The Anti-Aging Hype Cycle

The world’s largest anti-aging competition, XPRIZE Healthspan, is now underway.

With a prize pool of $100 million, the challenge is ambitious yet clear: help people between the ages of 50 and 80 regain ten years of strength, cognition, and immune function. More than 600 teams from 58 countries have joined, and even Japan—a nation known for longevity—has contenders reaching for the finalist stage.

If solid evidence of “turning back the clock by a decade” emerges, it will dominate global headlines. Yet such a breakthrough would not stand alone. It would simply mark the latest peak in the anti-aging hype cycle, where science, commerce, and human desire are tightly intertwined.

The First Wave: Miracle Supplements

Every hype cycle begins with a so-called miracle ingredient.

Advertisements proclaim, “Take this and you’ll be ten years younger!”—louder than any late-night infomercial. NMN (a relative of Vitamin B3 that the body converts into NAD⁺), resveratrol (the antioxidant made famous by red wine), metformin (a diabetes drug that extended lifespan in animal studies), and Japan’s familiar 5-ALA (praised for its role in supporting mitochondrial function)…

Personally, 5-ALA is my current favorite. I take it often, and while it doesn’t make me feel “younger,” the improvements in recovery from fatigue and in the quality of my sleep are undeniable. Small changes, perhaps—but meaningful ones in daily life.

I still remember the first time I read about NMN in a magazine. For a brief moment, it seemed as if aging had been reduced to a puzzle we could finally solve—and I wanted to believe it.

Magazines promised the future. Scientific papers, however, kept repeating “maybe”.

That gap—the distance between bold headlines and cautious evidence—is what fuels the hype even further.

The Valley of Disillusionment

But excitement never lasts forever.

Clinical trials often fail to produce the dramatic effects people expect. Side effects emerge. Costs rise. Regulations loom. Compounds once hailed as “revolutionary” end up quietly relegated to the back shelves of drugstores.

NMN supplements are now waving from the peak of enthusiasm, but the downward slope may already have begun. And still, their presence sparks the next wave. On the horizon, new contenders are already shimmering: epigenetic clock testing, GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, and other visions of longevity science.

Beyond the Hype

And yet, science doesn’t stop.

Once the valley is crossed, a steadier perspective comes into view. Gut microbiome support, anti-inflammatory effects, epigenetic modulation—these may never make headlines, but combined with lifestyle changes, they slowly evolve into systems that extend healthspan.

What remains after the hype fades is not glamour, but knowledge. No applause, no fireworks—just the quiet strength to support everyday life. To me, that quiet strength feels more valuable than the loud promises ever did.

My Own Reflection

For me, anti-aging is not about reversing the past, but about making the present more livable.

It means laughing at the illusions while still waiting for the next wave. It means moving through life “a little longer, a little richer,” carried forward by curiosity rather than fear.

Whether the dream delivers or not, being part of this wave helps shape the future of longevity science. That’s why I don’t want to just watch from the shore—I want to step into the current.

Right now, my focus is on the gut microbiome, mitochondrial health, and epigenetic modulation—fields where small, steady advances can add up to meaningful extensions of healthspan.

And whether the XPRIZE Healthspan challenge succeeds or not, the cycle of hype and disappointment will continue. I intend to be inside that cycle, helping to shape the future it creates. After all, it’s far more exciting to ride the wave of enthusiasm than to be swallowed by it.

Author’s Note: This story was translated and refined with AI assistance, but all final edits and perspectives are my own.