Elysium Basis Review: Another fountain of youth scam

Elysium Basis

3.5

Short-term Effects

1.0/10

Long-term Effects

2.5/10

Price

1.0/10

Safety

9.5/10

Positives

• Pterostilbene is a good anti-oxidant

Negatives

• Just Vitmain B3 and Pterostilbene
• There is no evidence that increasing NAD+ leads to a longer lifespan
• Elysium Health are using clever inference and misrepresenting the science to sell bogus youth pills

ELYSIUM Basis Review: Cellular health & optimization?

Elysium Health is a really interesting supplement brand. They made headlines around the world when they launched Basis. The reason Elysium Basis captured the attention of journalists was the claims it made – Elysium Health promised Basis users some pretty spectacular things They cited some brand new in-house research to back it up. So what is Elysium Basis supposed to do exactly?

Elysium Basis is not a nootropic. Nor is it a general health supplement. Rather, it is an anti-ageing supplement.

According to Elysium Health, Basis delivers a handful of key benefits which delay the ageing process:

1. “Longevity gene activation”
2. Supports energy
3. Promotes healthy cell function
4. Promotes healthy sleep cycles
5. Increases NAD+ levels

Clearly this is not a normal brain supplement. It isn’t your run-of-the-mill vitamin supplement either. At least not according to Elysium Health. We’re dealing with a product that claims to be able to do some pretty spectacular things.

So can it?

Does Elysium Basis actually work? What can it do? What is in Elysium Basis? Is it safe? What is NAD+? Are there better options for extending lifespan? Checkout out our detailed Elysium Basis review below and you’ll find out!

Elysium Basis Ingredients

A supplement claiming to lengthen lifespan and delay the ageing process will need to have some serious firepower. So let’s check out the formula!

Here is the Elysium Basis ingredients list as displayed on the bottle:

Here is a breakdown of each ingredient in Elysium Basis. We’ll explain what it is, what it does in the body, and whether or not we think it can deliver on the promises made by Elysium Health.

Nicotinamide roboside – 250mg

Don’t let the scientific-sounding name fool you; this is no exotic research chemical. Nicotinamide roboside is just an augmented form of Vitamin B3. Seriously, that’s Elysium Basis’ secret weapon – one of the three forms of B3 (the others being niacin and nicotinamide). The thing which differentiates nicotinamide roboside from the other forms of B3 is that it is slightly better at converting into NAD+. NAD+ is a cofactor. It is found in all living cells. Its main function is the transferring of electrons in redox reactions. It is involved in several other vital cellular reactions, such as the construction of DNA.

NAD+ is an incredibly important substance in the human body. However, there is no reason to think that manipulating NAD+ levels will have any kind of meaningful impact on your physiology.

Researchers have tried and failed to find any kind of relationship between increasing NAD+ on Parkinson’s disease or Alzheimer’s disease. Some animal studies have found a relationship between NAD+ levels and lifespan. But there is not much difference between NAD+ and antioxidants like resveratrol.

In any case, we’re talking about nicotinamide roboside here, not NAD+. No human studies have been carried out which looked at nicotinamide roboside alone. No studies have shown what a massive increase in NAD+ would do.

All studies looking at nicotinamide roboside have used multiple substances at once. The study quoted by Elysium Health used nicotinamide roboside alongside pterostilbene (mimicking the Elysium Basis formula). That study does show that NAD+ levels increased from the use of Basis. But it failed to show what effect this had on health, longevity, or performance.

Simply put, this is just an unusual form of B3. It is completely unproven – it has barely been tested in humans. Don’t fall for the PR tricks and pseudo-science!

Pterostilbene – 50mg

This is a powerful antioxidant. Pterostilbene is a kind of enhanced form of resveratrol. It preferentially reacts with free radicals in the blood. It effectively ‘takes the hit’ and renders the free radicals harmless in the process. This means you have fewer free radicals causing damage to your cells. Reducing oxidative stress in this manner will have a profound effect on your health and performance over time. Having a high antioxidant profile is linked to a longer lifespan, a longer “health span”, and a reduced incidence of disease. The 50mg you get from Elysium Basis is pretty standard for pterostilbene.

