01
Don't smoke
Tobacco remains one of the clearest avoidable threats to lifespan and healthspan. If you smoke, stopping is a higher-priority longevity intervention than almost anything discussed later on this page.
THE NOVOS REGIMEN
The NOVOS Regimen: A Science-Backed Longevity Guide
The guide to eating, moving, sleeping and supplementing for a longer, healthier life.
Longevity is not one hack, molecule, diet or workout. It is the cumulative effect of hundreds of choices acting on the interconnected systems that determine how we age. This is the NOVOS framework for putting the strongest evidence into practice.
Clinically studied2,000+ verified clinicians recommend NOVOS15M+ NOVOS servings enjoyed worldwide
Hallmark 01
Mitochondrial dysfunction
Cells produce energy less efficiently over time.
Hallmark 02
Cellular senescence
Damaged cells stop dividing and signal inflammation.
Hallmark 03
Loss of proteostasis
Proteins become harder to fold, maintain and clear.
Hallmark 04
Altered cellular communication
Signals between cells and tissues shift.
Hallmark 05
Genomic instability
DNA damage accumulates faster than it is repaired.
Hallmark 06
Epigenetic alterations
Gene regulation drifts from its youthful pattern.
Hallmark 07
Telomere shortening
Chromosome ends erode with cell division.
Hallmark 08
Deregulated nutrient sensing
Growth and repair pathways lose balance.
Hallmark 09
Stem cell exhaustion
Tissue renewal capacity declines.
Hallmark 10
Disabled macroautophagy
Cellular recycling becomes less effective.
Hallmark 11
Inflammaging
Chronic low-grade inflammation rises.
Hallmark 12
Microbiome dysbiosis
The gut ecosystem loses diversity and balance.
Longevity is a system
There is no single longevity switch.
You do not age through one pathway. So longevity should not be approached through one intervention.
Aging emerges from interconnected biological processes occurring throughout the body. Mitochondria produce less efficiently. Proteins become harder to maintain. Senescent cells accumulate. Gene regulation changes. Inflammation can increase. Stem-cell function declines. The microbiome shifts.
Scientists increasingly describe these processes through the 12 Hallmarks of Aging. That matters because optimizing one pathway while neglecting everything else is unlikely to be the best strategy.
The NOVOS Routine therefore works at three levels: lifestyle → biological systems → measurable outcomes.
Foundation
The behaviors with the strongest evidence and greatest probable effect.
Optimization
Nutrition, supplementation, metabolic health and other interventions that help optimize the systems underneath healthy aging.
Measure + iterate
Track meaningful health and aging signals and adjust over time.
Frontier
Interesting interventions being studied for longevity, but where the evidence remains incomplete.
Lifestyle → systems → outcomes
Select a behavior to see the biological systems it acts on and what it helps preserve.
Layer 1 · What you do
Layer 2 · What changes
MetabolismMitochondriaInflammationVascular functionMuscleBrainMicrobiomeCellular repairFacial aging
Layer 3 · What you preserve
EnergyStrengthCognitionCardiovascular functionMetabolic healthMobilityIndependenceHealthspan
The biggest levers
Start with what matters most.
The highest-tech longevity intervention cannot compensate for consistently poor sleep, inactivity, smoking, metabolic dysfunction, or a poor diet.
02
Move every day
Exercise is one of the most consistently supported interventions for healthy aging. It preserves cardiovascular fitness, muscle, bone, insulin sensitivity, brain health and physical independence.
03
Build and keep muscle
Muscle is metabolic machinery as well as movement machinery. Strength becomes increasingly valuable with age, when loss of muscle and power can accelerate frailty and loss of independence.
04
Protect metabolic health
Avoid chronic overnutrition, excessive visceral fat and poor glucose control. Favor whole foods, fiber, movement and a dietary pattern you can sustain for decades.
05
Protect sleep
Sleep is not downtime. It is when multiple systems involved in cognition, metabolism, hormonal regulation and recovery recalibrate.
06
Eat mostly real food
Build your diet around plants, legumes, vegetables, fruit, mushrooms, nuts, seeds, extra-virgin olive oil and other minimally processed foods rather than designing your diet around supplements.
