Every hallmark shares these determining charateristics:

1. Accelerating each speeds aging and shortens lifespan 
2. Decelerating each slows aging and extends lifespan 
3. Criteria 1 and 2 have been shown in a range of species from worms to flies to mammals

The number of hallmarks was recently revised and will likely change in years to come (we think that biological clock dysfunction should be added, for example!), and each hallmark affects several, if not all other hallmarks. So, think of them as a kind of pro-aging network — disturb one hallmark and it will call on its cronies to respond too. To be comprehensive though, we've ensured that the ingredients in Coastline target each node in the network.

Lutein and zeaxanthin
Beginning with the eyes, lutein and zeaxanthin are xanthophylls that accumulate in some parts of the eye, particularly the macula in the retina of each eye. There, they absorb short-wavelength light, protecting the eye from the kind of damage that drives age-related macular degeneration. Since lutein and zeaxanthin get concentrated in different parts of the eye (lutein in the peripheral retina, zeaxanthin in the fovea), they’re best taken together. Interestingly, these effects seem to translate to sharper vision in patients with certain eye diseases. Perhaps related to this, these nutraceuticals might also hone eye-hand coordination, going by a study that included astaxanthin as well as lutein and zeaxanthin, as in Coastline. Other research has documented that lutein and zeaxanthin can raise cognitive functions such as attention, working memory, and processing speed. Both of the latter studies used about the same doses as those in Coastline.

Creatine monohydrate
Creatine monohydrate has an impressively large range of positive effects on brain health. Since it acts in part by boosting brain energy stores and countering brain inflammation, supplementation helps maintain function when the brain is under various forms of duress. For example, creatine helps maintain cognitive function during sleep deprivation and hypoxia, and doses as low as 4 or 5 g per day can also counter many symptoms of long COVID and be a helpful adjunct treatment to lift mood in patients with depression.

Lithium
When some people think of lithium, they might think of using very high doses of lithium to stabilise mood in bipolar disorder. And for good reason — lithium very effectively reduces mania in these patients. What’s less appreciated, however, is that trace doses of lithium (which are similar to the levels found in tap water in some parts of the world) seem to be very good for the brain for the rest of us too. Studies of large populations have reported that higher tap water lithium levels are associated with lower rates of suicide. Furthermore, placebo-controlled studies have found that just 400 mcg lithium (the dose in Coastline) improved mood in people with a history of substance abuse, while just 300 mcg each day for 15 months maintained cognitive function in Alzheimer’s disease while patients given placebo deteriorated. Lithium seems to benefit brain health through many mechanisms, but a key one seems to be inhibition of an enzyme named glycogen synthase-3β, in turn countering brain inflammation, improving mitochondrial function and promoting neuroplasticity. 

Ergothioneine
Studies of ergothioneine in non-human animals are remarkably encouraging, and we’re now starting to see its beneficial actions in clinical trials too. For example, a recent series of experiments found that, in mice, ergothioneine helps form new neurons in the hippocampus, a part of the brain involved in learning and memory, through a pathway involving receptor tropomyosin receptor kinase B. The scientists then found that giving adults with mild cognitive impairment 5 mg ergothioneine each day for 12 weeks stimulated this same pathway, and this was associated with positive effects on cognitive function. This is the same dose as in Coastline.

Coenzyme Q10
Coenzyme Q10 is involved in antioxidant defences in the brain and is integral to mitochondrial energy production by helping to transport electrons in the electron transport chain. Interestingly, it’s one of few nutraceuticals that reduces the frequency of migraines. The strength of the evidence is such that the American Academy of Neurology recommends coenzyme Q10 at 1 to 3 mg per kg bodyweight per day to mitigate migraines (level of evidence C) — about what we use in Coastline.

L-theanine
Coastline also targets sleep, in part through L-theanine. L-theanine seems to affect brain function in several ways, including by reducing glutamatergic activity and increasing GABAergic activity, both of which are likely to contribute to L-theanine’s proven anti-anxiety, stress-relieving properties. Regarding sleep, a study had healthy adults take 200 mg L-theanine each evening for 4 weeks. This is the same dose as in Coastline. The L-theanine not only improved sleep quality, but it also enhanced performance in tests of cognitive functions (executive function and verbal fluency), which might be related to more restorative sleep.

