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Most of us have health goals, whether it’s to get in more steps, meditate more often, or master the army-style push-up. What about longevity? Who doesn’t want to extend their lifespan and health span? Because, yes, living to 100 years is cool, but enjoying those years in good health is the real flex.

And longevity supplements are a must in your lifestyle toolbox for aging well, both physically and mentally.

From well-known NAD+ and CoQ10 to promising ingredients like ergothioneine, Life Extension highlights 15 supplements that have been scientifically studied for their benefits to various aspects of the aging process.

You don’t need to add all of them to your routine (though some “super agers” take all of these and more), but keep reading to understand how they work and their use cases.

At a Glance

• Adding longevity supplements like resveratrol, NAD+, vitamin D, CoQ10, and ergothioneine to your wellness routine is a proactive way to support healthy aging.
• Different types of supplements support different aspects of staying vital with age. You might take quercetin for your heart, for example, and add lithium for your mind.
• Get the scoop on 15 science-based longevity supplements that experts recommend for healthy aging.
• Learn which supplements complement each other for the best results.
• You don’t need to add all of them to your routine. Speak with your doctor to choose the ones that are right for you.

1. NAD+

Short for nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, NAD+ is a crucial coenzyme found in every cell in the body and is important for the proper functioning of your mitochondria. Your body needs NAD+ to promote the production of cellular energy and to support cellular metabolism. NAD+ is necessary to create adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the compound the body uses for fuel.

If that sounds like a lot of science to you, in simple terms, NAD+ helps keep you moving and grooving into your golden years.

Levels of NAD+ naturally decrease with age, which is why a supplement that promotes NAD+ production is a key part of a healthy aging routine. There are a few different supplements that claim to support NAD+ levels, but one with solid scientific backing is Niagen nicotinamide riboside. A randomized controlled clinical trial found that supplementing with Niagen nicotinamide riboside was effective at increasing NAD+ levels in the blood.

2. Resveratrol

Perhaps the most famous “longevity” nutrient is resveratrol. This plant compound (a polyphenol, if you want to get technical) has been studied for its support of a strong heart, which isn’t exactly trivial when your goal is a long lifespan.

In fact, resveratrol is the reason why people think red wine is a healthy aging staple, but that’s neither accurate nor the best way to get enough of it to benefit your health. While there may be some resveratrol in red grapes, how much you get from drinking red wine would de

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The first time Mike Martin held an AK-47 was after the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut, which claimed the lives of 20 children and six adults. The shooting shocked a friend of a friend, a lawyer, into questioning why he owned an AK-47 in the first place. “He decided to destroy that one,” Martin recalls.

As a Mennonite youth and young adult pastor, Martin had long contemplated the idea of interpreting the “swords to ploughshares” ideal from the Book of Isaiah in a modern context.

“My faith tradition is rooted in peace and non-violence,” he says. Together with his father and the lawyer, Martin took the AK-47 to a nearby blacksmith in Colorado Springs, dismantled it and forged the metal into a shovel and a rake. “There’s this thing about turning guns into garden tools,” Martin reflects in the book “Beating Guns.” “You have to add some heat — a little more than 2,000 degrees of controlled flame.”

This moment sparked the beginning of RAWtools (War spelled backwards), a nonprofit Martin now runs full-time, and a movement spanning four states with affiliates in Buffalo, NY; Philadelphia, PA; and Asheville, North Carolina, Reasons to be Cheerful reports. Since its humble beginnings 14 years ago, RAWtools has destroyed and repurposed more than 6,000 guns, forging them into garden tools and art. Martin now carries the trigger of the first Kalashnikovs he destroyed on a keyring, while books about gun violence and art collages made from weapon parts line his walls.

Courtesy of RAWtools

For Martin, the physical act of destroying a gun can be healing, but often it’s just the beginning of a bigger conversation. “The dominant culture often tells us that we can’t escape the violence, so we should therefore join the violence,” he says. “Instead, this counter-story of turning swords into plows insists that violence is the problem, not the solution.”

Anybody can fill out a form on the RAWtools website, or respond to the buyback program “Guns to Gardens,” and arrange to donate their gun in exchange for a grocery card. A national network of hundreds of volunteers, blacksmiths, woodworkers and artists will even pick up firearms from donors’ homes. “Sometimes people have 30 or 40 guns that they inherited, and they don’t want to bring all of that into a public space, or they might feel unsafe transporting a gun,” Martin says.

Donors often want to be involved in transforming the weapon into a force for good. “We’ve had veterans, police chiefs, grandmothers and little kids take part in the action,” Martin recalls. Hunters, too, have been “some of

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In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi sent Nov. 13, Michigan Republicans asked the federal government to provide “comprehensive oversight” of the state’s 2026 election.

But the letter doesn’t specify what “comprehensive oversight” means. And it’s not clear that the people who signed the letter agree on the meaning either.

A total of 22 Republican state legislators from both the Senate and the House signed on to the letter, including Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, Sen. Ruth Johnson — a former Michigan secretary of state — and Rep. Rachelle Smit, who leads the House Election Integrity Committee.

The letter asks the U.S. Justice Department to “deploy official election monitors and provide comprehensive oversight for Michigan’s 2026 primary and general elections.” It cites a number of concerns about Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s administration of the election, from the fact that she is running for governor in the 2026 election to her alleged violations of election law.

