Adventures In Anti-Aging. Extreme or Visionary? Bryan Johnson YouTube Video

Can we really turn back the clock on aging? He claims he’s slowed aging by 25%—but is Bryan Johnson a visionary or just another biohacking gazillionaire? In this episode, I break down 15 aspects of his radical anti-aging experiment and Blue Print Protocol. I include the shocking reason he ditched a popular longevity drug(linked to above)—stay to the end for the twist!  transcript below.

He makes the startling claim that he’s slowed his aging by 25% per year. He’s enormously wealthy, but rather than yachts and private islands he’s devoting his money to perfecting a “blue print” for health in order to stave off his own death. So who is this guy? Nut or visionary? It’s Bryan Johnson the 47-year-old who has taken on the challenge of aging with himself as a human guinea pig.  In this episode I will briefly summarize 15 aspects of his project complete with some fun facts . One aspect of his plan has stunned the longevity community so please stay to the end for that earthshaking news.  Project Blueprint, his template for long life is linked to below, with supplements, diet,exercises, medical testing .  I watched a  recent Netflix Documentary so you wouldn’t have to.

The documentary tells his origin story of growing up Mormon and suffering a crisis of severe depression and suicidal thoughts.  Nevertheless, he was undeniably successful in business and is rich beyond any measure, having sold his company, Brain Tree, to Paypall for $800 million. Critics say that what he’s doing is not science, and suggest he should donate his wealth to ongoing longevity research.  But he has a massive following, so clearly there is an appetite for what he is, almost uniquely, able to undertake. Fun Fact: sit’s startling how different Johnson looks from even 10 years ago, and not all in a good way.  I’m not sure what to make of it.

Numbers. As mentioned he claims he’s aging 8 months instead of 12 for every year passed. So, giving him a  headstart and starting him at  44 years instead of his true age of 47, In 10 years at age 57,  he will be 50.5 years old.  at 77 years old, he will be 64 years old.  Not bad, but the protocol is brutal, and many might say that it’s not worth wrecking your current life for those extra years.  Tim Ferriss, another blogger, YouTuber, and perhaps the original lifestyle self-experimenter, says that he’s trying to increase the density of experience he gets per year rather than trying to extend his life. Just saying, but then Ferriss undertakes some pretty eccentric experiments too!

A brief rundown of his protocol.

1. Lots and lots of evidence-based supplements, to the tune of 100/day .
2. Diet mostly vegan with some collagen protein, 2250 calories a day, all consumed before 11:00 a.m. “Fun fact” He says his last bite is the “saddest part of his day”.
3. Intermittent fasting, as described above. It says he gets up at 4:30, so presumably all food consumed in a 7 hour window.
4. Structured physical activity, cardio, weights, flexibility. He does seem quite athletic and agile in the documentary! Fun fact: He and his son work on the splits every morning!  Impressive!
5. Light therapy, early morning light therapy to adjust his circadian rhythms. “Fun fact”.  He avoids sunlight and UV radiation. Since he lives in sunny LA, that means only going out before 10 and after 4:00.  If he’s on one of his group hikes, I guess he makes an exception or carries a UV blocking umbrella.
6. He uses a red light therapy cap for hair loss. Fun fact: He wears his hair in various hairdo’s in the documentary including a French braid.
7. Plasma exchange with his teenage son. Fun Fact: He claims that his father turned back the clock 25 years after receiving plasma exchange from their son…
8. Follastatin gene therapy is used to counteract muscle loss is featured in the documentary. Fun Fact: His muscle mass increased 7%.  I hope the risks were worth it for him
9. Penis shock wave therapy presumably for the obvious reason. No comment except, again, YIKES.
10. Detailed and advanced health measurements. Pages of biomarkers on his website from the usual, cholesterol etc… to more esoteric markers. Fun fact: Waist measurement is one of his biomarkers. I love that! Cheap and low tech.
11. Avoidance of harm: No caffeine, alcohol, meat, and, as I mentioned before, sunlight!
12. Sleep optimization. He monitors Heart Rate, Heart Rate Variability (a measure of stress) , REM sleep,and deep sleep among other measures.  He goes to bed and gets up at the same time every day, a practice recommended by sleep experts. Fun Fact: Sleep is one of the foundations of good physical and mental health. An archimedes lever that makes everything better.
13. Mental health. He practices mindfulness and stress reduction.  Because he was lacking in community, a foundation for long life, he’s added in group hikes with his followers to build relationships and community.  Fun Fact: He has followers all over the world!  Even in my old home of Barcelona not known for spartan lifestyles!

Before I get to the final startling development I want to highlight that

14. He uses ear vagal nerve stimulation or auricular vagal nerve stimulation or TAVNS. I’m happy to see that this easy intervention in his protocol.  By stimulating the auricular or ear branch of the vagus nerve, you can indirectly stimulate the vagus nerve, which increases your rest and digest or healing energy which is vital to combat stress and improve your well being and resilience. Fun Fact:  I’ve been studying this intervention in the clinic for years, measuring HRV.
15. And finally, Johnson’s use of Rapamycin. Rapamycin is an immune suppressant drug used for which has become popular with biohackers and longevity, uh? diehards.   He had been taking rapamycin for a few years and now he made the shocking move to ditch it.  It was causing him some soft tissue infections, abnormalities in his lipid profile, and an elevated heart rate.  Not so fun fact:  A recent study showed that rapamycin can increase aging in humans.

This doubt thrown on rapamycin is a blow to many longevity experts with studies underway.  But, again, it highlights my own philosophy and practice of staying with interventions that go with the body’s natural systems, not to try to highjack your body with a drug.  It might just backfire on you and set you way back and the regret will be fierce.