Getting Started — Where to Begin

This page is the on-ramp. If you've never bought a longevity supplement before — and the wall of acronyms (NMN, NAD+, NR, PQQ, CaAKG, GlyNAC, AMPK, mTOR) is the thing keeping you from starting — this is the page that gets you from zero to "bottle ordered, first dose tomorrow morning" in about ten minutes of reading. The deeper operating manual lives at How It Works; this page is the decisive first cut.

The 60-second answer

• Pick one goal, not three. Cellular energy & longevity, beauty (skin/hair/nails), or metabolic (blood sugar/lipids). The catalog lays out a clean starting bundle for each. Cognitive longevity and foundational health are secondary goals you layer in after a primary stack is running.
• Start with a bundle, not a single bottle. NMN alone, or collagen alone, or berberine alone covers half the relevant biology. The bundles ship the matched cofactors so you're running the protocol from day 1 instead of "I'll add the third one next month."
• Take it in the morning, with breakfast, every day. 95% of the protocols on this site take morning + food. Daily consistency beats dose escalation. A standard dose every day will outperform a higher dose three times a week.
• Don't expect day-1 effects. NAD+ trials show measurable shifts at 4–8 weeks (Yoshino 2021 Science; Yamaguchi 2022 Nutrients). Collagen RCTs show 8–12 weeks for skin (Proksch 2014). Berberine reaches steady-state after ~2 weeks (Yin 2008 Metabolism). If nothing has shifted at week 12 on a full dose, the issue is usually upstream (sleep, vitamin D, iron, thyroid) — not the supplement.
• Run the starting stack for 8 weeks before you change anything. Then layer one addition, run that for 4–8 more weeks, repeat. This is how you actually know what's doing what.
• You have 30 days to return any unopened bottle. See our 30-day guarantee. The decision is reversible.

Step 1 — Pick your primary goal

Almost everyone starting a longevity protocol falls into one of three primary buckets. Pick yours; don't try to optimize all three at once. (Cognitive longevity and foundational health are layered on top of a primary stack — see Step 5.)

Goal A: Cellular energy & longevity

You want the underlying mechanisms of healthy aging — NAD+ replenishment, sirtuin activation, mitochondrial energetics, DNA-repair substrate. This is the goal behind "I want to age slower" or "I want my 40s/50s/60s to feel like my 30s did." Browse the full set of products that target this goal at Longevity Essentials or the NAD+ Family.

• Start with: the Longevity Stack Bundle — NMN 500 mg + Resveratrol 600 mg, packaged as a 30-day stack at one price. This is the canonical "Sinclair stack" — the substrate (NMN → NAD+) plus the activator (resveratrol → SIRT1) — popularized in Lifespan and ratified by 2021–2022 human trials (Yoshino 2021 Science; Yamaguchi 2022 Nutrients).
• Take: 1 NMN capsule + 1 Resveratrol capsule every morning with breakfast (a meal containing fat improves resveratrol absorption per Howitz 2003 Nature mechanism work). Run this for 8–12 weeks before adding anything.
• Why this stack and not just NMN: NMN raises intracellular NAD+, the coenzyme behind cellular energy and DNA repair. Resveratrol activates the sirtuin enzymes (SIRT1, SIRT3) that use that NAD+ to deacetylate longevity-relevant transcription factors (Hubbard 2013 Science). Either alone covers half the equation. The biology only closes when both run together.
• Want a single-bottle option instead of two? Look at the NAD+ Daily Boost (NAD+ + trans-resveratrol pre-stacked) or the NAD+ 5-in-1 Complete Mitochondrial Formula (NMN + CoQ10 + B-complex + antioxidants pre-stacked). Bundle is more flexible (you can dose each independently); single-bottle is simpler.
• Reading ladder for the first 30 days: What Is NAD+? Beginner's Guide → NMN vs NAD+ → Best Time to Take NMN → Resveratrol Benefits.

Goal B: Beauty (skin, hair, nails) — "beauty from within"

You want visibly stronger nails, healthier hair density, firmer skin, and better hydration. This is the goal behind "I want my hair to stop shedding" or "my nails are brittle" or "my skin lost its bounce after 35." Browse the full set at Beauty & Anti-Aging or Collagen Supplements.

