At 51 years of age, Joe Rogan is in better physical shape than many 30 year olds. And it’s not just his physique that’s impressive, he’s also managing to stay mentally sharp too.

Whether he’s injecting testosterone, devouring elk meat or hulking down vegetable smoothies, Joe is always on the look out for performance enhancing substances.

In this post we’ll look at both the products Joe takes regularly, and products he takes occasionally or is experimenting with.

Joe Rogan’s Daily Vitamin & Minerals:

• Multivitamin – Pure Encapsulations Athlete Pure Pack
• Omega-3 Fish Oil – Carlson’s Omega-3 1600mg Fish Oil
• Vitamin D – Thorne Research – D3 1,000iu
• Glucosamine and Chondroitin – 365’s Glucosamine Chondroitin & MSM

Products Joe Takes Ocassionally/Is Experimenting With

• Resveratrol & NMN (Nicotinamide Mononucleotide)
• Nootropics – Neuro1, TruBrain & AlphaBrain
• Pre-workout – Shroom Tech Sport
• Nut Butters
• Coffee
• Kratom

Hormone Replacement Therapy

• Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT)

Daily Vitamins & Minerals

You can see from this old YouTube clip that Joe has always taken a lot of supplements. However, as far as we can tell from his podcasts, he keeps things a bit simpler these days.

Multivitamin – Pure Encapsulations Athletic Pure Pack

Due to Joe’s UFC and stand up comedy commitments, Joe has to travel a lot around the USA. This explains his choice of multivitamin supplement, which is offered in handy little packets, containing a range of different vitamins, minerals and fish oil. This is a time saver, because you don’t have to open up x number of different vitamin tubs to allocate your daily ration.

As the name suggests; Athletic Pure Pack – is formulated around those involved in sports. On top of the regular vitamins and minerals, it contains things like creatine (for strength), Co-enzyme Q10 (joints) and L-Glutamine (supplying muscles with their most used amino acid).

Each sachet contains a number of pills, specifically:

• Vitamins & Minerals – 3x capsules
• EPA/DHA Omega-3s – 1x capsule
• Creatine (Kre-Alkalyn) – 2x capsules
• Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid) – 1x capsule
• Coenzyme Q₁₀ – 1x capsule
• L-Glutamine – 1x capsule

Joe talks about taking Athletic Pure Pack in his #802 podcast episode with Tom Papa.

The same company who make Athletic Pure Pack also make a multivitamin called Pure Encapsulations – O.N.E. It is used by Joe’s regular guest Dr Rhonda Patrick. For more discussion on O.N.E see this post on Dr Rhonda Patrick’s supplements.

Omega-3 Fish Oil

Joe values omega-3 fish oils highly, and ensures he’s taking them regularly. In the same Tom Papa podcast above, you can skip to 1:02:40 where they talk about the importance of fish oils, and how it’s more effective than getting your omega-3s from flax-seed or hemp oil.

Based on Joe’s Instagram post, his YouTube tour of his vitamin cupboard, and the latest Dr Rhonda Patrick podcast, Joe currently takes Carlson’s Super Omega-3 fish oil in liquid form. He currently takes 3 tablespoons daily (he mentions the dosage in his latest podcast with Rhonda Patrick).

If you find capsules more convenient (as I do), it also comes in two capsulated versions; one with beef gelatine capsules, and another with fish derived capsules (suitable for pescetarians). A 2 capsule serving contains 1,200mg omega-3s, including 600mg EPA & 400mg DHA.

Vitamin D3

In this section of Joe’s podcast with Tom Papa he discusses how important vitamin D3 is to our health.

In the YouTube clip of his supplement cupboard, he’s taking Solgar’s D3 5,000iu, but that was from way back in 2011.

Since then, Joe’s had Dr Rhonda Patrick on the podcast, who suggests the average person needs around 4,000iu of D3 per day in order to maintain an ideal blood concentration of 40 – 60ng/ml. She points out that not only is too little D3 bad for us, too much is also bad! See her video on Vitamin D3 for all the juicy details.

Joe’s multivitamin already contains 500iu of D3, so you’d want approximately 4 of these Thorne D-1000 capsules in addition.

