, please do me a favor. Share it with someone who is maybe experimenting with the latest and greatest supplement stack and is not asking the hard questions.
If you've enjoyed this podcast, please be sure to subscribe and leave a review. It really does help us get information into more ears. Until next time, live well, love more, age less, my friends.