Last updated 24 October 2026
AEVUM's approach to longevity is built around five biological systems that research consistently links to how we feel today and how well we age over time. Here is what they are, why they matter, and how they work together.
So why do we age? The short answer is that small amounts of damage build up in our cells and tissues faster than the body can repair them. Scientists now group the causes into twelve hallmarks of ageing (López-Otín et al., 2023), and chronic inflammation is one of them. Your genes play a part, and so do the everyday habits that shape how well these repair systems keep up.
Most supplements address symptoms, not the source. A tincture for sleep. A pill for joint pain. A drink for energy. The result is a crowded shelf and very little clarity about what is actually doing the work, whilst the underlying cause of all these problems remains unaddressed.
AEVUM was founded on a different premise, that ageing well means getting to the source rather than patching over various fixes, and that the body's capacity to stay resilient, energetic and truly well is governed by a set of interconnected systems that can be meaningfully supported once you understand how they work.
Those five systems are inflammation balance, cellular resilience, metabolic health, energy production, and nervous system regulation. Each was selected for a consistent and extensive body of evidence linking it to how well we feel each day, and how well we stay over time.
Ageing is not one process. It is many, running at once.
For a long time, ageing was treated as simple wear and tear. Research over the past two decades has given us a far more precise picture. In 2013, a group of leading scientists described nine hallmarks of ageing, the biological changes that appear as we get older, speed up ageing when they are amplified, and slow it when they are reduced (López-Otín et al., 2013). In 2023 the same group expanded the list to twelve (López-Otín et al., 2023).
In plain words, the twelve hallmarks describe what goes wrong inside us over time. DNA picks up damage. The protective caps on our chromosomes wear down. The switches that control which genes are active drift. Proteins misfold, and the cell's clean-up systems slow. Fuel sensing becomes less precise. Mitochondria, the cell's power stations, produce less energy. Some cells stop dividing but refuse to die, stem cells run low, signals between cells become noisy, inflammation stays switched on and the balance of gut microbes shifts.
Why does the body let this happen? One of the most influential answers is the disposable soma theory. It suggests that evolution favoured investing energy in growth and reproduction over perfect, lifelong repair, so maintenance is good but never complete (Kirkwood et al., 2000). The damage that slips through is what we experience as ageing.
Inflammation is the thread that connects the hallmarks. As we age, the immune system tends to settle into a state of chronic, low-grade inflammation, a process researchers named inflammaging (Franceschi et al., 2000). It does not feel like an injury or an infection. It is quieter than that, and it feeds many of the other hallmarks.
Systemic chronic inflammation is now linked to the conditions that together are the leading causes of disability and death worldwide, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer and neurodegenerative disease (Furman et al., 2019). The same review describes everyday drivers that keep it switched on, including physical inactivity, poor diet, disrupted sleep, chronic stress and social isolation.
That matters, because it means part of the pace of ageing sits within reach.
Living longer is not the same as living well. In the UK, life expectancy at birth is 78.8 years for men and 82.8 years for women (ONS, 2021 to 2023 data). Yet in England, healthy life expectancy, the years we can expect to live in good health, is 61.5 years for men and 61.9 for women (ONS, 2021 to 2023 data).
That is close to two decades, on average, lived in less than good health. Closing that gap is what longevity means to us. Not lifespan, healthspan.
Twelve hallmarks are hard to act on. Five systems are not. We grouped the hallmarks into five longevity systems, each one something you can understand, notice and support day to day.
| AEVUM system | Hallmarks of ageing it relates to | In plain words |
|---|---|---|
| Inflammation balance | Chronic inflammation, dysbiosis | Low-grade inflammation that does not switch off, and shifts in gut microbes |
| Cellular resilience | Genomic instability, telomere attrition, epigenetic alterations, loss of proteostasis, cellular senescence, stem cell exhaustion | Damage to DNA and proteins, worn chromosome caps, and cells that stop repairing or renewing |
| Metabolic health | Deregulated nutrient sensing, disabled macroautophagy | Fuel sensors and the cell's clean-up systems working less well |
| Energy production | Mitochondrial dysfunction | The cell's power stations producing less energy and more free radicals |
| Nervous system regulation | Altered intercellular communication | Signals between cells, nerves and hormones becoming less precise |
This grouping is our own simplification to make the science easier to follow. The hallmarks overlap, and many touch more than one system.
Inflammation sits at the centre of that evidence. It is where we begin.
Chronic inflammation is one of the twelve hallmarks of ageing in its own right (López-Otín et al., 2023). Our guide to how inflammation is measured explains the CRP blood test.
Chronic, low-grade inflammation, sometimes called "inflammaging", is a persistent, low-level activation of the inflammatory response that, over time, is now understood to be one of the central drivers of age-related decline.