• Start with: the Beauty & Longevity Stack — Marine Collagen Peptides 5000 mg + Biotin 10,000 mcg + Hyaluronic Acid + Vitamin C, packaged as a 30-day stack.
• Take: 1 scoop Marine Collagen daily (any time, no meal required — but habit-stacking with morning coffee or smoothie keeps the daily-streak alive) + 1 Biotin softgel + 2 HA + Vitamin C capsules with food. Pre-exercise dosing of collagen+VitC has tendon-collagen synthesis evidence (Shaw 2017 Am J Clin Nutr) — useful if you train.
• Why this stack and not just collagen: Marine collagen supplies the structural protein and bioactive peptides (Liu 2022 JAMA Netw Open; Proksch 2014 Skin Pharmacol Physiol). Biotin provides the substrate for keratin biosynthesis — what hair shafts and nail plates are actually made of (Patel 2017 Skin Appendage Disord; König 2018 Nutrients). Hyaluronic acid hydrates from within (oral HA accumulates in skin per Kawada 2014 Nutr J). Vitamin C is the rate-limiting cofactor for the prolyl/lysyl hydroxylase enzymes that form the collagen triple helix (Pullar 2017 Nutrients) — without it the marine peptides have no machinery to assemble.
• Realistic timeline: nails first (4–6 weeks), skin texture and hydration (4–8 weeks), hair density (3–6 months). Hair-growth claims faster than 3 months are biology-resistant — the human anagen cycle takes that long.
• Reading ladder: Marine vs Bovine Collagen → Marine Collagen for Hair → Hyaluronic Acid: Topical vs Oral → How to Choose a Collagen Supplement.

Goal C: Metabolic health & blood sugar

You want post-meal glucose response, insulin sensitivity, lipids/ApoB/triglycerides, and visceral-fat trajectory moving in the right direction. This is the goal behind "I want my A1C lower without metformin" or "I want a cleaner postprandial response." Browse the full set at the Metabolic collection.

• Start with: Berberine HCL 500 mg. AMPK activator, ~14 RCTs against placebo for glucose and lipids, mechanism overlap with metformin (Yin 2008 Metabolism; Cao 2019 meta-analysis).
• Take: 500 mg once daily with the largest meal for week 1 (titration, GI tolerance check). Build to 500 mg twice daily by week 2, three times daily by week 3 if tolerated — always with food. The split-dose is structural: berberine has a short plasma half-life and the larger AMPK/glucose-lowering effect comes from keeping blood levels up across the meal window.
• Layer on: Curcumin 1000 mg + BioPerine if inflammation is part of the picture (insulin resistance and chronic low-grade inflammation co-travel). The BioPerine raises curcumin bioavailability ~20× per Shoba 1998 Planta Medica.
• Important caveat: if you're on metformin, an SGLT2 inhibitor, or a sulfonylurea, talk to your physician before adding berberine. Same downstream pathway — additive effects can over-shoot. We default to "physician-first" on this whenever Rx glucose-lowering is in play.
• Reading: Berberine vs Metformin.

Not sure which bucket you're in?

Two diagnostic questions that resolve 80% of the ambiguity:

• "Pick one thing about your body you'd most want to change in 6 months." If the answer involves energy, recovery, or how you feel cognitively → Goal A. If it involves how you look in the mirror → Goal B. If it involves blood-test numbers → Goal C.
• "What's the last lab result that worried you (or that you'd most like to see move)?" Fasting insulin, A1C, LDL/ApoB, triglycerides, fasting glucose → Goal C. Vitamin D, B12, ferritin, CRP, homocysteine → see How It Works Step 7 (foundational health) before any longevity stack — those gaps undo everything downstream. Anything else and the goal is most likely A or B.

Step 2 — The starter decision matrix

Use this if your situation has a wrinkle and the three bundles above don't map perfectly. Each row is "if X, start here." All paths route into the same operating manual at How It Works by month 3.

