☆ Hot girl hacks to focus, answering your longevity supplement Qs, a major femtech breakthrough

Hey lovely,

Jasmine here, Editor of Daily Rituals!

It’s officially Chrimbo Limbo, and honestly, I’ve no idea if you’ll actually open this email, since you may or may not know it’s Monday and your latest Wellness Dose is due.

If you made it, there’s a good one in store for you. Plus, there’s still time to get your Sephora gift card - make sure to scroll to the bottom for your link..

As always, I’m grateful to have you here! Enjoy xo

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“What NMN supplement should I take?”

2024 seems to have been the year longevity supplements (hello NMN, NR, NAD+) finally went mainstream. My hot take on why? Well, Huberman and his longevity pals have been giving them plenty of airtime this year, Joe Rogan jumped on the bandwagon (*jumps off*), and let's not forget the scene that started it all back in 2022 when NAD+ had it’s moment on Keeping Up With the Kardashians. As Hailey Bieber got her NAD+ IV drip alongside Kendall, her exact words were: “I’m going to do NAD for the rest of my life, and I’m never going to age.” And, as we all know by now, the Hailey Bieber effect is real. 

Top all that off with Bryan Johnson and his viral quest not to die, and suddenly we’re all a little more conscious of our, uh, mortality.

But are these supplements the secret to eternal youth? Buckle up, because there’s a lot to unpack.

^{WHAT DOES NMN DO?}

Before we dive into the best NMN to take (promise, I’m getting there!), we first need to talk about NAD+ itself. Stay with me here. 

In simple terms, NMN helps your body create more NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide), which is essential for energy, cellular stress management, and DNA repair - all linked to the ageing process. It’s found in every single cell of your body, but as we hit our 30s, our NAD+ levels start to decline. Hence, the desire to give our levels a boost through supplementation

^{SO, SHOULD I TAKE NAD+ OR NMN?}

You can take NAD+ directly, but it’s a bit of a faff - it only really “works” through an IV drip and it’ll set you back around £300-700 for a 90-minute session. Or, if you can face the needles at home, a popular alternative is this injectable NAD+.

It’s easy to see why people usually turn to NAD+ precursors like NMN (Nicotinamide Mononucleotide) and NR (Nicotinamide Riboside) for more frequent use though. These work by helping your body create more NAD+, and they’re effective when taken orally, making them more affordable and less time consuming too.

^{OKAY SO, NMN OR NR?}

Wow, acronyms galore! Both have their perks, and even experts are divided as to which is “better”. Huberman takes both whereas longevity guru David Sinclair takes NMN. NMN is “closer” in form to NAD+ (so theoretically, it may stand a better chance at boosting levels) but NR is said to be best absorbed by cells, and has been studied more too.

^{WHAT ARE THE STUDIES SAYING?}

Straight up - the studies are lacking. There’s no hard evidence that boosting NAD+ levels will actually help you live longer. But, there’s a few promising signs..

• In one study, older mice given NMN were able to run 50% further than their non-supplemented counterparts. (Yes, I’m picturing tiny mice running marathons too.)

• Another trial showed NMN helped manage hypertension in humans over a 6-week period.

• Another study showed that NR can increase NAD+ levels by 40-90%, depending on the dosage.

★ THE DR VERDICT →

No supplement is going to replace the basics - sleep, exercise, and eating whole are still your best bets for long-term health (boring, right). Huberman is constantly reminding us of that, and our fave Julie Gibson Clarke does too. For me, until I’ve got my sleep schedule locked down and I’m more consistent with some longevity training, I’m going to pass on NMN or NR. But, if you’ve already got the basics mastered (kudos!), these are a few I’d recommend:

Hopefully that helps! Got a question you’d like answered? Send it me directly by replying to this email ♥

• ✨ A Swedish escape: Planning a getaway? The team behind Hotel Pigalle is launching an ultra-glam Country Club next month just outside Gothenburg in Sweden. With an Instagram-worthy pool club, two restaurants, and plenty of “country”-themed activities. Perfect for a long weekend to tune out, put your phone down and connect IRL. Who’s in?