Glucosamine & Chondroitin

Since Joe was young, he trained as a taekwondo fighter, competing nationally. Even after he finished fighting competitively, he still trains hard. This leads to a lot of wear and tear on the joints, and thus Joe uses glucosamine & chondroitin.

He first mentioned it in a 2009 post on MMA underground:

Then in his 2011 supplement cupboard video, he shows that he’s using 365s Glucosamine Chondroitin & MSM.

Products Joe Takes Occasionally/Is Experimenting With

Resveratrol & NMN (Nicotinamide Mononucleotide)

On podcast episode #1234 Joe had a Harvard scientist called David Sinclair on. David shared the supplements he takes, including:

• Resveratrol – 0.5g/daily (morning with yogurt)
• Nicotinamide Mononucleotide (NMN) – 1g/daily (morning with yogurt)

During the podcast Joe creates a list of these supplements to go shopping for later. Then on episode #1269 Joe confirms he has started taking resveratrol every morning, along with NMN which he says gives him a lot of energy and makes him feel great.

What do Resveratrol & NMN do in relation to living longer?

David describes resveratrol and NMN as critical for the function of the sirtuin genes, genes which help us live longer. He describes resveratrol as the “accelerator pedal” for the sirtuin genes (increasing their activation), and NMN as the fuel. The reason that resveratrol won’t work effectively without NMN (the “fuel”), is that sirtuin activation requires youthful NAD levels, but NAD levels decline with age, and by 50 years old, we have about half the level of NAD we had in our 20s (NAD being a molecule that is essential to energy production in our cells).

So in effect, you take resveratrol to increase activation of the sirtuin genes, and NMN to ensure the sirtuins have enough energy to work properly. It’s worth noting that restoring NAD levels has other helpful benefits too.

The complexity with these 2 supplements is that David Sinclair (who recommended them), uses product he had leftover from lab experiments – and Joe hasn’t shared explicitly which brand he uses (and no doubt brand matters, given that supplement manufacturers are unregulated). I dug into the subject in detail in the David Sinclair post, so refer to that for more details, but below is shorter version.

Resveratrol

Research published by David’s old company Sirtris (sold to GSK for $720m) found that micronized resveratrol had greater bioavailability than it’s regular counterpart – up to 3.6x greater when measured in the blood. Searching micronized resveratrol on Amazon narrows down the results down to a few; including MegaResveratrol.

However, I noticed something on the page for the Rich Roll interview with David Sinclair. He lists a micronized resveratrol by RevGenetics. This was interesting because during the interview Rich asks David where to get the supplements he takes, and David told him they’d talk about it after the podcast. Maybe RevGenetics was a brand that David mentioned post interview (possible), or perhaps it was just a brand Rich “plucked” from a Google search. Impossible to know without further info.

That said, I looked into RevGenetics a little more, and they certainly seem legitimate. They focus on longevity molecules and have been selling Resveratrol since 2006. They offer a micronized resveratrol that comes in powder form, and thus could be taken in the morning with yogurt, as David does. It’s named M98 Super Micronized Resveratrol. At 0.5g/day their 25g tub should last 50 days, at just over $1/day per dose.

NMN (Nicotinamide Mononucleotide)

In the interview David refers to two molecules that can act as “gas” for the sirtuin activator (resveratrol) to work; NMN and NR (nicotinamide riboside). It’s not clear yet how NR compares to NMN in terms of effectiveness – those studies are still to be done. However, presumably David believes NMN is superior to NR, otherwise he would take NR.

When it comes to NR, there is already a clear brand leader in the space; Chromadex Tru Niagen. It’s Chromadex’s NR that also goes into other brand’s NR offerings such Life Extension’s NR.

However when it comes to NMN, there isn’t a clear brand leader.

One name I’ve heard some discussion around is Alivebynature, who make a 12g and 36g powdered version (powder being important if you want to emulate David’s method of mixing it into a spoon of yogurt).

Then there’s an NMN powder made by same company who make MegaResveratrol (mentioned above); called SuperNMN.

RevGenetics (also mentioned above) make a bulk powder version of NMN called Advanced NMN – which comes in 10g and 25g versions.