Longevity begins with fundamentals. Optimization comes next.
Eat for longevity
Eat mostly plants. Mostly whole foods. For decades.
There is no single “longevity diet,” but the strongest human evidence repeatedly converges around similar principles: abundant minimally processed plants, fiber, healthy unsaturated fats, adequate protein, fewer refined carbohydrates, and relatively little processed meat and ultra-processed food.
Mediterranean-style dietary patterns remain among the best-studied approaches for cardiovascular health and longevity. The useful distinction is not carbohydrate avoidance. It is food quality rather than macronutrient ideology. Read more on the longevity diet →
Longevity plate
Healthy fatsFermentedHerbs + color
Step 1 of 6. Half the plate is vegetables, leafy greens and other plants. Volume, fiber and polyphenols first.
Build a longevity plate
½ plate
Vegetables, mushrooms, greens and colorful plants.
¼ plate
Protein, emphasizing legumes, beans, lentils, fish and other high-quality sources.
¼ plate
High-quality minimally processed carbohydrates when desired, such as beans, intact grains, quinoa, fruit or starchy vegetables.
On top, not a wedge
Healthy fats, fermented foods, herbs and spices are add-ons rather than portions. They are calorie dense or eaten in small amounts, so they layer over the three portions: one to two tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil or avocado, a small handful of nuts or seeds, a few tablespoons of kimchi, sauerkraut, kefir, yogurt or miso, and as many herbs, spices, garlic and onions as you like.
Do not interpret this as a requirement to divide every literal plate this way. It is a mental model for constructing the overall diet.
Eat more of
Eat less of
Protein
Protein is essential. More is not always better.
Older versions of longevity advice sometimes treated protein itself as a problem because amino acids activate growth pathways such as mTOR and IGF-1. The reality is more nuanced.
Maintaining muscle, strength and physical function becomes increasingly important as we age. Chronically insufficient protein can work against those goals. At the same time, protein source and amino-acid composition may matter. Human observational research generally favors replacing some animal protein, especially processed and red meat, with plant protein.
Meanwhile, animal research suggests that reducing specific amino acids such as methionine and isoleucine can influence nutrient-sensing pathways, metabolic health and lifespan. That is scientifically interesting, but it is not yet evidence that intentionally restricting these amino acids will extend human lifespan.
- Consume enough protein to maintain muscle and support training.
- Favor a meaningful proportion from plant sources.
- Do not chase maximal protein intake simply because higher numbers sound healthier.
- Adjust protein needs upward when age, training volume, recovery needs or medical circumstances justify it.
Relative growth-pathway signaling per gram of protein, based on leucine, methionine and isoleucine content. Select a source to see the trade-off. Illustrative comparison, not a clinical measurement.
Pea + rice blend
A complete plant protein blend, which is the approach used in NOVOS Bar: all essential amino acids with adequate leucine and comparatively less methionine and isoleucine.
The longevity goal is not low protein. It is enough high-quality protein to preserve muscle without designing the entire diet around maximum protein intake.
Longevity nutrition
NOVOS Bar
A protein bar designed around more than protein.
NOVOS Bar was created for the moments when eating a perfect whole-food meal is unrealistic: travel, meetings, workouts, or a busy day.
- 15 g complete plant protein from pea, brown rice and seed sources, providing all essential amino acids with a longevity-informed amino-acid profile.
- 6–7 g fiber, including soluble and insoluble fiber.
- 21 essential vitamins and minerals at 50% of the Daily Value per bar.
- 5 longevity supplements: taurine 1.5 g, astaxanthin 3 mg, Lion's Mane 200 mg, reishi 200 mg, cordyceps 200 mg.
- Real-food ingredients: organic olive oil, honey, organic sunflower and pumpkin seed butters, rosemary, cocoa, fruits, vegetables and mushrooms.
- No artificial shortcuts: no artificial sweeteners, sugar alcohols, refined seed oils, synthetic fats, dyes or gums.
What is inside
Olive oilOrganic extra-virgin olive oil as a primary fat source.
