Eat more blueberries. Work out more than you think you need. Buy that new wearable device, which tracks your sleep better than the last one did.
These are just a few of the various longevity tips you can find online and hear around the water cooler — seemingly a new one every day, as the wellness economy grows.
Influencers throw around terms like “healthspan” in YouTube and TikTok videos. Consumer products promise to help customers age better by staying mentally and physically sharp. Hundreds of longevity-focused medical clinics have cropped up across the United States: 800 of them, according to a June 2024 estimate from the nonprofit American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine. That estimate may understate the current number. Some memberships at such clinics can cost as much as $250,000 a year.
The bigger the business of longevity booms, the harder it can be to parse the noise and separate science-backed 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 modern America’s commonly believed longevity myths.
Maier is the director of the National University of Singapore Academy for Healthy Longevity and co-founder of Singapore-based Chi Longevity, a longevity medicine clinic. Lipman, a longevity and functional medicine doctor, founded New York City-based longevity practice Eleven Eleven Wellness Center and is writing an upcoming book called “Age Better.”
These three myths stand out to Maier and Lipman:
Myth No. 1: Health-tracking devices or complex blood draws are must-haves for everyone
Some Americans use wearable health-tracking devices like Oura rings or Fitbits to track metrics like stress levels or heart rate. More diehard longevity enthusiasts may order complex blood panels for themselves to learn 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 pointless, and in some cases, harmful.
Monitoring your health data is only useful if you understand the information you’re receiving, Maier says. And obsessing over your results can be harmful, particularly on the mental health of people who tend to worry a lot, adds Lipman. He cites sleep quality as an example: “If monitoring your sleep is making you neurotic about your sleep, then it’s not healthy for you.”
Some people ask artificial intelligence chatbots to synthesize their health data for them, which can introduce them to even more information they don’t understand as well as they may think, says Maier. Some chatbot responses to medical questions can even “lead to serious patient harm,” found a Feb. 13 physician-led study published in the medical journal Npj Digital Medicine.
If you don’t know what to do with the information you receive from a wearable device or blood draw — assuming it wasn’t ordered by a doctor who can help you interpret the results — “don’t do it,” says Maier. From a medical perspective, in-depth blood panel tests are typically considered unnecessary for people without specific health concerns, like active symptoms or risk factors for disease, Lipman says.
You should always consult with your primary care physician before making any major changes that could affect your health.
Myth No. 2: IV drips make you healthier
If you’ve spent much time in the wellness-centric corners of the internet, you’ve probably heard all about intravenous drips: infusions of vitamins, minerals or other supplements into the bloodstream, rather than taken orally.
Vitamin and mineral supplements have long been advertised — often dubiously — as health cheat codes, and the U.S. IV hydration therapy market brought in a total of $1.12 billion in 2025 revenue, according to estimates from research firm Grand View Research. At some wellness clinics, a coenzyme called NAD+, or nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, is specifically advertised as an anti-aging IV drip.
Maier says she’s skeptical. With the exception of iron infusions, which can treat medically diagnosed iron deficiencies by delivering the mineral directly to the bloodstream, “there is not much evidence” supporting the effectiveness of IV therapies for vitamin supplementation, she says.
For NAD+ specifically — which is naturally produced by the body and essential for metabolism — some animal studies show that taking oral supplements of NAD+ precursors may boost the body’s production of the coenzyme. Not enough research exists to show a major benefit from supplementing it for healthy humans, Dr. Neil Paulvin, a New York City-based longevity and functional medicine doctor, 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 and try it and actually evaluate if you are feeling better,” she says. For NAD+ IV drips specifically, 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: Issues like accidental contamination or incorrect administration are more likely when needles are involved. In one extreme case, a New York City woman died in July from a cardiac air embolism after receiving an NAD+ infusion at a wellness center, according to the city medical examiner. The man who administered the infusion wasn’t licensed to practice medicine in New York State, according to a criminal complaint documented by The New York Times on Sept. 21. That man has pleaded not guilty to charges including second-degree murder.
Myth No. 3: Expensive, high-tech therapies are better than simple habits
Quick fixes are often more attractive to consumers than longer habit-driven practices, particularly when new or flashy technology is involved, Lipman says. But procedures like cryotherapy, full-body MRIs or blood panels are pointless if you aren’t starting with the basics, he says.
“The myth is that you need all these expensive tools to age well. And what I’m saying is: 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:
- Maintaining a healthy body weight
- Exercising daily
- Having an adaptive coping style by practicing good conflict resolution
- Developing a growth mindset by being a lifelong learner
- Maintaining stable, long-term friendships and loving relationships
- Avoiding alcohol abuse
- Not smoking
“Essentials are the free things,” Lipman says, “And people ignore that.”