Nootropics

In a January 2019 podcast episode (JRE #1234 ), Joe discussed the 3 nootopic supplements he likes & takes; Neuro1, TruBrain & AlphaBrain.

 

“There’s a bunch of different nootropics I use. I use 3 different companies, 1 that’s one of mine (AlphaBrain), and then 2 that are other companies; Neuro1 and another one called TruBrain”

Neuro1

Joe has mentioned Neuro1 numerous times over the years (for example see Joe’s below tweet from 2013). It’s a nootropic created by former NFL linebacker Bill Romanowski, who after 16 years, and many hits in the NFL, was suffering from memory problems. In 2007 he brought together doctors, scientists and nutritionists to create a solution to fix his cognitive decline. This resulted in the product Neuro1.

More about Romanowski and the creation of Neuro1 here, and the product’s website link here.

Note: Whilst Neuro1 lists ingredients, it doesn’t list quantities (not good). Their website says “one serving of Neuro1 is equivalent to about 1 cup of strong coffee”, so around 100mg to 120mg of caffeine per serving.

TruBrain

Joe interviewed the neuroscientist behind TruBrain, Dr Andrew Hill, on JRE #629. Similar to Neuro1 above, it shares active ingredients caffeine and piracetam, but then adds oxiracetam to the stack. They come in these “on the go” pouches, that work out to be a couple of dollars per dose.

AlphaBrain

AlphaBrain is made by Onnit, a company that Joe has openly said he owns a stake in. He also notes that all the supplement’s ingredients could be bought separately for less, it would just require more time and effort. There are two versions; pill form (Alpha brain) and sachet form (AlphaBrain Instant).

Unlike Neuro1 and TrueBrain, AlphaBrain doesn’t include caffeine. It’s active ingredients include:

• Alpha GPC
• Bacopa
• Huperzine A
• Vinpocetine
• L-theanine

Alpha GPC, a type of choline, is also favoured by Dr Rhonda Patrick, a regular guest on Joe’s podcast. She takes around 800mg (substantially more than 2 capsules of Alpha Brain contains) before intense writing or public speaking events. See more on Rhonda’s use of it here.

Interestingly, Onnit did sponsor a 63 person study (source) showing that Alpha Brain improved “delayed memory recall” vs a placebo. Specifically that’s where participants are told/shown something, then a break occurs, then they’re later asked questions that requires them to recall the information they were earlier provided. Now, given that Onnit sponsored the study, we should use appropriate scepticism in interpreting their positive results; but thought it interesting to mention nonetheless.

As recently as August 7 2019 – Joe has talked about his Onnit “essentials” including Alpha Brain and Shroom Tech Sport.

Pre-workout

Shroom Tech Sport

Joe takes Shroom Tech Sport as a pre-workout, about an hour before exercising. He says it allows him to push harder in the gym, without giving him the jittery feeling that strong stimulant/caffeine based pre-workout supplements do.

It contains a number of interesting ingredients:

• Vitamin B12 – important for energy production, but the effects are typically only noticeable if you’re low in B12
• Chromium – thought to play a role in insulin regulation¹ – which in turn is important for the bodies energy management
• Cordyceps mushroom – supposed to improve athletic performance – data currently inconclusive
• Ashwagandha – an “adaptogen” that appears particularly adept in helping manage stress/anxiety²
• Green tea extract – this likely means the supplement contains small amounts of caffeine and l-theanine, which come from tea leaves
• Rhodiola – popular “adaptogen” – supposed to boost energy
• Astragalus – has been researched as a drug to improve healthspan – unclear how it helps with sports performance

Onnit also published a clinical trial that found Shroom Tech Sport increased volume for strength training and high-intensity cardio. The full study is here, and their blog post about it here. Naturally, given it was self-funded, it should be approached with healthy scepticism.

Nut Butters

Joe’s company Onnit produce a range of nut butters they call “fat butter” – due to their high fat content. These are particularly interesting for people on low carbohydrate diets, who want to add more tasty fats to their diet. They come in 4 varieties:

• Salted Almond – almonds, macademia nuts, chia seeds, coconut oil, pink himalayan salt
• Creamy Peanut Butter – peanuts, macademia nuts, chia seeds, coconut oil, pink himalayan salt
• Chocolate Hazelnut – Hazelnut, cashew, cocoa butter, cocoa powder + more
• Snickerdoodle – Cashew, macademia nuts, cocoa butter, hemp seed + more

Coffee

Ok, so, coffee – what’s the big deal? It’s one of the most common drinks in the Western world, and probably not worthy of a special spot in this list. True.