Creatine monohydrate
When it comes to supplements to enhance performance in short, maximal-effort physical tasks, creatine monohydrate reigns supreme. By saturating muscle creatine stores, creatine supplementation helps maintain cellular energy levels at times of increased demands, as in high-intensity exercise. This is part of the reason that within a few days of supplementation, creatine can increase power production in activities such as lifting weights, jumping, and sprinting, particularly when these activities are done for multiple bouts with incomplete rest between them. Importantly, creatine also has several actions that enhance recovery between bouts of exercise. This contributes to creatine’s ability to speed muscle mass and strength gains during resistance training, which has repeatedly been found in older adults too.

Taurine 
Taurine has many roles in skeletal muscle. Taurine’s involved in muscle contractile function through roles in the regulation of muscle calcium handling. It also has antioxidant effects in muscle, is involved in cell volume regulation, and taurine supplementation seems to improve muscle mitochondrial function and shift muscle fuel use, reducing reliance on carbohydrate (glycogen) and increasing use of fatty acids. These changes might help explain why taurine supplementation (1 to 6 g per day) can prolong time to exhaustion in endurance exercise in both healthy and diseased people. Interestingly, taurine might be particularly beneficial to endurance performance in the heat, by helping to maintain core temperature.

Creatine monohydrate
It is speculated that creatine might have direct beneficial effects on bone turnover by increasing activity of bone-building cells (osteoblasts) and/or reducing bone collagen breakdown, but creatine might also indirectly improve bone health, for if creatine increases muscle strength and power, the result will be higher forces transmitted through bones, providing a more potent remodelling stimulus. There’s evidence that taking creatine alongside exercise training can improve how bone responds to exercise. For example, when older men took 0.07 g creatine per kg bodyweight per day (about 5 g per day for a 70-kg person) during a 12-week resistance training programme, they increased their bone mineral density more than their peers.

Glucosamine sulfate
Glucosamine is a precursor for glycosamines. These are concentrated in cartilage, where they're key to strength and mobility. Glucosamine supplementation can thereby reduce pain and enhance physical function in knee osteoarthritis.

Taurine
Taurine has many roles in cardiovascular health. For example, it affects the function of the cells that line blood vessels (endothelia), helps protect the cardiovascular system from damage through its antioxidant actions, helps reduce cholesterol by binding to bile acids and so supporting cholesterol breakdown, and is involved in the contraction and relaxation of the heart itself. These mechanisms may help explain how taking 1 to 6 g each day consistently reduces both systolic and diastolic blood pressure and how supplementation reduces cholesterol and triglycerides.

Magnesium
Magnesium has many functions in the cardiovascular system, one of which is to promote the relaxation (vasodilatation) of blood vessels by inhibiting the entry of calcium into these cells, which would cause their constriction. Related to this, magnesium supplementation consistently lowers blood pressure in people with poor cardiovascular and metabolic health. We chose a modest dose of magnesium (150 mg) because many of us BRAND NAME lot already consume large amounts of magnesium, so this dose is to bridge the gap between what habitual intakes and what we think is optimal.

L-theanine
Taking 200 mg L-theanine can minimise the blood pressure- and heart rate-amplifying effects of psychological distress. L-theanine seems to have these effects by reducing activation of the “fight or flight” (sympathetic) branch of the autonomic nervous system.

Coenzyme Q10 and creatine monohydrate
In a study of patients who have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 2 months of 320 mg coenzyme Q10 and 340 mg creatine each day improved various measures of physical performance and lung function. Exactly how coenzyme Q10 affects lung function isn’t clear, but its positive effects on mitochondrial function and inflammation are apt to contribute. 

Creatine used in isolation has also proved beneficial in enhancing respiratory symptoms in long COVID (post-COVID conditions). For example, a preliminary study found that just 4 g creatine per day for 6 months improved numerous long COVID symptoms, including breathing difficulties. Other research by the same scientists explored whether the same dose of creatine for 3 months could amplify the positive effects of breath training designed to strengthen respiratory muscles. They found that creatine charged energy stores in various tissues and boosted exercise tolerance, so it’s plausible that creatine can help alleviate respiratory symptoms in some disease states in part by increasing the strength and energy stores of respiratory muscles.

Inulin
Inulin tends to reduce blood levels of ghrelin in people who have obesity. Ghrelin is a hormone primarily produced in the stomach that encourages food intake, so this might contribute to how inulin tends to modestly reduce bodyweight. Inulin can cause digestive discomfort when consumed in excessive doses, so studies tend to have people take 3 to 5 g with meals, about that in the AM step of Coastline.