HoneyA real-food sweetener instead of artificial sweeteners or alcohols.
Taurine1.5 g of an amino acid studied in connection with healthy aging.
Astaxanthin3 mg of a carotenoid studied for skin and cellular protection.
Lion's Mane200 mg extract from a functional mushroom studied for cognition.
Reishi200 mg extract, traditionally used and studied for immune balance.
Cordyceps200 mg extract studied in connection with energy metabolism.
Fruit + vegetablesWhole-food concentrates rather than synthetic fillers.
Seed buttersOrganic sunflower and pumpkin seed butters for fats and minerals.
Why the amino-acid profile matters
NOVOS chose plant protein sources that are naturally lower in methionine and isoleucine than whey, casein or egg white while still providing adequate leucine. Restriction of methionine and isoleucine has produced intriguing metabolic and lifespan effects in animal studies.
Meal timing + fasting
Give metabolism a rhythm.
Meal timing is a promising longevity-adjacent tool, but human evidence is much stronger for metabolic health than for extending lifespan.
Keep a consistent eating window.
A roughly 10–12 hour daily eating window is practical for many people. Some choose an 8–10 hour time-restricted window; randomized human trials suggest this can produce modest metabolic benefits in some populations, including people with metabolic syndrome.
Avoid constant grazing.
Allow meaningful periods during the day and overnight when you are not continuously consuming calories.
Earlier is often better.
When practical, consuming more calories earlier rather than concentrating the largest meal immediately before sleep may better align food intake with circadian biology.
Leave time before bed.
Avoid very large meals immediately before sleeping.
Do not turn fasting into a contest.
Long fasts are not necessary for a good longevity routine. They can create downsides involving lean mass, training quality, medication management, electrolytes or disordered eating, so treat them as optional rather than foundational.
Keep the claim honest.
Human evidence supports modest cardiometabolic effects from time-restricted eating. Human lifespan extension has not been demonstrated.
Move
Train for the body you want at 80.
Cardiorespiratory fitness, strength, muscle and balance are among the most valuable physical assets you can carry into later life.
PhysicalReserve
Move
Daily low-intensity movement.
Aerobic
Build cardiovascular capacity.
Strength
Preserve muscle, bone and power.
Mobility + balance
Preserve range of motion and reduce loss of function.
0+ steps is a meaningful benchmark.
You do not need to worship 10,000. A large 2025 systematic review found that roughly 7,000 steps per day was associated with substantial improvements across multiple health outcomes compared with very low activity. More activity can still be beneficial, and 10,000 steps remains an excellent target for people who enjoy it. The most important message is simpler: move more and sit less.
2,000 steps4,000 steps7,000 steps10,000 steps
Major health benefits already accumulate around 7,000 steps. This is a useful reference point from population research, not a biological threshold.
Build your engine.
Current physical-activity guidelines recommend roughly 150–300 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, or 75–150 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity, or a mixture.
Brisk walkingRunningCyclingSwimmingHikingRowingDancingRacquet sports
Train easy and hard.
Most aerobic training does not need to be maximal. A practical routine combines easy-to-moderate aerobic work that builds endurance with occasional harder intervals that challenge cardiorespiratory capacity. The goal is not exhaustion. It is preserving and improving cardiorespiratory fitness over decades.
Strength is longevity infrastructure.
Perform resistance training at least two days per week, ideally training the major muscle groups. A comprehensive program should preserve leg, hip, back, pushing and pulling strength, plus grip and power.
Beginner
2 full-body sessions per week.
Intermediate
3 full-body sessions or an upper/lower split.
Advanced
Train according to performance goals while protecting recovery.
Muscle mass matters, but strength and power matter too. As we age, the ability to get up, climb stairs, carry objects, recover from a stumble and generate force quickly becomes increasingly important.
Mobility + balance
Mobility work should support the movements you want to keep doing: dynamic mobility, full-range resistance training, balance work, and yoga or Pilates if you enjoy them. For older adults, balance becomes increasingly important for reducing falls and preserving independence. Passive stretching alone is not a major independent lifespan intervention.
One of the most useful longevity questions is not “How much can you suffer in a workout?” It is “How much physical reserve are you building for the future?”