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Our take on the Elysium Basis formula

To be blunt, this looks like a total scam to us. Whenever we see something presenting itself as the fountain of youth, we are immediately sceptical. In the case of Elysium Basis, it seems that we were right to be on alert.

In our opinion, Elysium Basis is simply an over-priced vitamin and antioxidant stack.

Nicotinamide roboside has been shown in a single study – carried out by Elysium Health – to raise NAD+ levels. An increase in NAD+ levels has never been shown to have any kind of impact on longevity, performance, health, or disease incidence. Researchers looked at its relationship with various degenerative diseases (including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s) and found that NAD+ manipulating drugs do nothing.

The only studies showing an increase in lifespan from nicotinamide roboside supplementation were carried out on rats. There are few of these studies. The results are unimpressive; nicotinamide roboside doesn’t seem to promote life span any more than common antioxidants and vitamins.

Pterostilbene is a very powerful antioxidant. It will protect your cells from oxidative stress. Having a positive antioxidant profile is a good way to promote overall good health and to elongate your life. But it is not the anti-ageing magic bullet that Elysium Health make it out to be.

Elysium Basis is being pushed using unfounded claims. Elysium Health talk about their human trial, but that trial did not show that Basis fights against ageing. It simply shows that it raises NAD+. No study has ever shown that higher NAD+ levels mean a longer life.

As usual, the fountain of eternal use turns out to be a scam.

Don’t waste your money on Elysium Basis. It is just a B3 and pterostilbene supplement. All forms of B3 can be turned into NAD+. Why opt for the most unusual and expensive form?

Side Effects: Is Elysium Basis safe to use?

We need to stress that nicotinamide roboside is a relatively under-studied substance. It has been subject to a handful of human clinical trials – there were 5 that we could find. These studies weren’t particularly long-term (which is why claims about extending life span are unfounded).

These studies found that nicotinamide roboside is generally safe for human consumption. At least one study used 250mg daily – the same dose as Elysium Basis – and reported no adverse effects.

It is likely that you can use Elysium Basis quite regularly and not have to worry about side effects.

We doubt that nicotinamide roboside poses any long-term health risks; we doubt it does very much of anything in fact.

Pterostilbene is perfectly safe at 50mg per day.

So yes, Elysium Basis looks pretty safe to us.

In conclusion – Is Elysium Basis any good? Does it work?

No. We need to be frank here because the claims being made by Elysium Health about Basis are…well…baseless.

Elysium Basis has an incredibly basic formula – an unusual form of B3 coupled with pterostilbene.

Hardly revolutionary.

Elysium Health claim that this combination can slow down ageing, promote healthy cell function, and activate the “longevity gene”. None of these claims have any scientific backing whatsoever.

The Elysium Basis sales page talks about a clinical trial carried out by the manufacturer. This trial showed that Basis was able to increase NAD+ levels in humans. It did not show that higher NAD+ levels led to longer lifespans, better cell health, or a reduction in the signs of ageing.

Nor could it – it seems that increasing NAD+ levels has practically no impact on human physiology. Trials looking at NAD+ boosting drugs have so far found no relationship between NAD+ levels and degenerative disease.

As is always the case, the fountain of youth turns out to be a complete sham.

In our opinion, Elysium Health should not be allowed to use vague allusions to scientific studies to trick people into thinking their product has been proven to reverse ageing.

Elysium Basis is just Vitamin B3 and Pterostilbene. B3 can be turned into NAD+. Every living cell contains NAD+; if you needed nicotinamide roboside to make it, a lot of us would be dead.

Save yourself some money. If you want to be healthier, live longer, and perform better, just

B. Johnson

Brian Johnson is a former academic researcher, psychologist, and tireless proponent of bio-hacking. Brian has dedicated all of his time since leaving academia and private practice to promoting the benefits to be obtained from the application of biotechnology and bio-hacking supplements. He has years of experience with nootropics, as well as prebiotics, probiotics, and other natural nutritional supplements. He has published scholarly research on natural nootropics; you can find his papers on his Google Scholar page.