It underlies joint deterioration, cognitive decline, cardiovascular changes, disrupted sleep, and hormonal shifts. It is the common thread running through many of the conditions we associate with getting older, and critically, it quietly degrades each of the four systems that follow.
This is particularly relevant for women. The hormonal shifts of perimenopause and menopause, specifically the decline of oestrogen, which is itself anti-inflammatory, are closely tied to a rise in systemic inflammatory burden.
HydroCurc® (500mg curcumin, absorbed at 3× the rate of standard curcumin) and Levagen®+ (375mg PEA, at 1.75×) are the formula's primary anti-inflammatory actives. Between them they account for 14 of the 22 dose-matched clinical trials behind Daily Vitals.
Curcumin has been used in Ayurvedic and Asian medicine for over 4,000 years, and modern research has since identified the mechanisms behind its effect on inflammatory pathways. PEA is different in origin. It is a fatty acid amide the body produces naturally, first isolated in the 1950s, and studied since for the way it works through the endocannabinoid system to modulate inflammatory and immune signalling.
Where curcumin acts on systemic inflammation broadly, PEA works at a more local, cellular level. They are complementary rather than duplicative.
Support inflammation balance and you remove one of the most significant sources of cellular stress. But it is not the only one.
Your cells are under constant pressure. Six of the twelve hallmarks, from DNA damage to cellular senescence, describe how cells lose the ability to protect and renew themselves. Free radicals, unstable molecules generated by everything from exercise to pollution to normal metabolism, cause ongoing oxidative damage to cellular structures including DNA. When antioxidant defences cannot keep pace, that damage accumulates, contributing to accelerated cellular ageing and reduced tissue function over time.
Daily Vitals supports this system through complementary antioxidants working in different cellular environments. Astaxanthin, one of the most studied antioxidant carotenoids. Alpha Lipoic Acid, which works at the mitochondrial level and can regenerate other antioxidants once they are depleted. Vitamin C, which contributes to the protection of cells from oxidative stress. And Resveratrol, derived from Japanese knotweed, a plant used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for centuries, which activates sirtuins, a family of proteins that has become a significant area of ageing research.
Together they provide broader coverage than any single antioxidant could.
Metabolism is usually discussed in the context of weight. Metabolic health is a much broader idea, how efficiently your body converts food into energy, regulates blood glucose, processes nutrients, and maintains the hormonal balance underneath almost every physiological function.
Two hallmarks sit here, deregulated nutrient sensing and the slowing of autophagy, the cell's recycling system (López-Otín et al., 2023).
Metabolic efficiency shifts as we age, and those shifts are felt rather than measured. Energy that comes in peaks and crashes. Afternoons that are harder work than they used to be.
We support this with a layer of micronutrient support as well as botanical extracts. Chromium contributes to normal macronutrient metabolism and to the maintenance of normal blood glucose levels. Vitamin B1 contributes to normal energy-yielding metabolism. Alpha Lipoic Acid has been studied for its role in glucose metabolism alongside its antioxidant function, and Resveratrol for its effects on metabolic markers including glucose regulation.
There is a difference between feeling energetic and producing energy. Stimulants work on the first, but leave you crashing a few hours later. Daily Vitals is designed to support the second.
Mitochondrial dysfunction is one of the original hallmarks of ageing (López-Otín et al., 2013).
Cellular energy is produced in the mitochondria through the electron transport chain. CoQ10 is essential to that process, acting as a carrier molecule within the chain itself. Without adequate CoQ10, mitochondrial energy production becomes less efficient, and the body's own CoQ10 production declines by 40–65% between the ages of 20 and 80.
The effect is usually subtle rather than dramatic. Less of the mid-afternoon flatness. More of a sense of sustained capacity rather than peaks and crashes.
This connects to the formula's wider design. Mitochondrial health is inseparable from cellular resilience, because oxidative damage affects mitochondria particularly acutely. Support inflammation balance, protect the cell, and energy production follows.
The nervous system governs more than mood and stress. It regulates sleep, inflammatory signalling, hormonal balance, immune activation and cognitive function. In many ways it is the system through which the others are coordinated, and the one most taxed by modern life.
Altered communication between cells, including nerve and hormone signals, is one of the twelve hallmarks of ageing (López-Otín et al., 2023).
Chronic stress, poor sleep and persistent inflammation all degrade nervous system function, and the relationship runs both ways. A dysregulated nervous system amplifies inflammation, disrupts sleep and interferes with metabolic signalling. This is why burnout feels systemic rather than localised. It is.