Your week
Mon
Strength + walking
Tue
Aerobic + walking
Wed
Walking / mobility / recovery
Thu
Strength + walking
Fri
Aerobic or intervals
Sat
Long easy movement / recreational activity
Sun
Recovery + walking
An illustrative sample week, not personalized medical advice. The best plan is one you can progressively sustain without accumulating injury or exhaustion.
Supplement smarter
Food first. Targeted supplementation second.
Supplements should not compensate for a poor diet, poor sleep or inactivity. They can, however, serve two useful purposes.
01 · Nutrient sufficiency
Help close specific dietary or physiological gaps.
02 · Longevity optimization
Deliver compounds studied for their effects on biological pathways associated with aging.
The simple version
For most people the foundation is genuinely simple.
A high-quality multivitamin plus omega-3 (EPA and DHA) gets most people practically all the way there on basic nutrient sufficiency. Add vitamin D if your levels or sun exposure call for it, and B12 if you eat little or no animal food. That is the whole starting kit. Everything in the checklist below is context, not a shopping list.
Supplement what makes sense for your diet, biology, medications and risk factors, not what happens to be trending online.
The micronutrient checklist
Educational reference, not a universal supplement schedule. Expand any nutrient for context.
Test where testing is useful. Contextualize where it isn't.
No single blood panel perfectly captures nutritional status. Some nutrients are measured well, some biomarkers reflect only part of total-body status, and interpretation depends on diet, symptoms and clinical context. Use laboratory testing where validated, and interpret it together with your healthcare professional rather than assuming either “normal” or “abnormal” automatically tells the whole story.
The NOVOS system
Five ways NOVOS complements the foundation.
Different products address different parts of the longevity system. They are designed to complement, not replace, the lifestyle fundamentals above. Select a product to see it.
Biological aging foundation
NOVOS Core
Designed around the biology of aging itself.
NOVOS Core is the foundational NOVOS daily formulation. Rather than focusing on one pathway, Core was designed around all 12 Hallmarks of Aging using 12 longevity ingredients in one daily serving.
The finished formulation, not merely its individual ingredients, has been evaluated in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled human clinical trial in adults over 40. The study found improvements versus placebo in cardiovascular aging markers including endothelial function, arterial flexibility, and systolic blood pressure already within the studied population's range.
One day, one routine
What a longevity day actually looks like.
Longevity is built by ordinary days repeated for decades. This is an illustrative structure, not a prescription.
Sleep
Sleep is not downtime. It is maintenance.
Most adults need roughly seven to nine hours of quality sleep. Chronic short sleep is associated with worse cardiometabolic, cognitive and immune outcomes.
During sleep the brain clears metabolic byproducts, memory is consolidated, hormonal rhythms reset and tissue repair accelerates. You cannot out-supplement chronically poor sleep, and improving sleep is one of the highest-return changes available to most people.
The sleep protocol
Quantity matters, but so does regularity. A predictable sleep window is itself a longevity habit.
Recover + connect
Your nervous system and your relationships are part of your biology.
Stress, sleep, connection and purpose are not separate from physical health; they shape it through measurable pathways.
Stress regulation
Chronic psychological stress affects sleep, blood pressure, behavior and inflammation. Practices such as breathing work, meditation, time outdoors and structured downtime can help regulate the stress response.
Social health
Strong social connection is consistently associated with better health outcomes and lower mortality risk in population research, while loneliness and isolation are associated with worse outcomes. Relationships are not a soft extra; they are part of the routine.
Purpose + cognitive engagement
A sense of purpose, continued learning and mentally engaging activity are associated with better cognitive and psychological outcomes with age.
Sauna + heat exposure
Regular sauna use has been studied in connection with cardiovascular measures and wellbeing, largely in observational cohorts and smaller trials. Use with caution if you have cardiovascular conditions, are pregnant, or are dehydrated.
Cold exposure
Cold showers and cold-water immersion are popular and may support mood and perceived recovery, but the human longevity evidence is limited. Extremely cold immersion carries real risks for some people.
