7 Popular Anti-Aging Supplements: What I Tell My Patients

How are you feeling? No, really. How are you feeling? That’s a question I ask every patient when I walk in the room. I want to help my patients feel as good as humanly possible.

My goal is to help them have a long healthspan versus lifespan. Your healthspan is the number of years you can live well without disease.

And it’s not just a concern for the young at heart.

Half of millennials are already using vitamins and supplements. And more than a third of children use supplements administered by their parents.

Doctors now have a growing body of rigorous research surrounding the benefits of supplements, so naturally, there are a lot of questions about them!

I recently read an article that talked about the merits of seven popular anti-aging supplements, so I decided to weigh in. This is my wheelhouse, after all!

We’re dealt a hand of cards when it comes to our physical and mental conditions. In my case, one card was cancer.

If you’ve read my book, you know that I walked through Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I’m still affected by the journey today. For instance, I’m left with 75 percent of my lung capacity, thanks to treatments.

So clearly, I’m doing everything I can to make sure that the rest of my body is up to the task of living life and hanging out with my kids.

In fact, just last weekend, we went on a hike in Colorado, and let’s just say my diminished pipes plus the altitude was a slice of humble pie.

Pipes and pie aside, let’s talk about 7 popular anti-aging supplements and what I tell my patients:

1. Calcium – In short, conventional medicine says if you don’t get enough in your daily diet, your body will start taking it from your bones.It used to be commonly accepted that we should get as much calcium as possible, but too much calcium can negatively affect your kidney function. It’s important to test your calcium level. Anything over ten (10) mg/dL usually means that you should cut back and avoid this supplement.Tell me more about the surprising sources of calcium, Dr. Cindy!
2. Collagen – Collagen is a protein that forms connective tissue, including skin, bones, cartilage, muscles, ligaments, and tendons.Collagen is a great supplement, no matter your age. Widely known for its benefits for hair, nails, skin, and tissue repair, it’s also a great source of protein—our building blocks for muscle. Muscle retention becomes critical as we get older. Most studies agree that we lose 6 to 8 percent of our muscle mass every decade after we’re thirty years old.Dr. Cindy, what is the supplement you love and recommend that’s not on this list?
3. Fish oil – This can reduce triglycerides, a fat in the blood that’s linked to heart disease.I agree with this recommendation, and there are actually three omega 3s: EPA, DHA, and DPA. You can be tested for your levels of all three types. This regimen should be taken by mothers for their babies—even better if it’s before she’s pregnant, as this helps with brain development for babies and moms. That said, it’s never too late to start, so calling this an anti-aging regimen is fair. Fish oil is also great for heart function, and since cardiovascular disease is the number-one killer in the United States, omegas are important.Tell me the dirty little secret about fish oil!
4. Magnesium – This mineral regulates blood pressure and blood sugar, making proteins and maintaining muscle and nerve function.I love magnesium. It is one of my favorite minerals because magnesium addresses a metric we tend to simply accept even when it’s higher as we get older: blood pressure. Magnesium also prevents migraines, headaches, and cramping. The form in which you take magnesium is also important. Magnesium citrate is better if you suffer from constipation. Take magnesium glycinate for muscle pains and aches, oxide for headaches, and threonate for brain health after strokes or mild traumatic brain injury.What test for magnesium and dosages do you recommend?
5. Melatonin – A naturally occurring hormone that helps regulate your circadian rhythm.Melatonin is a very interesting nutrient. It’s getting a lot of press right now because of its beneficial properties that address cancer. It helps you sleep but only if you’re deficient. If you’re producing enough naturally, it won’t help and even makes some people groggy in the morning. Because sleep is so essential to healing and proper care of your body, especially as you age, I understand why this is often recommended as an anti-aging supplement.Dr. Cindy, what dosages do you suggest to patients when they’re sick?
6. Vitamin B12 – This vitamin is important for your nerve health. Healthy amounts in the body prevent nerve damage, memory problems, depression, and heart palpitations.B12 is absolutely essential, but all the Bs work better in tandem with each other. For instance, I often find that my patients have very low levels of B8 and B6. If you are a vegetarian, this is especially the case, since B12 presents in meat proteins and also lowers your homocysteine level, which is a marker of heart inflammation and neurodegeneration.Dr. Cindy, how much B12 should you take, and what are the side effects?
7. Vitamin D – A helper vitamin, this aids your body in absorbing calcium, which is critical for bone density.While this is true, most people often don’t know and some practitioners forget to mention that there are other cofactors the body relies on to help capitalize on absorbing calcium. Some of these additional helper vitamins are vitamin K, boron, manganese, and even strontium. Also worth knowing is that “vitamin” D behaves like a hormone, which is one of the reasons it works so well for mood disorders.

Send “The Truth About 7 Popular Anti-Aging Supplements” to me for a deeper discussion about each of these nutrients, plus more intel about multivitamins, testing, and more.

Be positively altered,

Dr. Cindy

P.S. Check out my latest podcast with the terrific team at Welloff! We’re talking about all things healthy and—you guessed it—a little sex education for good measure.