Elysium Health

Elysium’s product called Basis is a proprietary formulation of crystalline nicotinamide riboside and pterostilbene, ingredients that increase and sustain NAD+ levels and activate sirtuins respectively. These effects are claimed to support cellular health because of their roles in energy generation, healthy DNA maintenance and regulation of sleep/wake cycles.

In people and animals NAD+ levels decrease over time and increasing the molecule in older mice caused them to look and behave younger and live longer. Treating mice with a compound that increases NAD+ was reported in Science to reverse signs of aging in tissues and muscles. A human clinical trial published in Nature found that people who took Basis as a daily supplement increased their NAD+ levels.

Co-Founder and Chief Scientist Dr. Leonard Guarente is also Director of the Glenn Center for the Biology of Aging Research at MIT. Elysium’s scientific advisory board includes eight Nobel Prize Winners. Elysium and the scientists on the advisory board have received some criticism for providing undue credibility for a product that is not yet proven to affect aging in humans.

Basis is sold as a dietary supplement and the ingredients in Basis have been tested for safety and are produced in facilities that meet FDA requirements. Another company ChromaDex is pursuing FDA approval of nicotinamide riboside to treat Cockayne syndrome, a rare genetic disease with symptoms similar to premature aging. ChromaDex also supplies raw nicotinamide riboside and pterostilbene to Elysium.