PEA, the active compound in Levagen®+, interacts directly with the endocannabinoid system, which plays a significant role in how the nervous system regulates stress, mood and sleep. In an eight-week trial, participants taking PEA at a dose at or below the 375mg in Daily Vitals fell asleep faster and reported better morning alertness (Rao et al., 2021). A separate two-week trial reported reduced anxiety and improved quality of life markers.
Each of these systems matters independently. But the more important point is that they are not independent. They are deeply, functionally interconnected. And inflammation is the thread that runs through all of them.
Chronic inflammation impairs mitochondrial function. Poor metabolic health amplifies inflammatory signalling. Oxidative stress degrades nervous system regulation. Disrupted sleep accelerates cellular ageing.
These systems reinforce each other when they are working well, and undermine each other when they are not. Support inflammation balance first, and you change the conditions in which every other system operates.
This is why Daily Vitals is built as a single unified formula. Ten actives, backed by 22 dose-matched clinical trials, and delivered with patented LipiSperse® technology for optimal absorption where it counts. A coordinated approach to the five systems that research most consistently identifies as the foundation of how well we live and age.
The goal is not just to add years. It is to ensure you feel capable, resilient and well throughout them.
No supplement replaces the basics. The habits with the strongest evidence are the ones that keep inflammation in check and protect every one of the five systems.
Supplements sit on top of these foundations, never instead of them. Prevention, not rescue.
Changes in energy, sleep, memory, mood, weight or joint comfort can have many causes and are worth checking with your GP rather than putting down to age. If you are 40 to 74 in England you can have a free NHS Health Check.
Speak to your GP or pharmacist before starting any new supplement if you take prescription medicines, are pregnant, trying to conceive or breastfeeding, are due to have surgery, or have a medical condition. Some ingredients can interact with certain medicines, including blood thinners and blood pressure tablets. A food supplement should not replace a varied, balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle.
We age because small amounts of damage build up in our cells and tissues faster than the body can repair them. Scientists describe twelve hallmarks of ageing that explain how this happens (López-Otín et al., 2023).
Chronic, low-grade inflammation is one of the main accelerators, alongside physical inactivity, poor diet, disrupted sleep, chronic stress and social isolation (Furman et al., 2019).
They are twelve biological changes linked to ageing. Genomic instability, telomere attrition, epigenetic alterations, loss of proteostasis, disabled macroautophagy, deregulated nutrient sensing, mitochondrial dysfunction, cellular senescence, stem cell exhaustion, altered intercellular communication, chronic inflammation and dysbiosis.
You cannot stop ageing, but you can influence how well you age. Regular movement, strength training, good sleep, a balanced diet and staying connected all support the systems that decline with age.
Inflammaging is the chronic, low-grade inflammation that tends to build with age (Franceschi et al., 2000). It rarely causes obvious symptoms, which is why it is easy to overlook.
Lifespan is how long you live. Healthspan is how long you live in good health. In England the gap between the two is close to two decades on average (ONS, 2021 to 2023 data).
Keep reading
What is longevity and why does inflammation matter?
Healthy ageing for men, why men age differently
What is biological age, and can you slow it down?
Is Daily Vitals right for me?
References
Franceschi, C., Bonafè, M., Valensin, S. et al. (2000). Inflamm-aging, an evolutionary perspective on immunosenescence. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 908, 244–254. doi.org
Furman, D., Campisi, J., Verdin, E. et al. (2019). Chronic inflammation in the etiology of disease across the life span. Nature Medicine, 25(12), 1822–1832. doi.org
Kirkwood, T.B.L., Kapahi, P. and Shanley, D.P. (2000). Evolution, stress, and longevity. Journal of Anatomy, 197(4), 587–590. doi.org
López-Otín, C., Blasco, M.A., Partridge, L., Serrano, M. and Kroemer, G. (2013). The hallmarks of aging. Cell, 153(6), 1194–1217. doi.org
López-Otín, C., Blasco, M.A., Partridge, L., Serrano, M. and Kroemer, G. (2023). Hallmarks of aging, an expanding universe. Cell, 186(2), 243–278. doi.org
Office for National Statistics. National life tables, life expectancy in the UK, 2021 to 2023. ons.gov.uk
Office for National Statistics. Health state life expectancies in England and Wales, 2011 to 2013 to 2021 to 2023. ons.gov.uk
Rao, A., Ebelt, P., Mallard, A. and Briskey, D. (2021). Palmitoylethanolamide for sleep disturbance, a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled interventional study. Sleep Science and Practice, 5(1). doi.org
UK Chief Medical Officers (2019). UK Chief Medical Officers' physical activity guidelines. Department of Health and Social Care. gov.uk
Balance inflammation, support cellular resilience and build long-lasting vitality.
Welcome Gift