Step 3 — Your first dose (the actual day-1 protocol)

Three rules cover 95% of first-week dosing across the catalog:

• Morning, with food. Default for nearly every active. Resveratrol, NMN, NR, NAD+, biotin, curcumin (better with fat), berberine (with the carb-containing meal where AMPK matters), vitamin D3+K2 (fat-soluble), CoQ10 (fat-soluble), astaxanthin (fat-soluble), omega-3 (fat-soluble obviously). Habit-stack with breakfast or morning coffee — the cue matters more than the time.
• Daily, every day, no skips. NAD+ rises and falls inside ~24 hours. Sirtuin signaling needs a steady substrate floor. Collagen-triple-helix synthesis is a daily rebuild. Skipping weekends costs you 28% of the year. Daily consistency > dose escalation.
• No day-1 effects. If you feel something dramatic on day 1, suspect placebo (or stimulants in the formula — we don't put stimulants in our formulas). Real adaptations are 4–12 weeks.

Timing exceptions worth knowing:

• Magnesium Glycinate 400 mg → evening, 30–60 min before bed. The glycinate form is calming.
• Glycine 1500 mg → evening, 60 min before bed for slow-wave sleep effect (Yamadera 2007 Sleep Biol Rhythms).
• Berberine 500 mg → with each meal, not all at once (short half-life — split-dose is structural).
• Apigenin 50 mg → evening, opposite end of the day from NMN, so it inhibits CD38 (the enzyme that consumes NAD+) overnight while NMN-derived NAD+ is being utilized.
• Fisetin + Quercetin as a senolytic burst → 2 consecutive days, once per quarter. Not daily. The "hit-and-run" senolytic protocol is the design (Yousefzadeh 2018 EBioMedicine).
• Spermidine 10 mg → daily; autophagy is a floor, not a pulse (Eisenberg 2016 Nat Med).
• Marine Collagen + Vitamin C → 30–60 min before a workout if you train, for tendon-collagen synthesis (Shaw 2017 Am J Clin Nutr).

Step 4 — What to expect, week by week

The trial-anchored timelines below are what you should actually expect. "Nothing dramatic" is the correct day-30 sensation for most longevity stacks — measurable shifts cluster around weeks 4–12.

Step 5 — When (and what) to layer in second

After your starting stack has run for 8–12 weeks, you'll have a clearer sense of what's working and what's still missing. The layering rule is simple: add one product at a time, run it for 4–8 weeks, then decide whether to keep, drop, or layer another. This is how you actually know what's doing what.

If your first goal was energy / longevity

• Want a stronger NAD+ effect? Move from Pure NMN 500 mg to NMN 1000 mg Double Strength, or stack Liposomal NAD+ Ultimate on top.
• Mitochondrial renewal layer: add Urolithin A 500 mg (PINK1/Parkin-driven mitophagy; Andreux 2019 Nat Metab) and CoQ10 400 mg. Browse Mitochondrial Renewal.
• Epigenetic-age angle: add CaAKG 1000 mg and Pterostilbene 100 mg (more bioavailable resveratrol cousin).
• Methylation cofactor (important if you're stacking NMN at higher doses): TMG 1000 mg. NMN consumes methyl groups via NNMT; TMG replenishes them.
• NR alternative path: if NMN sits poorly, switch to Nicotinamide Riboside or the Liquid NAD+ NR Stick Packs.

If your first goal was beauty

• Broader collagen coverage: add Multi Collagen Complex (Types I, II, III, V, X — joints + gut alongside skin/hair) or the Multi Collagen Peptides Powder.
• Skin tone / brightening: add Glutathione 500 mg + Liposomal Vitamin C. See Glutathione for Skin Brightening.
• Sun-exposed skin / antioxidant defense: add Astaxanthin 12 mg — uniquely membrane-spanning antioxidant.
• Glutathione precursor angle (if reduced GSH alone feels too direct): N-Acetyl Cysteine 600 mg + Glycine 1500 mg = the GlyNAC stack (Sekhar 2021 Antioxidants). Browse Skin Protocol.

