46yr-old man claims to have a teen's body, wants to build nation of immortals
theatlantic.com
theatlantic.com
Clearly there are things one can do to improve one’s heath. Most of that is not rocket science. Eat well, get enough sleep, and have some level of exercise. There are things to be learned from everything he’s doing, but obviously these aren’t practical things at scale. But the fact that he’s treating himself as a science experiment and sharing data/results is honorable. When he turns around and tries to sell folks things based on his “routine” (like really expensive olive oil) that’s when things look more sketch.
It would be one thing if he was already 100 something and pushing these ideas post facto, but at this point, everything he's doing could turn out to have long-term negative effects. We simply don't know yet, because that's not how science works.
Its mostly taking a huge stack of supplements, diet and exercise.
There’s peer reviewed evidence for most of the stuff he is taking but barely anyone has done _all_ of the things together in concert like he is doing.
There’s things we can learn from his work (optimising for the kinds of training to ward off common aging issues), like weightlifting to help fight off losing bone density. Targeting things like fall resistance and grip strength (things we lose fast as we age)
Avoiding the sun to avoid aging and skin cancer.
There’s lots of good things we could be doing (the western diet is really poor in fibre and healthy fats) to stay healthier for longer.
Afaict the whole “nation of immortals” thing is just marketing from this author not anything that they (Johnson) said they wanted to do.
Rock climbing. You're constantly lifting your own weight + gear. You fall a lot (especially bouldering) and need to learn to do it efficiently to avoid injuries. I don't think I need to say anything about grip strength here. :P
I try to go bouldering a few times a month.
I enjoy the longer time on the route, the mental job of keeping my wits when my arms are about to give up and I can't figure out the next clip...
Plus it's a lot easier on the joints!
I still boulder a few times a month though, I especially enjoy the social aspects which tend to be more present than on sport sessions.
depending on where you are in the world, sunblock might be enough to keep you on the good side, elsewhere (e.g. Australia) there are elaborate cultural rituals to reduce radiation exposure to safe levels (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slip-Slop-Slap).
source: married to a dermatologist.
I'm getting a bit jaded with vitamin D and UV studies and it's possible that one will come along and prove me wrong, but thus far they've generated a lot of hype but failed when experimentally tested.
In fact, sunlight exposure is very important for other crucial mechanisms in our body like melatonin regulation and D vitamin production.
You still can have all the benefits and fun by simply being more active in morning and sunset, avoiding midday exposure (which is already part of the culture in many sunny regions), and wearing the sunscreen and proper clothing to protect your skin. Of course, how much UV exposure do you need for you body to function normally and not let sun ruin your skin depends primarily on where you live, is it summer or winter, etc. It all comes down to limiting how much UV radiation you'll get. If you're dark skinned it also helps - the melanin in your skin acts as an additional layer of protection against UV rays.
See, for example, his book he wrote: https://protocol.bryanjohnson.com/DONT-DIE-by-Zero
Or a NYT piece from earlier in the year which was heavy on that slogan: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/12/business/bryan-johnson-lo...
> Johnson has gotten experimental blood-plasma transfusions from his teenage son
Living the dark humor some parents share. Or just being a vampire. You choose.
Gavin Belson?
if you simply donate blood, the blood that your body regenerates is arguably the 'newest' blood you can get
This pattern of "I am immensely smart, clairvoyant and blessed just because I'm slightly richer or more powerful than you" is something you can find everywhere: middle managers, tribal chiefs in Papua and Africa, warlords in the Middle East, gangsters in Latin America, "stable genius" politicians in North America, soccer players and pop stars in Europe, etc.
It seems there is some self-reinforcing mechanism at play here: to become powerful first you need to convince others that you are powerful and convincingly pretend to be powerful.
While his regime obviously brings some benefits, it doesn't stop aging. Looking at him, it's pretty obvious that it doesn't. He is healthy for his age.
I have to confess though, raising my daughters to adulthood seems to have altered quite a bit of my psyche and sense of self such that, now that the nest is empty, I wonder from time to time what it is I am even still doing here.
Having also retired what used to be hobbies to me have become my full time occupation ... and it feels almost hedonistic to just keep on like this.
Then I go blazing down the hill, or spend time challenging myself with speed in the trees or catching up on all the freestyle stuff I never learned as a kid, and I forget all about the repetitive tedium of life.
Until I sit back down on the lift.
This isn't a criticism of either of them. Some people are into micro-optimising their life and find it brings them joy. Maybe he's one of them.
Some highlights: > 100 pills daily, team of 30 doctors, fat injected in his face, five to six "therapies" a day, millions spent.
At this point he's claiming 5 years biological age reduction, he's in a full marketing campaign and he has started selling a line of supplements. I guess we'll see in 30-40 years if his claims have any merit but for now I'm gonna hold on buying anything.
But this could work out as a net profit for him, depending on how many people buy his line of supplements...
He does not look like he’s still in his 40’s to me.
Put it simply, telomeres are the mechanics of the chromosomes.
The problem is this: by time, cell divisions also damage the telomeres themselves, and nothing can fix them: hence the fatal thing (cancer) is a matter of time to occur.
From my experience other than the obvious to be active, eat healthy (I don't see vegan as healthy, but vegetarian yes), consistent sleep being social is a big boost to people's lives. By being social I mean meet other people than your own family immediate family.
And there's an extra something that's particularly sinister about it when they're also fabulously wealthy.
(And, I suppose, what are the negative effects on me? There's this guy in Terry Pratchett's Diskworld series that spends his life looking for the fountain of youth. This confuses Rincewind - why look for the fountain of youth while you're young? But the guy persists, and eventually finds it, and learns the hard way the really important thing nobody ever tells you: boil it first. The point is - or at least the point I took from it is - don't be so busy chasing living forever that you miss living.)
I kid, I kid, but seriously? why are these recent generations so obsessed with not dying? I'll be pleasantly surprised if I live forever but I'm focused on dying well eventually (that means leaving well rounded, non f'd up children to push for positive change after I'm gone and hopefully perpetuate the cycle, standing up to the obviously wrong BS when people spout it (marxist and otherwise), and trying to find and invest my excess wealth in things that push the production possibility frontier out rather than things that I can talk the government into allowing monopoly abuse and rent seeking profits forever on (the non excess wealth is invested in these monopoly abusers though, that's just sound retirement planning).