Magnesium
Many studies have shown that magnesium supplementation improves measures of blood sugar control and its determinants. For example, magnesium reduces fasting and average blood sugar in type-2 diabetes, lowers fasting blood sugar and improves sensitivity to the glucose-disposing actions of insulin in gestational diabetes, and improves insulin sensitivity in people at high risk of diabetes too. Magnesium is thought to affect blood sugar through several mechanisms. It seems to influence the activity of enzymes in the liver that regulate the formation of glucose from non-glucose substrates, and it can alter peripheral insulin sensitivity by affecting tyrosine kinase activity at insulin receptors. Magnesium might also affect the production of the transporters (GLUT4) that shuttle glucose into skeletal muscle.

Glycine 
Taking about 5 g glycine before or with a carbohydrate bolus has been shown to reduce blood sugar swings by enhancing the subsequent insulin response, probably by increasing levels of the intestinal hormone glucagon-like peptide 1. Over time, taking this dose of glycine with meals can meaningfully reduce average blood sugar levels.

Coenzyme Q10
Regarding female reproductive function, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common reproductive disorders. Several studies have found positive effects of coenzyme Q10 supplementation on PCOS. For example, 100 mg coenzyme Q10 per day for 12 weeks improved levels of sex hormones (total testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate) and sex hormone binding globulin in women with PCOS.

Regarding male reproductive function, a review compared the effects of various antioxidant nutraceuticals on sperm parameters in sub-fertile men. Coenzyme Q10 had the greatest beneficial effect on sperm numbers of all interventions assessed and the second greatest on sperm motility. Doses used in these studies range from about 100 mg to 400 mg per day. Coenzyme Q10’s roles mitochondrial function make it key to sperm energy production, and its antioxidant properties help protect sperm from DNA damage.

Coenzyme Q10 
Urolithiasis is one of the most common, painful conditions in the urinary system. It occurs when stones made of calcium oxalate, phosphate, and other substances can form in the kidneys and then move into the urinary tract. In a study of urolithiasis patients undergoing an intervention to break up the stones (extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy), 200 mg coenzyme Q10 per day for 1 week before and 1 week after the procedure improved glomerular filtration rate, an important measure of kidney function, as well as markers of kidney disease such as the albumin/creatinine ratio and β2-microglobulin. 

Water!
Water is technically not an ingredient, and this might seem silly, but one of the reasons we made the AM product a powder is to encourage us Coastline people to drink more water, for water is important to health, and especially that of the urinary system. Fluid intake increases urine flow and dilutes urine. In turn, urine flow reduces the formation of kidney stones and recurrence of urinary tract infections.

Inulin 
Inulin is a dietary fibre present in thousands of species of plants, including artichokes, leeks, and garlic. Microbes in the small intestine ferment inulin into short-chain fatty acids and inulin doses of 3 to 20 g per day promote the growth of “healthy” bacteria (e.g., Bifidobacterium), improving stool consistency and regularity. There is also evidence that, in patients with type-2 diabetes, inulin supplementation improves liver function, going by changes in blood levels of two enzymes mainly made in the liver (aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase).

Taurine
Taurine has repeatedly been found to reduce C-reactive protein, a marker of chronic inflammation, and malondialdehyde, a marker that reflects oxidative damage to polyunsaturated fatty acids in our bodies. Some of taurine’s roles in immune regulation include helping to stabilise intracellular levels of endogenous antioxidants such as glutathione and superoxide dismutase.

Coenzyme Q10 
Like taurine, coenzyme Q10 supplementation tends to reduce several markers of chronic inflammation, including C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, and TNF-α. Coenzyme Q10 has various antioxidant actions, including helping to regenerate the antioxidant vitamins C and E. Its antioxidant actions might help explain why blood levels tend to decline during times of heightened immune activity, as during infections such as influenza and during chronic disease states. 

Inulin
By promoting the growth of “healthy” bacteria, inulin’s actions in the digestive system likely contribute to how inulin reduces C-reactive protein, a measure of systemic inflammation.

Lutein

Like other carotenoids such as β-carotene and lycopene, lutein boosts skin carotenoid levels, in turn protecting the skin against damage from excessive oxidative stress resulting from the sun’s UV rays. This has been shown in a study that used the same dose we use in Coastline. 

Astaxanthin

Astaxanthin is another carotenoid that has been shown by several studies to support skin health. For example, supplementing just 4 mg astaxanthin each day for 9 weeks protected people’s skin against photodamage, helped maintain skin hydration during UV radiation exposure, and left users reporting their skin was smoother. This is slightly below the dose in Coastline.