Oral + skin health
Oral hygiene and sun protection are underrated maintenance layers with long-term relevance to inflammation, dental preservation and skin aging.
Recovery is not the reward for training. It is part of the training.
Prevention is a longevity intervention.
Some of the highest-value actions are not exotic. Do not smoke or vape. Keep alcohol low or absent. Protect your skin from excessive UV exposure. Stay current with recommended screenings and vaccinations for your age and risk profile. Manage blood pressure, blood lipids, blood sugar and body composition with your clinician. Wear a seatbelt and a helmet.
Screening and medication decisions belong with your healthcare professional, who can account for your history, risk factors and medications.
Measure + iterate
Turn your routine into a feedback loop.
Without measurement, a longevity routine is guesswork. With measurement, it becomes an experiment you can adjust.
Standard health testing
Standard blood markers
Blood pressure, lipids, fasting glucose, HbA1c, inflammatory markers and more, with your clinician.
Function
Strength, grip, VO2 or estimated fitness, balance and mobility, meaning how your body actually performs.
Advanced biological age testing
These four measures are what NOVOS Age provides from a single at-home blood sample.
Biological Age
An epigenetic estimate of how your body compares with your chronological age.
Pace of Aging
How fast you are currently aging, measured with DunedinPACE.
Organ + system ages
11 organs and systems, because aging is not uniform across the body.
Telomere Length
One well-known cellular aging marker, best interpreted alongside others.
How to interpret results honestly
Every test has measurement variability. A single change in a biological-age result is not proof that something worked; trends across repeated measurements are far more meaningful than any single number. Biological-age tests are research-informed wellness tools, not diagnostic tests, and they do not replace medical evaluation.
The most useful cadence for most people: establish a baseline, change the fundamentals deliberately, retest after enough time has passed for biology to respond, and pay attention to how you function, including energy, sleep, strength and cognition, alongside the data.
Frontier
Experimental interventions, described honestly.
These approaches are scientifically interesting. None of them replace the fundamentals, and none should be self-administered based on a web page.
Metformin
A widely used prescription diabetes medication that has attracted longevity interest and is being studied in aging research. It is not an approved anti-aging drug, has side effects and interactions, and any use is a prescription decision made with a physician.
The frontier is worth following. It is not worth substituting for sleep, food, movement and measurement.
This section is educational. It does not include dosing protocols and is not a recommendation to use any prescription medication or investigational therapy. Discuss any such interest with a qualified physician.
0Hallmarks of Aging addressed by NOVOS Core
0+Daily steps linked to major health benefits
0+ minWeekly moderate aerobic activity recommended
0 hrsUpper end of recommended nightly sleep
Who guides this
Built with leading longevity scientists, MDs, and thought leaders.
NOVOS formulations and educational content are developed with input from scientists across aging biology, genetics and medicine at institutions including Harvard, MIT and the Salk Institute.
Dr. George Church, PhDProfessor, Harvard Medical School & MITDr. Matt Kaeberlein, PhDMassachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Washington. Consultant
Dr. J. Pedro de Magalhaes, PhDProfessor, Harvard Medical School and University of Birmingham
Dr. Oliver Medvedik, PhDProfessor, Harvard Medical School and The Cooper Union
Dr. Avi Rosenbaum, PhDResearcher, Harvard Medical School
Dr. Pamela Maher, PhDResearcher, University of British Columbia and Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Dr. Robert Lufkin, MDDistinguished Professor of Radiology and Chief of Metabolic Imaging, USC School of Medicine
Dr. Diogo Barardo, PhDNational University of Singapore, NOVOS Director of R&D
Chris MirabileFounder & CEO, NOVOS · Longevity thought leader
Dr. Kris Verburgh, MDCo-Founder, NOVOS. University of Brussels / Singularity University BeneluxBuild your routine
Tick what you already do. Whatever remains unticked is your shortlist for you to focus on.
0 of 15 habits in place (0%)
The routine in ten rules
Tap a rule to bring it forward.
Start
Start with the foundation. Add the science.
The routine on this page is the foundation. NOVOS is designed to sit on top of it, formulated around the biology of aging and measurable with NOVOS Age.
FAQ