If your first goal was metabolic

• Inflammation co-traveler: add Curcumin 1000 mg + BioPerine.
• Antioxidant + glucose double-duty: Alpha-Lipoic Acid 600 mg.
• Cardiovascular axis: Omega-3 2000 mg and Taurine 1000 mg. Browse Cardiovascular Longevity.
• Once metabolic is stable: branch into Goal A (energy/longevity). Many people graduate from Goal C → Goal A by month 6.

Cognitive longevity (secondary, layered on any primary stack)

• Creatine Monohydrate 1000 mg — sarcopenia prevention + cognitive substrate (creatine crosses the BBB).
• PQQ 20 mg — mitochondrial biogenesis; pairs with CoQ10.
• NAD+ 1000 mg Pure Focus Formula — NR + Resveratrol + PQQ + Quercetin pre-stacked. See Brain & Cognitive Longevity.

Foundational health (the layer underneath every other stack)

• Vitamin D3 + K2 MK-7 — if your last 25(OH)D was < 40 ng/mL, this is the highest-leverage thing you can take. Sun-avoidance, latitude, and skin tone all push baseline down.
• Omega-3 2000 mg — high EPA/DHA for cardiovascular and brain.
• Magnesium Glycinate 400 mg — sleep, NAD+ methylation cycle, vitamin D activation.
• Ashwagandha KSM-66 600 mg — cortisol axis if stress is a primary feature.
• See the dedicated post: Foundational Health — The 7 Daily Nutrients. Browse Foundational Health and Antioxidants.

Step 6 — The 5 most common starting mistakes

• 1. Buying 5 bottles at once. The single biggest pattern of "I don't know what's working." Run a single stack for 8 weeks, layer one addition, run that for 4–8 weeks, repeat. Slow is fast.
• 2. Skipping the cofactor. NMN without resveratrol is half the engine. Collagen without vitamin C is bricks without mortar (the prolyl hydroxylase enzymes that crosslink collagen are vitamin-C dependent — Pullar 2017). The bundles exist because cofactor pairing is the difference between "did it work" and "didn't work."
• 3. Quitting at week 3 because nothing happened. See Step 4. Real shifts cluster at weeks 4–12, not week 3. The 30-day guarantee is for unopened bottles — not a "felt nothing in week 1" return policy. Run the full first cycle.
• 4. Treating senolytics like daily supplements. Fisetin and Quercetin are pulsed (2 days, once per quarter), not daily — the "hit-and-run" design from Yousefzadeh 2018 EBioMedicine. Daily senolytic dosing wastes capsules and may dampen the senescence-clearing effect by failing to let the SASP-clearance window close.
• 5. Ignoring upstream basics. Vitamin D below 30, ferritin below 50, B12 below 400, undiagnosed hypothyroidism, sleep apnea, fewer than 1.0 g/kg protein per day — any of these will sit on top of a longevity stack and mute the result. If a longevity stack does nothing at week 12, the most likely answer is a foundational gap, not a wrong supplement. Get a recent CMP, A1C, lipid panel with ApoB, fasting insulin, hs-CRP, homocysteine, TSH/T3/T4, 25(OH)D, B12, ferritin, RBC magnesium done before drawing conclusions.

Step 7 — The non-supplement essentials

Supplements work better when the basics are in place. The biggest free wins, ranked by leverage:

• Sleep — non-negotiable. NAD+ resets overnight; bad sleep undoes most of what NMN supplementation builds. Aim 7–8 hours, consistent bedtime, dark room, cool, no screens for 30 min before bed. If sleep is wrecked, fix it first — see the Goal "sleep wrecked" row in Step 2.
• Daily SPF 30+. Sun damage outpaces every skin supplement. If you're working on skin tone or anti-aging, sunscreen is the single highest-leverage thing you can do — beyond any oral product.
• Strength training 2–3×/week + 8,000–10,000 steps/day. Cellular pathways NAD+ activates only fully express when there's metabolic demand to respond to. Sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss) is the most underrated longevity issue.
• Protein floor 1.0–1.6 g/kg body weight. Collagen peptides don't substitute — they sit on top. Eat the floor first.
• Alcohol < 4 drinks/week. Alcohol depletes NAD+, glutathione, B-vitamins, and folate simultaneously. The single biggest "this is undoing my supplement protocol" lifestyle factor.
• Get the labs. 25(OH)D, ferritin, B12, TSH/free T3/free T4, A1C + fasting insulin, lipid panel with ApoB and Lp(a), hs-CRP, homocysteine, RBC magnesium. Annual draw. The basics decide more than the bottles do.

