Eat more blueberries. Train more than you think you need. Buy this new wearable device, which tracks your sleep better than the last one.
These are just a few of the different longevity tips you can find online and hear around the water cooler – seemingly new every day, as the wellness economy grows.
Influencers use terms like “health span” in YouTube and TikTok videos. Consumer products promise to help customers age better by staying mentally and physically alert. Hundreds of longevity-focused medical clinics have sprung up across the United States: 800 of them, according to a June 2024 estimate from the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, a nonprofit. This estimate may underestimate the current figure. Some memberships at these clinics can cost up to $250,000 per year.
The more booming the longevity industry gets, the harder it can be to sift through the noise and separate science-based claims from marketing or other forms of hype. CNBC Make It spoke with two experts, Dr. Andrea Maier and Dr. Frank Lipman, to identify some of the most prevalent longevity myths in modern America.
Maier is director of the National Academy for Healthy Longevity at the National University of Singapore and co-founder of Chi Longevity, a longevity medicine clinic based in Singapore. Lipman, a longevity and functional medicine physician, founded the longevity practice Eleven Eleven Wellness Center, based in New York, and is writing an upcoming book called “Age Better.”
These three myths stand out to Maier and Lipman:
Myth #1: Health monitoring devices or complex blood tests are essential for everyone
Some Americans use wearable health tracking devices like Oura rings or Fitbits to track metrics like stress levels or heart rate. The most die-hard longevity enthusiasts can order complex blood tests themselves to learn more about their blood count or thyroid levels.
Maier and Lipman use wearable health tracking devices themselves, but both experts agree that without the right approach, meticulously tracking your health data can be useless and, in some cases, dangerous.
Monitoring your health data is only useful if you understand the information you’re receiving, says Maier. And obsessing about your results can be harmful, especially to the mental health of people who tend to worry a lot, Lipman adds. He cites sleep quality as an example: “If monitoring your sleep makes you neurotic about your sleep, then it’s not healthy for you.” »
Some people ask artificial intelligence chatbots to summarize their health data, which can present them with even more information that they don’t understand as well as they might think, Maier says. Some chatbot responses to medical questions can even “result in serious harm to patients,” according to a study conducted by doctors on February 13 and published in the medical journal Npj Digital Medicine.
If you’re not sure what to do with the information you receive from a handheld device or blood draw — assuming it hasn’t been ordered by a doctor who can help you interpret the results — “don’t do it,” says Maier. From a medical perspective, extensive blood tests are generally considered unnecessary for people without specific health problems, such as active symptoms or risk factors for disease, Lipman says.
You should always consult your healthcare provider before making any major changes that could affect your health.
Myth #2: IV drips improve health
If you’ve spent much time on the wellness-focused Internet, you’ve probably heard of IV drips: infusions of vitamins, minerals, or other supplements into the bloodstream, rather than by mouth.
Vitamin and mineral supplements have long been touted — often dubiously — as cheat codes to health, and the U.S. IV hydration therapy market generated a total of $1.12 billion in revenue in 2025, according to estimates from research firm Grand View Research. In some wellness clinics, a coenzyme called NAD+, or nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, is specifically advertised as an anti-aging intravenous infusion.
Maier says he is skeptical. With the exception of iron infusions, which can treat medically diagnosed iron deficiencies by delivering the mineral directly into the bloodstream, “there’s not a lot of evidence” supporting the effectiveness of IV therapies for vitamin supplementation, she says.
For NAD+ in particular – which is produced naturally by the body and essential for metabolism – some animal studies show that taking oral NAD+ precursor supplements can stimulate the body’s production of the coenzyme. There isn’t enough research to show a major benefit to supplementing it for healthy humans, Dr. Neil Paulvin, a New York-based functional medicine and longevity physician, told CNBC Make It in March 2025.
Maier wouldn’t recommend trying supplements that “only have animal evidence,” but it’s “your choice to buy it, try it, and evaluate whether you feel better,” she says. For NAD+ IV infusions in particular, she adds: “The marketing is just superb. The evidence is absolutely not there. The studies are absolutely not there.”
IV drips can also pose unnecessary health risks, she notes: Problems like accidental contamination or incorrect administration are more likely when dealing with needles. In one extreme case, a New York woman died in July of a cardiac gas embolism after receiving an NAD+ infusion at a wellness center, according to the city’s medical examiner. The man who administered the infusion was not licensed to practice medicine in New York state, according to a criminal complaint documented by The New York Times on September 21. The man has pleaded not guilty to charges including second-degree murder.
Myth #3: Expensive, high-tech therapies are better than simple habits
Quick fixes are often more appealing to consumers than long-term, habit-based practices, especially when new or flashy technology is involved, Lipman says. But procedures like cryotherapy, full-body MRIs or blood tests are useless if you don’t start with the basics, he says.
“The myth is that you need all these expensive tools to age well. And what I’m saying is that the most important thing is actually the foundations that don’t cost anything,” Lipman says.
The keys to longevity are simple, he says: exercise, eat well, prioritize sleep, manage your stress levels, and find a purpose that keeps you going. Each is backed by a wealth of research on what leads to a long, healthy life. For more than 80 years, researchers at Harvard University have studied what increases the chances of living longer and being happier. Their ongoing research has identified seven core practices:
- Maintain a healthy weight
- Exercise daily
- Have an adaptive coping style by practicing good conflict resolution
- Develop a growth mindset by being a lifelong learner
- Maintain stable, long-term friendships and romantic relationships
- Avoid alcohol abuse
- NO SMOKING
“Essential things are free things,” Lipman says, “and people ignore that.”
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