Biohacker Formula: What Is Biohacking, and What's in Our Formula?

Is biohacking only for Silicon Valley billionaires with strict daily regimes, expensive gadgets and a cupboard full of pills? That's the image many people have, and it's enough to put most of us off.

But biohacking starts much closer to home than you might think.

What Is Biohacking?

Biohacking means making deliberate changes to your lifestyle to improve your health, energy or how you age. Many biohackers measure the results, whether that's sleep, heart rate, blood sugar or blood tests, and adjust as they go.

At one end are the basics: regular sleep, daily exercise, a mostly plant-based diet and managing stress. These have by far the strongest evidence. At the other end are newer and more experimental tools: red light therapy, saunas, cold plunges, wearables that track sleep and recovery, and supplements aimed at specific processes in our cells.

Researchers have described twelve "hallmarks of ageing", processes that change as we get older and that, when altered in laboratory studies, speed up or slow down ageing (1). Four are particularly relevant to the ingredients in longevity supplements:

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• Mitochondrial dysfunction: mitochondria, the parts of our cells that produce energy, become less efficient and release more harmful reactive molecules (1). They depend on a molecule called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), which falls with age in animals, although this is less clear in people.
• Disabled macroautophagy: cells have a built-in recycling system, called autophagy, that breaks down worn-out parts and reuses them. Over time, this recycling slows down.
• Cellular senescence: some damaged cells stop dividing but don't die off. These "senescent" cells build up and send out signals that fuel inflammation.
• Chronic inflammation: a low level of inflammation that lasts for years, sometimes called "inflammaging", becomes more common.

Why Did We Make the Biohacker Formula?

Many of our customers take these ingredients separately, but opening four or five jars every morning isn't always practical. With the Biohacker Formula we wanted an easier option: five ingredients in one jar, taken as two capsules a day. NR, curcumin, quercetin and spermidine were each chosen for one of the processes above, and TMG supports methylation.

What's in the Biohacker Formula?

A two-capsule serving contains five active ingredients.

• Nicotinamide riboside (NR): a form of vitamin B3 that the body converts into NAD+, which is central to energy metabolism and also used by enzymes involved in DNA repair (2).
• Curcumin: the main active compound in turmeric root. In lab and animal studies it dampens inflammatory signalling and influences autophagy (3, 4), but it is poorly absorbed (5).
• Quercetin: a flavonoid, a plant pigment found in onions, apples and capers. It has been shown to help clear senescent cells, mainly when combined with the prescription drug dasatinib (6). Like curcumin, it is poorly absorbed (7).
• Spermidine: a polyamine found in wheat germ, soybeans, mushrooms and aged cheese. In mice it switched on autophagy and extended lifespan (8).
• TMG (trimethylglycine, also called betaine): found in beetroot, spinach and wheat bran. It supports methylation by donating methyl groups, which the body uses to lower homocysteine, an amino acid linked to heart disease at high levels (9).

The capsules are vegan, with no fillers, and every ingredient is independently tested for purity in Germany. You can read the reports on our Third Party Analysis page.

What Does the Research Show?

The evidence is strongest for NR raising NAD+ and for curcumin lowering markers of inflammation. For quercetin's effect on senescent cells and for spermidine, early human studies are encouraging.

NR. NR reliably raises NAD+: in an eight-week trial in 132 adults, 300 mg a day raised blood levels by about half within two weeks (2). In older men, it also lowered several inflammatory markers in the blood (10), and in a trial of 30 adults aged 55 to 79, exploratory results suggested lower blood pressure and arterial stiffness in those whose blood pressure was slightly raised (11). A 2026 study across seven groups of adults found that NR raised NAD+ in the blood, while levels did not differ with age or change with exercise and diet programmes (12). A systematic review of 33 human studies, also from 2026, found that NR and the related nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) consistently raise NAD-related markers and are well tolerated, but their effects on health and ageing outcomes have so far been mixed (13). A 2026 trial of 410 people with early Parkinson's disease showed that 1 g of NR a day for a year did not improve symptoms, and scores worsened slightly more than with placebo (14).

Curcumin. A meta-analysis of 32 randomised controlled trials with 2,038 participants found that curcumin lowered C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), three markers of inflammation (15). Two more recent meta-analyses found similar results, although the trials varied widely and the certainty of the evidence was rated low (16, 17). In 26 trials with 1,890 people with metabolic syndrome and related conditions, curcumin also lowered fasting blood sugar, long-term blood sugar (HbA1c), triglycerides and total cholesterol (18). In healthy-ageing research, trials in older adults have looked at cognition and muscle health, although long-term human evidence is still limited (19).

Quercetin. In a meta-analysis of seven trials, quercetin lowered blood pressure slightly at 500 mg a day or more (20), and another meta-analysis found lower CRP in trials using at least 500 mg a day for eight weeks or more (21). In a small pilot study, quercetin combined with dasatinib also improved walking distance in people with lung fibrosis (22).

Spermidine. In a three-month pilot trial of 30 older adults with memory concerns, a spermidine-rich wheat germ supplement gave a moderate memory advantage over placebo (23). A larger 12-month trial in 100 older adults did not confirm this on its main memory test, but exploratory results pointed to possible benefits for verbal memory and inflammation (24). Over 20 years, people who ate the most spermidine had lower mortality (25), lower blood pressure and lower rates of heart disease (8), although studies like these show a link rather than cause and effect.

TMG. In healthy adults, 1.5 g of TMG a day lowered homocysteine by 12% compared with placebo over six weeks, with larger effects at higher doses (9), and a meta-analysis of five trials confirmed this (26). Homocysteine is a blood marker, so a lower level does not by itself show a lower risk of heart disease. TMG has been linked to higher cholesterol only at larger doses: 6 g a day raised low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, while 1.5 g and 3 g a day did not change it significantly (27).

How Should You Take the Biohacker Formula?

Take two capsules a day with a meal, in the morning or early afternoon. Curcumin and quercetin dissolve in fat, so a meal containing some fat may help absorption (5).

For more on the individual ingredients, see The Role of Autophagy in Health and Longevity, How Much Nicotinamide Riboside Should I Take?, Turmeric vs Curcumin: What's the Difference? and Spermidine and Health: Benefits, Dosage, and Side Effects.

Is the Biohacker Formula Safe?

Turmeric and curcumin supplements have rarely been linked to liver injury (28), so don't combine the Biohacker Formula with another turmeric or curcumin supplement. It is not suitable for children, pregnant or breastfeeding women, or people with liver or gallbladder disease. If you have Parkinson's disease or take regular medication, such as blood thinners, check with your doctor or pharmacist first.

The Takeaway

Biohacking doesn't have to mean a strict regime or a cupboard full of pills. It starts with sleep, exercise and diet, then supplements and gadgets can follow. If you have the basics covered and want NR, curcumin, quercetin, spermidine and TMG without opening five jars every morning, the Biohacker Formula combines them in two capsules.

Food supplements are not a substitute for a varied, balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle. This article is not medical advice.

Literature Sources

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