No matter how healthy your diet, there are a number of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and other natural components of which you will not take in as much as your body can use. Taking supplements containing these substances will improve your health, if only a by a small bit.

Since humans started medicating, we have also discovered numerous compounds that have a small health benefit that may improve your chances of aging healthily.

There are several categories of substances to consider:

• those that are very likely to be good for you, even apart from aging, while being very unlikely to be harmful
• those whose positive effects are less certain where it concerns aging, but which are still very unlikely to be harmful
• those whose positive effects on aging are very likely, but which also have (possibly) harmful side effects and
• those whose positive effects are uncertain, while also having harmful side effects.

We will not consider substances from the last category and only few from the third category.

 

Likely good, very unlikely to be bad

• vitamin D
• magnesium
• melatonin

Possibly good, very unlikely to be bad

• glucosamine
• creatine

Likely good, possibly also bad

• metformin

On the linked pages the suggested dose, supposed working mechanism and the research underpinning the advice is given.