The review “Hype vs. Evidence: What Actually Works in Healthy Ageing” examines the growing market of longevity drugs and supplements and compares widely marketed claims with the actual strength of human clinical evidence.

While the global longevity product market is expanding rapidly, the scientific evidence supporting many of these interventions remains uneven. The analysis evaluates seventeen commonly discussed pharmaceuticals and supplements using a consistent evidence standard, distinguishing between interventions that are proven, promising, emerging, contested, or where marketing clearly exceeds scientific support. Some pharmaceutical developments — such as metformin and GLP-1 receptor agonists — show credible signals for improving healthspan, while others remain experimental or uncertain pending results from ongoing trials.

At the same time, the review highlights a key finding: behavioural interventions consistently outperform most supplements and drugs in evidence strength. Regular resistance training, aerobic exercise, and Mediterranean-style dietary patterns have stronger and more consistent effects across health outcomes — including cardiovascular health, metabolic function, cognitive performance, and overall mortality — than most commercially promoted longevity products. The report therefore emphasises the importance of distinguishing between compelling biological mechanisms and demonstrated health outcomes in humans, warning that many supplements move quickly from laboratory hypotheses to large consumer markets without sufficient clinical evidence.