MY DOC WAS WILLING TO PUT ME ON THIS LAST YEAR, BUT I HELD OFF: Is Metformin Really An Anti-Aging Drug? There are some downsides. “The reason that scientists have been so quick to see metformin as an anti-aging drug is because (IMO) of the seemingly close relation between obesity and aging. As people get older, they gain body fat, lose muscle, and develop insulin resistance. This is very similar to the effects of eating junk food and not exercising. But is that aging, or is it something else? . . . If you give metformin to overweight, insulin resistant people and animals, it improves their health and increases their lifespan. But does metformin do anything to improve the health and increase the lifespan of already healthy people? Would it enable Okinawan centenarians or Kitavans or humans doing calorie restriction to live longer? That seems doubtful to me.”