What Do Supplements Really Do for Your Health? (And Which Ones Are Worth Taking)

Supplements are concentrated sources of nutrients or bioactive compounds designed to support your body’s natural functions. They help bridge nutritional gaps, optimize performance, and promote long-term health when used alongside a balanced diet and lifestyle.

Even with a healthy diet, modern factors like soil depletion, stress, and aging can reduce nutrient absorption. Supplements help maintain equilibrium, support repair, and boost resilience.

Key benefits of supplements include:

• Supporting daily nutrition: Fill in missing vitamins or minerals your diet may lack to avoid deficiencies.
• Boosting energy and metabolism: Provide nutrients that help convert food into usable energy.
• Strengthening immunity: Certain vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants help your immune system fight infections.
• Promoting cellular repair: Antioxidants and specific compounds reduce cell damage and support long-term health.

Think of supplements as a safety net — they reinforce healthy food, sleep, and exercise, ensuring your body has the resources it needs to function optimally.

Types of supplements

Vitamins and Minerals

• Examples: Vitamin D, B12, Iron, Zinc, Magnesium
• Benefits: Keep bones strong, boost energy, support brain function, and strengthen immunity.

Longevity and Anti-Aging Supplements

• Examples: NMN, Resveratrol, Spermidine, CoQ10, Astaxanthin
• Benefits: Protect cells, support repair, maintain energy, and slow signs of aging.

Herbal and Botanical Extracts

• Examples: Turmeric (Curcumin), Ashwagandha, Ginseng, Green Tea Extract
• Benefits: Reduce stress, calm inflammation, improve focus, and support overall well-being.

Protein and Amino Acids

• Examples: Whey protein, Collagen, BCAAs, Creatine
• Benefits: Repair muscles, support skin and joint health, boost strength, and improve exercise recovery.

Fatty Acids

• Examples: Omega-3 (EPA, DHA), Flaxseed Oil, MCT Oil
• Benefits: Keep your heart and brain healthy, reduce inflammation, and improve vitamin absorption.

Probiotics and Digestive Enzymes

• Examples: Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Papain, Bromelain
• Benefits: Improve digestion, support gut health, enhance immunity, and boost mood and energy via the “gut-brain axis”.

Dietary Supplement vs. Longevity Supplement

Dietary supplements and longevity supplements both support health, but in different ways.

• Dietary supplements fill nutritional gaps to avoid deficiencies and provide essential nutrients like vitamin C, calcium, or iron. They help maintain overall health, energy, and immune function.
• Longevity supplements go further by targeting cellular aging processes. They boost energy production, support repair, activate anti-aging pathways like sirtuins and autophagy, and protect against age-related decline.

In short, dietary supplements maintain your health today, while longevity supplements help your body stay youthful, resilient, and energetic over the long term.

Why You Should Take Longevity Supplements

Longevity supplements support your body’s natural repair systems and slow aging at a cellular level by targeting the hallmarks of aging, the key biological processes that drive age-related decline. These include mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, cellular senescence and reduced nutrient sensing. By addressing these fundamental mechanisms, longevity supplements help:

• Protect against age-related decline: Boost cellular energy and repair as your body ages.
• Enhance energy and stamina: NAD+ precursors improve mitochondrial function for more vitality.
• Support brain and heart health: Antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds reduce stress on key organs.
• Promote cellular repair: Autophagy and sirtuin activation help cells clean out damage.

• Improve overall quality of life: Enhance mental clarity, mood, and physical performance.

Simply put, longevity supplements help you stay strong, sharp, and energetic as you age.

Top Longevity Supplements

1. NMN (Nicotinamide Mononucleotide)

NMN is a precursor to NAD+, a molecule essential for cellular energy and repair. When taken as a supplement, NMN quickly raises NAD+ levels in tissues like the heart, muscles, liver, and brain. 

This supports mitochondrial function, activates longevity proteins called sirtuins, and promotes overall cellular health. 

