A 12-ingredient longevity drink improved blood vessel measures in a placebo-controlled trial — with the mitochondria link still untested
Edited by Samael A. Tejada, Founder & Editor-in-Chief
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In a six-month randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 61 healthy adults over 40 (University of Surrey, European Heart Journal Open, 2026), the 12-ingredient drink NOVOS Core improved three vascular measures versus placebo — arterial dilation, arterial stiffness and systolic blood pressure — while lipids were unchanged. The trial measured no mitochondrial endpoint and no clinical outcome, and its authors label the findings preliminary.
Longevity formulas rarely submit to a placebo. This one did — at a university cardiovascular unit, against a look-and-taste-matched dummy drink — and the blood vessels of the people drinking it measurably behaved younger. What the trial did not measure is just as important: anything to do with mitochondria, and anything a patient would actually feel.
What did the STAMINA trial test?
STAMINA (registered as NCT06145087) was a single-center, investigator-initiated randomized double-blind trial led by Professor Christian Heiss at the University of Surrey with the Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust. Sixty-one apparently healthy, non-smoking adults aged 40 and over — 33 assigned to NOVOS Core, 28 to placebo — took one 15 g serving daily for six months. The formula's 12 ingredients include calcium alpha-ketoglutarate (Ca-AKG), glycine, pterostilbene, fisetin, magnesium malate, glucosamine sulfate, L-theanine, Rhodiola rosea extract, hyaluronic acid, vitamin C, ginger and micro-dosed lithium. There is no coenzyme Q10 in the formula.
What improved, and by how much?
Flow-mediated dilation — how well an artery widens in response to blood flow, a standard marker of endothelial function — rose 47% from baseline in the NOVOS group; the adjusted advantage over placebo was 2.9 percentage points at six months, and an adjusted 3.9-point advantage was already present one hour after the first serving. Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, a measure of arterial stiffness, fell on NOVOS and rose on placebo, an adjusted between-group difference of 1.18 m/s; for context, pulse wave velocity typically rises about 1.0 m/s per decade of aging. Systolic blood pressure fell further on NOVOS by an adjusted 6.1 mmHg, from a normal-range starting point. Cholesterol and other lipids did not change.
Where do mitochondria fit in?
Honestly: in the framing, not in the data. NOVOS says the formula was designed around the 12 hallmarks of aging, one of which is mitochondrial dysfunction, and the company describes Ca-AKG as supporting mitochondrial energy production. Endothelial function and mitochondrial health are biologically intertwined — blood vessel cells depend on their mitochondria — but STAMINA measured no mitochondrial endpoint: no respiration, no mitochondrial biomarkers, no muscle or blood-cell energetics. Readers should file the mitochondria connection as the company's rationale, not a trial finding. NOVOS's founder and CEO, Chris Mirabile, has previously appeared as a guest discussing longevity science on health podcasts; the trial itself was run and analyzed independently at Surrey.
Who paid, and what are the limits?
The trial was investigator-initiated. NOVOS supplied the product and the matching placebo and made an unrestricted contribution toward research costs; the company states it had no role in study design, data collection, primary interpretation or the decision to publish, and Surrey retained control of the data. The limits are substantial: 61 people at one center, all healthy, surrogate vascular endpoints rather than clinical events, and six months of follow-up. Heiss himself says larger studies are needed to learn whether these changes translate into longer-term health benefits — and the paper's title says 'Preliminary Findings' out loud.
Frequently asked questions
Did the NOVOS trial measure mitochondria?
No. STAMINA measured blood vessel function — flow-mediated dilation, arterial stiffness and blood pressure — plus standard lipids. No mitochondrial endpoint was assessed; the mitochondria connection is the company's design rationale (the formula targets the hallmarks of aging, which include mitochondrial dysfunction), not a trial result.
How big was the benefit?
Flow-mediated dilation rose 47% from baseline in the NOVOS group (adjusted +2.9 percentage points vs placebo at six months), arterial stiffness differed by 1.18 m/s in NOVOS's favor, and systolic blood pressure fell an adjusted 6.1 mmHg more than placebo. Lipids did not change, and no clinical outcomes were measured.
Should I take NOVOS Core based on this trial?
This is one small, preliminary, six-month trial in healthy adults using surrogate measures. It is encouraging evidence that the formula does something measurable to blood vessels — it is not evidence that it prevents disease or extends life. Talk to a qualified clinician before starting any supplement regimen.
Where the evidence stands
- Established: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled design with pre-registered endpoints (NCT06145087) is the right tool for the question asked, and the vascular measures used (FMD, pulse wave velocity) are validated surrogates.
- Preliminary: The findings themselves: one small (n=61), single-center, six-month trial in healthy adults, with surrogate endpoints only and company-supplied product — promising, unconfirmed, and labeled preliminary by its own authors.
- Absent: Any mitochondrial measurement, and any clinical outcome (heart attack, stroke, death, lifespan). Neither was assessed.
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