Small Surrey trial finds supplement improved blood-vessel health markers, but researchers stress it is not proof against disease
A six-month randomised trial at the University of Surrey found that adults taking a multi-ingredient supplement showed better blood-vessel function, arterial flexibility and systolic blood pressure than a placebo group, though the study did not test clinical outcomes.
A nutritional supplement targeting the processes of ageing has shown potential to improve markers of blood-vessel health in a small randomised controlled trial led by researchers at the University of Surrey.
The study, published in the European Heart Journal Open, recruited 61 participants, with 33 receiving the supplement, known as NOVOS Core, and 28 receiving a placebo. Participants took one serving daily for six months, and the trial was designed to compare changes in vascular function rather than to test whether the supplement prevents disease.
After six months, the supplement group showed improvements in three complementary measures: endothelial function, which describes how well arteries open when the body needs more blood; arterial stiffness; and systolic blood pressure, compared with the placebo group.
The most striking early finding came within one hour of the first dose, when blood-vessel function improved in the supplement group. That improvement was still present at six months, suggesting the effect was not limited to a single short-lived response.
In numerical terms, the adjusted difference between the groups in systolic blood pressure at six months was 6.1 millimetres of mercury in favour of the supplement group. Flow-mediated dilation, the main measure of endothelial function, improved by 2.9 percentage points relative to placebo, while pulse wave velocity, a measure of arterial stiffness, improved by 1.18 metres per second.
Researchers also reported a modest decrease in estimated ten-year cardiovascular risk, largely reflecting the difference in systolic blood pressure. Blood tests showed no significant changes in cholesterol or other blood lipids, suggesting the observed changes were not explained by lipid lowering.
The trial was led by Professor Christian Heiss, professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Surrey, and is registered under reference NCT06145087. The paper is listed as preliminary findings from a randomised controlled trial by Charles Piercy and colleagues.
Caution is essential in interpreting the results. The authors stress that the measures used capture aspects of vascular health associated with cardiovascular risk, but they are not clinical outcomes. The study was not designed to assess heart attacks, strokes, cardiovascular death or disease prevention, and its participants were generally healthy adults aged 40 and over.
That distinction matters for anyone reading headlines about ageing supplements. An improvement in a blood-vessel marker is not the same as proof that a product lowers the risk of illness, and the findings cannot automatically be extended to younger adults or to people with diagnosed cardiovascular disease.
What the trial does offer is a basis for larger, longer studies. If the vascular improvements are confirmed in bigger trials with clinical outcomes, researchers say, multi-ingredient nutritional strategies could become a useful area of prevention research. Until then, the Surrey results are best read as promising early evidence about markers of blood-vessel health, not as a reason to treat a supplement as a substitute for medical care, a healthy diet, exercise or prescribed treatment.
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