• ☕ Extra shot: The collab we didn’t know we needed - Amsterdams’ The Mercer Brand and Locals Coffee have teamed up to drop the Re-Run Vibram Cappuccino shoe. Earthy espresso at the bottom, topped with foamy oat milk on top - we're obsessed. 

• 👟 Talking of trainers: Nike’s new collab with Isamaya Ffrench on the Air Max Dn is out now. Some people aren’t fans of the “beautification” of sport (fair point), but the campaign shots? Nailed it. 

• 🍿 From Hollywood to Target: Blake Lively’s new haircare line made nearly $5M in its first 3 weeks after launching at Target, only for sales to drop by 78% after Justin Baldoni’s smear campaign (ew). Another reminder that a founder’s personal drama (whether true, or not) can hit their business hard — ahem, Djerf Avenue.

• 🛏 Sleep, Sleep, Sleep: Sleep’s still top of the wellness charts, with 37% of us saying we need more sleep and mindfulness products. Enter EightSleep’s new supplement line, the Sleep Elixir, powered by millions of hours of sleep data. Packed with all the staple sleep ingredients (think L-Tryptophan, ashwagandha and tart cherry), we’re predicting this new lower-entry point into the brand will be a sell out. 

• 🌱 Pre-2025 Reset: Forget the vision board for a minute - try this Ikigai exercise first to figure out what really lights you up. Missed the pre-2025 checklist? It’s still worth a read. 

• 🍽 Do It Solo: In 2025, 52% of us plan to dine alone, according to OpenTable. Seems like we’re all craving a little more autonomy and a lot more peace. Solo dining? Could be the new going out.

• 🧬 Femtech Breakthrough: Dina Radenkovic’s IVF company Gameto has developed a method to mature eggs outside the womb (rather than inside, as is usual practice). Why it matters? It’s cuts down the hormone injections needed by 80%, meaning less pain, fewer side effects, and more accessible treatment for more women. We love to see it. 

• 🥶 Fridge of the Future: Seattle’s Tomorrow startup is launching a fridge in 2025 that preserves produce three times longer. (*signs up to waitlist after binning floppy broccoli, again*). 

• 💔 Think Twice: A couple of media “headlines” to think twice about:

  • Plant-based foods: News outlets claimed ultra-processed plant-based meat increase heart attack and stroke risk. But turns out, the study actually focused on breads, pastries, and cakes. 

  • Seed oils: Shocker, a recent study didn’t find that seed oils cause colon cancer - but that’s the headline everyone ran with. The study actually found certain lipids in tumour tissues, which could contribute to cancer over time. Seed oils got blamed as one source of omega-6 fatty acids, but they aren’t the inflammatory villains the media made them out to be. Here’s the full story.

Put it away

^{Want to focus and seriously get sh*t done?}

• Hide your phone when you need to focus. A Princeton study found that students had nearly a double digit increase in their test performance when their phone wasn’t in their line of sight.

• Why? Your frontal lobe has less to think about (“must ignore the tempting Instagram notifications, online shopping at my fingertips, emails waiting to be read..”), and finds it easier to concentrate on the task at hand.

ChatGPT prompts to thrive in 2025

^{Instagram LOVED these prompts and we promised to share them here too.}

• Here’s all the prompts you need for journalling, growth, finding your word of the year, deciding on your misogi, & digging into beauty ingredients.

Maybe 2025 is the year you mix things up. Fancy working for a brand you actually like? Here’s some of the best openings in wellness & beauty in the UK right now.

★ Senior Product Designer - Health @ Flo Health

★ Head of Marketing @ Naturissimo

★ Head of Content @ Cult Beauty

★ Head of Marketing Dr. Barbara Sturm @ Puig

★ CEO - Health & Wellness @ Agora Talent

★ Wellness Club Director @ Surrenne

★ Head of Social @ Adanola

★ Global Brand Marketing Manager @ Aromatherapy Associates 

Winter sales are all well and good until you’re 3 sites deep & have lost the will to scroll. So, we’ve done the work for you - here’s our top picks right now:

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