Bundle vs single — which to pick first

The bundles (Longevity Stack, Beauty & Longevity Stack) ship the cofactor-paired protocol at a single bundle price, packaged as a 30-day supply at matched dosing. They're the fastest and cheapest path to "running the protocol from day 1" rather than "I'll add the third one when I remember." Browse all of them at Starter Bundles.

Single-bottle is the right pick when (a) you've already run a comparable stack elsewhere, (b) you specifically want to titrate one variable at a time, (c) you have a cofactor already in your kitchen (e.g., you already eat a lot of berries with your morning meal — vitamin C floor — and want to test marine collagen alone), or (d) you want to test the lower-dose entry tier (Pure NMN 500 mg before NMN 1000 mg). Most first-time customers do better with a bundle.

Common questions (FAQ)

Should I take all of this at once?

No. Start with one stack (longevity, beauty, OR metabolic). Run it for 8–12 weeks. Then layer one addition at a time. The protocol is built around knowing what's doing what, which only works if you change one variable at a time.

What if I don't notice anything by week 4?

Normal. Most longevity stacks have subtle, structural effects that compound over 4–12 weeks. "Nothing dramatic" at week 4 is the expected result, not a failed result. If nothing has shifted at week 12 on a full dose, the issue is usually upstream (vitamin D, iron, B12, hypothyroidism, sleep apnea, protein floor) — see Step 6 mistake #5. Get the basic labs first.

Are the bundles worth it vs buying separately?

Yes. The Longevity Stack Bundle and Beauty & Longevity Stack Bundle are priced as a bundle and ensure you're running the complete protocol from day 1 rather than "I'll add the third one when I remember." Cofactor pairing (NMN+resveratrol; collagen+vitamin C+biotin) is the difference between a stack working and a single-bottle plateau.

Is there a discount on first orders?

We periodically run welcome discounts. Sign up for our email list at checkout. The 30-day money-back guarantee is the structural deal — if it doesn't work, you return unopened bottles.

How long is shipping?

See the Shipping Policy. We ship internationally. US delivery is typically 5–10 business days; international varies by destination.

What if it doesn't work? Returns policy?

30-day money-back guarantee on unopened bottles — see the guarantee page for the details and the limits (opened bottles, special-promotion bundles, etc.).

Are these vegan?

Most are; marine collagen and fish-oil omega-3 obviously are not (the source is in the name). Multi Collagen Complex is bovine + chicken + marine — not vegan. Every product page has the dietary callout in the description.

Pregnancy / nursing?

Defer NAD+ stacks, senolytics (Fisetin/Quercetin/Apigenin), spermidine, ashwagandha, and high-dose berberine until post-conception clinician sign-off. Foundational basics (vitamin D, omega-3, prenatal-style supports) are continuation territory, but always per your OB. The catalog is built for healthy non-pregnant adults; we don't optimize for the pregnancy window.

Drug interactions worth flagging?

Warfarin (vitamin K in D3+K2; omega-3 platelet effect; berberine CYP enzyme effects). Statins (deplete CoQ10 — that's a feature, not a bug, for layering CoQ10 alongside). Diabetes medications (additive with berberine). SSRIs and ashwagandha (theoretical serotonergic interaction). Curcumin (mild blood-thinning at high doses). When in doubt, screenshot your med list to your prescriber and ask. We default to "physician-first" for any active prescription.

Can I take everything at the same time of day, or should I stagger?

Most fat-soluble actives (D3+K2, CoQ10, omega-3, astaxanthin) and the morning-default actives (NMN, NR, NAD+, resveratrol, biotin) can stack into a single morning dose with breakfast. Magnesium glycinate, glycine, and apigenin go evening. Berberine splits across meals. That's it — most people end up with two clusters (morning + evening) and don't need a third.

Can I open the capsules into a smoothie if I can't swallow pills?