But at the same time, coffee is one of the strongest (unregulated) cognitive enhancers available to man – and Joe’s a big fan.

Whilst it may be difficult to find reliable evidence on the effectiveness of some of Alpha Brain’s ingredients, there are hundreds of studies on caffeine and its effects.

UFC star Chael Sonnen has talked in the past about how he’s able to supplement caffeine before a fight, and it gives him a boost.

Coffee Joe has mentioned drinking:

• Caveman Coffee Nitro Cold Brew – A single estate coffee, “infused’ with nitrogen, containing 250mg caffeine per can (source IG)
• Black Rifle Coffee – a coffee range by Joe’s bow hunting friend John Dudley (source IG)
• Four Sigmatic Mushroom Coffee – a sponsor of the podcast, but also something Joe likes, particularly their Lion’s Mane & Chaga mix

Joe has also recently got into using a coffee creamer by his friend’s business – the surfer Laird Hamilton. It’s a coconut based creamer (dairy-free, vegan and keto friendly) that contains turmeric. He mentions enjoying it on the Dan Crenshaw podcast, and also displays it on an Instagram post.

• Laird Superfood Coffee Creamer – Turmeric version

Kratom

Joe first mentions learning about Kratom in 2016, on episode #843 (YouTube clip link), then later that year he mentions trying it for the first time on Twitter.

Then in 2018, episode #1136 he shares with Hamilton Morris that he’s on kratom while they speak – to help curb the pain of a recent knee injury (YouTube clip link). On that episode Joe’s specifically taking Urban Ice Organics brand of Kratom.

About Kratom

Kratom is the powdered leaves of a plant from SE Asia called Mitragyna speciosa (you can see why the simpler name “kratom” caught on). It has 2 main properties:

• At lower doses, it acts as a mild stimulant
• At higher doses, it acts as a pain killer

It’s most commonly used for 2 issues:

1. Beating opioid addiction – whether that’s from “street drugs” like heroin, or from prescription drugs like OxyContin.
2. Chronic pain management – as an alternative to prescription drugs.

Other, less common, uses include:

• Social anxiety – helping users to feel more confident and relaxed in social situations
• Bodybuilding – to help train longer and harder in the gym

Addictive?

Even though kratom is a “natural” product, it can still be addictive, particularly if taken daily. For people who are dealing with chronic pain, then this is less of an issue, given they may need to take the pain killers daily anyway. However, when used recreationally, addiction is something to watch out for. There’s a good video on the Psyched Substance YouTube channel here, about the risks of kratom addiction. There is also a thread on Reddit around how to quit (suggesting it’s not easy once addicted).

Legality?

Kratom is banned in a number of countries throughout the world. In the USA, it’s legal in some states, but banned in others. See this map on Speciosa for the legal status across USA. Also this thread on Reddit has more details on legality.

Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT)

Whilst some people start slowing down in their 50s, Joe hasn’t. Whether he’s hosting his podcast, practicing stand-up comedy or commentating at UFC events, the man doesn’t stop.

Part of this can be put down to “success”, a healthy lifestyle and good genetics. But it would be a mistake to ignore the elephant in the room; Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT).

Joe says he started testosterone replacement therapy at age 37/38, originally using creams, which weren’t very effective. Then at 39 (now 51) progressing to weekly injections, under the close supervision of his doctor. Raising his testosterone to the levels he would have had in his late 20s. Joe on TRT:

“Testosterone replacement therapy, there’s a real science to it.

The idea is you don’t take too much, you take what you would have in your body if you were a younger man.

People are like well you’re not a younger many anymore well, duh, like, people just want you to wither away and die.”

In the next clip, Joe goes on to say:

Quote:
“All that matters is that you have testosterone in your system. If you don’t have it in your system, you’re not going to feel as good.

It’s real simple, if you’re fine, with not feeling as good – good! If you’re not fine with it, this is 2018, hormone replacement exists for a reason – and that reason is that it makes you feel way better, it makes your body work way better.