Benefits of NMN include 

• higher energy
• better muscle function
• faster recovery
• improved sleep
• enhanced metabolism

By boosting NAD+, NMN helps counter age-related decline and keeps cells functioning optimally

2. Resveratrol

Resveratrol is a natural polyphenol found in red grapes, berries, nuts, and red wine. In plants, it is produced in response to stress, injury, infection, or UV exposure. In the human body, resveratrol activates longevity genes called sirtuins, helping regulate cellular repair, metabolism, and inflammation. Its antioxidant properties protect cells from oxidative stress, supporting heart health, brain function, and overall vitality.

3. Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10)

CoQ10 is a naturally occurring compound found in every cell, especially in the heart and muscles. It plays a vital role in mitochondrial energy production, powering cells with ATP. Levels of CoQ10 can decline with age, intense exercise, or environmental stress. Supplementing with CoQ10 supports heart health, boosts energy, reduces fatigue, and enhances overall cellular function. The most stable and bioavailable CoQ10 is Ubiquinol CoQ10. 

At AVEA, we maximise the impact of NMN by upgrading to AVEA Vitality Bundle

Whilst NMN lays the foundation for boosting NAD+ levels, research shows that a multi-target approach can further maximise its benefits. Supporting NAD+ from every angle includes:

• Optimising how NAD+ is produced and used
• Protecting NAD+ from depletion
• Enhancing the recycling cycle of NAD+

Our Booster contains six potent antioxidants, each working in synergy with NMN to provide the best solution for boosting NAD+ levels.

1. Resveratrol and Pterostilbene activate longevity proteins called sirtuins, ensuring NAD+ is used efficiently for key processes and not wasted.
2. CoQ10 (in Ubiquinol form) improves mitochondrial function and reduces oxidative stress. This protects cells from damage that would otherwise deplete NAD+.
3. Apigenin inhibits CD38, an enzyme that accelerates NAD+ depletion, especially as you age. Lower CD38 activity preserves NAD+ for vital processes.
4. Betaine, a methyl donor, supports the recycling of NAD+ by providing the resources your body needs to keep NAD+ levels steady, even during stress.
5. Nicotinamide provides the raw materials needed to recycle and produce NAD+. This ensures a consistent supply of NAD+ required for energy and repair.

The Vitality Bundle allows you to target multiple pathways of NAD+ metabolism, promoting energy, cellular repair, and long term overall health.

4. Astaxanthin

A carotenoid and red pigment found in algaes. It is one of the most powerful antioxidants in nature. Highly anti-inflammatory, reduces oxidative stress, protects skin from UV damage and enhances collagen production to smoothen fine lines and wrinkles.

AVEA’s Collagen Activator features Colgevity™, a patented, vegan, clinically tested amino acid complex developed with ETH Zurich. It has been shown to be up to four times more effective at stimulating collagen synthesis than conventional collagen peptides.

By supplying key amino acids (glycine, proline, hydroxyproline) and supportive compounds like Astaxanthin, Alpha-Ketoglutarate (AKG), and Acerola Cherry Extract, it helps:

• Stimulate natural collagen production
• Improve skin firmness and elasticity
• Support joints, muscles, and connective tissue
• Protect against oxidative damage and glycation

Unlike animal-derived collagen powders, AVEA’s approach supports your body’s own collagen-building process, making it sustainable, bioavailable, and clean.

Conclusion

Supplements play an important role in supporting overall health, filling nutritional gaps, and enhancing the body’s natural repair systems.

While dietary supplements help maintain daily health and energy, longevity supplements go further by targeting cellular aging, boosting energy, protecting organs, and promoting long-term vitality. Key compounds like NMN, Resveratrol, CoQ10, Astaxanthin, and multi-target formulations can help your body stay strong, resilient, and energetic as you age. Combined with a balanced diet, regular exercise, and healthy lifestyle habits, supplements are powerful tools for optimizing both healthspan and quality of life.