Most capsules yes. Exceptions: anything enteric-coated (the Glutathione 500 mg specifically is enteric-coated for stomach-acid bypass — opening defeats the design); softgels obviously. Powders (collagen peptides, NAD+ stick packs, NAD+ Pure Focus drink mix) are the easier path if pill-swallowing is hard.

I'm 60+. Is it too late?

No. The biology of NAD+ decline, sirtuin activation, mitochondrial renewal, and senescence clearance is more relevant after 60, not less. The Yoshino 2021 NMN trial subjects were postmenopausal women. The Andreux 2019 Urolithin A trial subjects were sedentary older adults. Onset late beats not at all — the trial-anchored timelines apply equally.

Single best supplement if I had to pick one?

Honest answer: nothing is one-supplement complete, because the relevant biology runs through pathways (NAD+/sirtuin, AMPK/mTOR, mitophagy, autophagy, glutathione redox) that need substrate plus activator plus cofactor. If forced: Vitamin D3 + K2 for the foundational layer (more downstream consequences than any single longevity active), Longevity Stack Bundle if the goal is healthspan, Beauty & Longevity Stack if the goal is appearance.

How is this different from buying NMN on Amazon?

See Quality & Sourcing and Ingredient Sourcing for the full chain-of-custody. Short answer: most discount-channel NMN is degraded or under-dosed (β-NMN is hygroscopic and unstable; assays at point-of-sale on Amazon's catalog have repeatedly shown 30–60% of label claim). We buy from named upstream manufacturers, run third-party COAs by lot, and route through climate-controlled fulfillment.

Where to go from here

The four pages most useful in your first 30 days, in priority order:

• How It Works — the operating manual. Goes deeper on every step on this page (decision matrix, 6-row week-by-week timeline, 7 layering paths, 15-question FAQ, full-catalog map). Read this if you want the science-grounded full version of what's on this page.
• Protocols — Supplement Stacks by Goal — pre-built stacks for each goal/situation, with dose tables.
• Our Science — The Hallmarks Framework — for the "why these molecules" answer at the biological-mechanism level (López-Otín hallmarks of aging).
• FAQ — broader operational questions (shipping, lots, COAs, returns).

And for catalog browsing by goal: Most Popular · Starter Bundles · Longevity Essentials · Beauty & Anti-Aging · Metabolic · NAD+ Family · NMN Supplements · Mitochondrial Renewal · Senolytics · Collagen Supplements · Skin Protocol · Foundational Health · Antioxidants · Cardiovascular Longevity · Brain & Cognitive Longevity · Fertility · All Products.

First-30-day reading ladder

One short article per few days, in roughly the order they'll matter to you:

• Day 1–3 (mechanism foundation): What Is NAD+? Beginner's Guide · Foundational Health — The 7 Daily Nutrients
• Day 4–7 (your first goal-specific deep dive): NMN vs NAD+ · NMN vs NR · Marine vs Bovine Collagen · Berberine vs Metformin
• Week 2 (dose / timing optimization): Best Time to Take NMN · NMN Side Effects: What the Research Shows · How to Choose a Collagen Supplement
• Week 3 (cofactor / partner reading): Resveratrol: The Other Half of the Stack · Marine Collagen for Hair Growth · Hyaluronic Acid: Topical vs Oral · CoQ10 and Statins
• Week 4 (layering decisions): How to Stack Longevity Supplements (full protocol) · Mitochondrial Renewal · Senolytics: Clearing Zombie Cells · Autophagy & Spermidine
• Bonus (situational): Glutathione for Skin Brightening · Longevity Supplements After 40 · Best Energy Supplements That Aren't Caffeine

Still not sure where to start?

Email kdtatt@gmail.com with your goal in one sentence (or a recent lab anomaly you'd like to move) and we'll give you a specific recommendation. We respond within one business day. The Contact page has the full set of channels.

Other reading: Quality & Sourcing · Ingredient Sourcing · Our Science · FAQ · 30-Day Guarantee · About True Health Protocol.

This page is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. Consult your physician before starting any supplement, especially if you have a medical condition, are pregnant or nursing, or take prescription medication. The studies cited are anchors for mechanism and timeline expectation; they are not claims of disease treatment.