You can avoid a host of ailments and conditions related to your body breaking down due to age with hormone replacement therapy. The key to doing it though is to do it correctly. You’re supposed to go to a doctor who is going to test your blood levels, test your nutrient levels, and adjust your diet first.

The first thing that happens, they want to find out:

• How much you’re sleeping
• How stressed out you are
• How much water you’re drinking
• Are you getting the proper amount of protein – are you eating correctly?

Then they want to get you off the:

• Sugar
• Alcohol
• Cigarettes

Before you do anything.

This is a many month process that I went through. They get you off of all these different things first.

Then they start adding testosterone. It takes a bit of time to figure out what works best. And then you get to a point where you have the hormone levels of a healthy young man. You don’t want to elevate, you don’t want to be higher than that. That’s where you get problems.

There’s ways of elevating your hormones naturally, they just don’t work as well. Whether it’s deadlifts, or running hills, doing sprints, they work a little bit better than nothing. But there’s going to be a difference.”
/Quote

So as you can see – Joe’s a big fan of hormone replacement therapy. It seems to be fairly undisputed in the medical community that testosterone decreases with age. One study³ suggests “free testosterone”⁴ (the metabolically active testosterone not bound up with SHBG or albumin) decreases by 2% per year from the age of 40. The study notes that poor health may accelerate the age-related decline in hormone levels. So the healthier we can keep our bodies, the slower the decline may be.

Traditionally, testosterone replacement therapy has been thought of as something only a small percentage of the population need, if they have chronically low levels of testosterone. Rather than seeing the age-related decline as something to be fixed. Now, gradually, it’s become more mainstream, as a method for those who can afford it to improve their quality of life as they age.

It’s not something to be taken lightly however, and you certainly don’t want to take testosterone if you don’t need it. As Joe has done, the therapy needs to be taken under the guidance and supervision of a doctor who specializes in hormone replacement therapy – with regular blood tests and check ups. They will be best positioned to discuss the complexities of the treatment, and whether or not it’s something that would be safe and beneficial to take.

Closing Words

Hopefully this post has given you a window into the products Joe takes to keep himself healthy and in shape.

I’ve included a list of sources below, so you can verify the information.

Source Notes

1. Two minute clip of Joe Rogan’s house tour, where he shared his supplement cupboard:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSy1-aTB4dQ
Discusses glucosamine, chondroitin and vitamin B complex

2. Joe Rogan’s post on the MMA Underground forums (from 2009)
http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/forums/UnderGround/ATTN–Joe-Rogan—Vitamin-Packs:1564493

3. Joe discusses his morning supplements in a 2013 Instagram post
https://www.instagram.com/p/WASBIRJyIh/
– Pure Encapsulations Athlete Pure Pack
– Carlsons Super Omega-3 Fish Oil
– Onnit Spirulina & Chlorella
– Vitamin C & Lysine

4. Joe Rogan Experience episode #802 with Tom Papa (May 2016):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnvxVwhecJI&t=68m50s
Covering his multivitamin, vitamin D3 and omega-3s.
– 1:08:50 discusion on Pure Encapsulations Athletic Pure Pack
– 1:01:55 discussion on vitamin D3, vitamin B12, vitamin B3 & omega-3s

5. A randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled, parallel group, efficacy study of alpha BRAIN administered orally
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/1550-2783-12-S1-P54

6. Joe’s Instagram post about Caveman Coffee’s Cold Brew Nitro
https://www.instagram.com/p/4NGWoSpyH4/

1. A scientific review: the role of chromium in insulin resistance – PubMed
2. A Prospective, Randomized Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study of Safety and Efficacy of a High-Concentration Full-Spectrum Extract of Ashwagandha Root in Reducing Stress and Anxiety in Adults – K. Chandrasekhar et al – 2012
3. Age Trends in the Level of Serum Testosterone and Other Hormones in Middle-Aged Men: Longitudinal Results from the Massachusetts Male Aging Study – Feldman et al (2002) – https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/87/2/589/2846777
4. Free testosterone: clinical utility and important analytical aspects of measurement – Shea et al. – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24783351