It is not unusual for secretaries of state to oversee elections in which they are candidates. Benson ran the 2022 election that won her a second term, for instance, and Johnson oversaw two separate elections as secretary in which she was also on the ballot. In Michigan, while the secretary of state sets rules and regulations, it is local clerks who typically work with voters more directly, creating a layer of separation between the state’s highest election official and the voters who may or may not be supporting them.

It’s not clear if the Justice Department will take the matter on, but Johnson told Votebeat on Thursday that department officials were already meeting on the request. She said she didn’t know who specifically was involved, and a spokesperson for the department did not respond to a request for comment.

Nebulous views of ‘oversight’

The first part of the Republicans’ request — federal election monitors — isn’t unusual. Monitors watch polling places and vote-counting centers to ensure workers are following processes appropriately. Under President Joe Biden, the Justice Department sent monitors to 27 states in the 2024 general election, including Michigan, and sent monitors for Michigan’s primary election as well. Under President Donald Trump, it sent monitors to California and New Jersey earlier this month after similar requests from members of the GOP in both states, but th

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Brianna Bagley’s favorite hobby is playing Horizon Zero Dawn, a role-playing game featuring a young hunter who battles murderous robotic organisms on a postapocalyptic planet overrun by machines. When she isn’t leveling up in the game, Bagley is hard at work in the produce department of a chain supermarket in Salt Lake City. Seven years in the grocery industry have given her plenty of experience with the real-world technology that is automating stores.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bagley earned about $15 per hour in a supermarket e-commerce department dedicated to filling online orders and preparing them for delivery. The department was unable to fill the flood of orders that came in each day. Managers pulled employees from other parts of the store to double the department’s staff—but only about half were actually employed in the e-commerce department. The rest were cashiers, baggers, and others conscripted into emergency service. Bagley was grateful for the help, but recognized that it came at others’ expense. “It was harder for those departments to provide customer service with fewer employees,” the 26-year-old told The Economic Hardship Reporting Project and The Nation.

Bagley’s experience is of a piece with the broader trend in retail toward automation and other technological shortcuts. From self-checkout machines to payment by app, technology is rapidly changing the way we buy groceries. Progressive members of Congress are sounding the alarm: Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and 13 colleagues wrote to the CEO of the supermarket behemoth Kroger in November of last year about electronic price tags (often called electronic shelf labels or ESLs). These digital displays allow companies to change prices automatically from a mobile app. Tlaib warned that this so-called “dynamic pricing” permits retailers to adjust prices based on their whims. Just as Uber raises prices during storms or rush hour, retailers like Kroger use ESLs to adjust prices based on factors like time of day or the weather. Supermarkets could conceivably mine a shopper’s personal data to set prices as high as possible. “My concern is that these tools will be abused in the pursuit of profit, surging prices on essential goods in areas with fewer and fewer grocery stores,” Tlaib wrote.

In August, Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bob Casey wrote to Kroger raising similar concerns about price gouging. Noting that the company has already implemented the technology in hundreds of stores across the country, they warned that “ESLs may help Kroger extract maximum profits from consumers at a time when … high grocery prices are a Read more

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In 2026, budgeting for a dog is no longer an afterthought. For many American households, it is a planned expense that sits alongside groceries, healthcare, and housing. As inflation has reshaped everyday spending, dog owners are paying closer attention to where their money goes and what they are getting in return.

Dogs are increasingly treated as family members, and that shift shows up clearly in household budgets. Rather than cutting pet expenses outright, many owners are becoming more selective. They are prioritizing areas that directly affect their dog’s health and quality of life, while trimming back in places that feel less essential.

Food, in particular, has emerged as one of the most intentional spending categories. While premium dog food often carries a higher monthly cost, many owners now see it as part of a longer-term strategy to support health and potentially avoid future medical issues. This shift occurs every day in conversations with dog parents who are planning not just for next month, but for the years ahead.

In this guide, Spot & Tango breaks down what it really costs to own a dog in 2026, how those costs have changed, and why food quality has become a protected line item for so many households.

The Average Cost of Owning a Dog in 2026

While no two dogs cost exactly the same to care for, national trends show that dog ownership has become a meaningful financial commitment. Costs vary by location, dog size, and lifestyle, but most fall into predictable categories that owners can plan for.

First-Year and One-Time Expenses

For new dog owners, the first year is typically the most expensive. Common costs include:

• Adoption or breeder fees
• Initial veterinary exams and vaccinations
• Spay or neuter procedures
• Crates, beds, leashes, collars, and bowls
• Training classes or private sessions

These upfront expenses can add up quickly, especially for puppies or large breeds that require more equipment and early training.

Recurring Annual Costs

Once the first year passes, most dog-related expenses become ongoing and easier to anticipate. These typically include:

• Dog food
• Routine veterinary visits
• Preventative medications such as flea, tick, and heartworm
• Grooming, either professional or at home
• Licensing and registration

Food is one of the largest recurring costs, particularly for medium and large dogs. In recent years, it has also become one of the categories with the widest range in price, depending on quality and type.

Common Optional Expenses

Many dog owners also budget for expenses that are not strictly required but are increasingly common:

• Pet insurance
• Boarding or pet sitting during travel
• Ongoing training or enrichment activities
• Toys, treats, and supplements

While these costs are often labeled optional, surveys and consumer behavior suggest they are becoming standard for many households.

Dog parents a