Frequently Asked Questions

Questions, answered

Plain answers about longevity science, our methodology, and how to begin. Every claim here is anchored in the research we cite across the site.

The basics

What is Anima Cosmi?
Anima Cosmi reads published health research and turns it into advice you can act on: sleep, fasting, supplements, cold exposure, stress, and more. We name the study and link it, including when the answer is that the evidence is thin. Free. No jargon.
Is Anima Cosmi free?
Yes. Every research article and audio briefing on Anima Cosmi is free to read and listen to. There is no paywall and no account required. You can also join the free newsletter to get new briefings as they publish. What you get is plain-language longevity research, with the studies linked so you can check them yourself.
Does Anima Cosmi sell products or supplements?
Yes. Anima Cosmi curates a focused line of longevity and wellness products, and the bar to make the list is high: each one has to be tested and supported by independent research from top labs and universities before it earns a place here. The first products are launching soon, so some still show as Coming Soon while we finish vetting them. Every product comes with the science behind it laid out plainly, including what the evidence does and does not yet show.
When do Anima Cosmi products launch?
The first two products are in testing right now, with full reviews and launch details to follow. The fastest way to hear is to tap Notify Me on any product: we email once, when it is ready, and never spam you.
Are Anima Cosmi products its own brand?
They are a mix. Some are partner products we test and review independently, and we tell you clearly when a brand is a partner. Others are picks we have vetted against the research. Either way, we only feature what earns a place, and we disclose the relationship.
Who is behind Anima Cosmi?
Anima Cosmi was founded by Roy Sañudo S., who curates and cross-references research from the world's top universities and writes it in plain language. The mission is to help people live longer and live better: stronger, clearer, and more connected to their own mind and body.
Can you actually slow down aging?
Partly. Your biological age, an estimate of how worn your cells are, can differ from your birthday age and it moves with how you live. But the evidence is thinner than headlines suggest. In CALERIE, the best trial we have, two years of eating less slowed one aging clock by about 2 to 3 percent while two other clocks did not move at all. Sleep, movement, and consistent eating times have the most evidence behind them. Supplements do not.
What supplements help with anti-aging?
NMN is the most studied one, and the honest answer is mixed. It does raise NAD+ in your blood. What it has not done is produce a benefit you would notice: pooled results from 8 trials in 342 people found no clear effect on blood sugar or cholesterol, and 10 trials found none on muscle mass or strength. If you try it, buy from a company that will show you an independent lab test of the batch.
Does intermittent fasting really work?
It helps some people, though probably not for the reason you have heard. Salk Institute work in mice found a fixed eating window prevented weight gain on the same calories, and a small human trial improved weight and blood pressure. But two larger trials since, TREAT and one in the New England Journal of Medicine, found the window added nothing beyond simply eating less. It is a tool for eating less, not a trick.
Are cold showers actually good for you?
Cold water gives you a real jolt. In a small 2000 study, cold immersion raised norepinephrine, the alertness chemical, by up to 530%. That figure comes from a handful of people, so hold the number loosely, but the direction is not subtle. Cold also makes you produce more heat: in experienced winter swimmers, cold-induced heat production rose more than in a comparison group, though their brown fat was no more active than anyone else's, and they paired every cold dip with a hot sauna (University of Copenhagen). Start with 30 seconds of cold at the end of a warm shower.
What is biohacking?
Biohacking is the practice of using science, technology, and self-experimentation to optimize your body and mind. Common biohacking strategies include intermittent fasting, cold exposure, sleep optimization, and targeted supplements like NMN and resveratrol. The goal is to take control of your biology rather than leaving your health to chance.
How do you start biohacking for longevity?
Start with the basics that research consistently supports: sleep, a consistent eating window, cold exposure, and daily movement. Of those, exercise has the deepest evidence behind it, mostly through heart health rather than through the brain directly. In a randomized trial run at the University of Illinois, a year of regular walking grew the front of the memory center by about 2 percent, though the walkers did not beat a stretching group on the memory test and eight later trials pooled together found no clear volume effect. Track how your own body responds and adjust from there.

Longevity science

Is it possible to reverse aging?
Not yet, and be careful with the word. David Sinclair's lab at Harvard argues that aging is more like corrupted software than worn hardware, and reset cells to restore vision in mice, mostly in injured eyes rather than merely old ones. Other researchers dispute the idea. On 9 June 2026 the first human was dosed with that kind of reprogramming, in a glaucoma safety trial rather than an anti-aging treatment. The human studies claiming years shaved off biological age were small, and paid for by companies selling the intervention.
What is the best eating schedule for health?
The one with the most evidence behind it is simply a consistent one. A small trial run at the Salk Institute had adults with metabolic syndrome eat inside a 10-hour window for 12 weeks, and their weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol improved. Larger trials since found the window itself added nothing beyond eating less, so treat it as a way to eat less rather than a separate effect. Finishing your last meal a few hours before bed is a sensible habit, but it has not been tested on its own.
Why do I feel more tired as I get older?
Honestly, nobody has pinned this down. The popular explanation is that cells lose NAD+, a molecule they need to make energy, but that story got complicated in 2026 when researchers across seven human groups found that whole-blood NAD+ does not vary with age at all. NMN supplements do raise blood NAD+, and no trial has shown that this makes anyone feel less tired. Sleep, daily movement, and a conversation with your doctor about the ordinary causes are the places to look first.
What is the fastest way to calm down when stressed?
No technique has been shown to work faster than any other, and every head-to-head comparison comes back level on how calm people actually feel. Single sessions do help: one minute of breathing during genuinely stressful real-life moments lowered anxiety versus doing nothing (47 people, 2026). Over a month, five minutes a day of cyclic sighing, a double inhale through the nose then a long slow exhale through the mouth, improved mood more than mindfulness meditation (Stanford, 2023). The same trial tested box breathing, 4 seconds in, hold, out, hold, whose Navy SEAL nickname comes from books and interviews rather than any published military study. Both are free. Never do breath holds or fast breathing in or near water.
How long should you take a cold shower?
No trial has set a minimum dose. The widely quoted figure of about 11 minutes of cold across a week comes from Andrew Huberman's reading of the cold-exposure research at Stanford, not from a study that compared doses. Split it into 2 to 4 sessions of 1 to 3 minutes. Start with 30 seconds of cold at the end of your normal shower and build up over a few weeks.
What is the difference between biological age and real age?
Your real age counts birthdays. Your biological age is an estimate of how worn your cells are, read from chemical tags on your DNA. Steve Horvath built the first widely used clock at UCLA in 2013. Across a large group these clocks predict disease and death better than a birth date does. For one individual person they are far shakier: split a single blood sample in two and the same clock can disagree with itself by years.

Still curious? See how we evaluate research or get in touch.