Vegans can look that way without steroids with a deeply impractical unicorn Excel spreadsheet diet. Plant protein is simply not the same, so one has to spend way more on effort, time, and costs (plant protein is more costly and more intake). Then there’s the additional time, risk and costs with a ton of supplements. Some sports supplements are spiked with anything from desginer SARMs/steroids to meth. Why risk it? Makes no practical sense to me - so I strongly suspect ideological veganism beneath a veneer of “data-driven ethical veganism” - reminds me of “EA veganism” Sam Bankman-Fried.
But frankly, 4% body fat is cutting it close with a weaker immune system - steroids aren’t helping either. Hardly the bastion of health he is claiming.
I’ve been down to 6% wayyy back just once to see how far it’ll go. It sucks. I suspect I’d have felt better if I had chose the steroids route.
10-12% is probably healthier if you care about healthspan and if you care about attracting the opposite sex - most women (ex-female bodybuilders) seem to find right around 12% more physically attractive than 4-6%.
Meanwhile, getting an infection could knock you out for a few weeks. Some people I’ve seen knocked out longer.
Seems like the tradeoffs for what Johnson is claiming aren’t worthwhile for most people with similar goals. It seems more geared towards media exposure by spending 2M instead of directly publishable clinical trials. Again, reminds me of Sam Bankman-Fried. I can’t prove anything particularly malevolent nor am I asserting that - but I’d simply be wary with the hyperbole types.
The point is that supplements that are pretty safe or harmless have a big potential upside, and if you combine many - like Ray Kurzweil with 100 pills, maybe a few have a big effect. Not something I advocate for, just I don’t see where the magical thinking part is.
Patient safety isn’t one-dimensional. As an example, combination therapies in kitchen sink approaches are not tested and purported “high safety” additions can cause interactions or a cascade of effects, which could turn out net negative. It can also change with time as physiology changes in older age. I’m not against combination therapies inherently btw - but at least one should consider doing some well-designed experiments ie mice or dogs, etc.
My apologies for the unclear articulation - part of the magical thinking is attributing good outcomes (whatever that is originally claimed) to supplements and “tons of data”, rather than often more likely placebo effects and proven interventions.
This is partly why I suggest well-designed crossover N-of-1 studies if you take this approach at the very least if you don’t mind additional patient safety risks, preferably after doing some testing even if one has a high risk tolerance. How many people (particularly those seeking attention from media/social media) actually do rigorous empirical testing, rather than veering towards hyperbole and/or spurious claims?
The purpose of Pascalian medicine isn’t that supplements are chosen in the first place based on their potential benefit, mostly that they are safe. If they are, all you are hoping for is that they will have a benefit. So you just take 100 supplements like Kurzweil, they don’t seem to do any harm, and maybe one or two have a beneficial effect in the end. You don’t measure outcomes at all nor do I see how the placebo effect plays into this. Not something I recommend, just an interesting thought experiment.
Interactions and cascade of effects is one of the reasons I’m not so interested in 100 supplements like kurzweil. Or at least now. And the complexity of taking so many supplements, costs, etc. I’m not a strong believer in the hypothesis either, it’s just a kind of fun article IMO.
But i think people should find this very encouraging. All the research suggests a good diet, regular exercise, rapamycin and acarbose and for about $2000 a year everyone can probably get about the same results as Bryan Johnson does for $2 million.
But i do appreciate all the data… And hope those types of tests come down dramatically in price over the next decade.
Excellent post tong! Might be post of the year. I mean that seriously. In fact it can be an useful resource to link for beginners and those of us who need reminders.
If you are over 30yrs.old, a sure way to make yourself look older is to get below 10% body fat, especially if you have ever been significantly overweight.
Beating the average hedge fund is easy. So is making lots of money on biotech stocks. This year has been fantastic for that already as was last. You can trade options around significant events using leverage to create significant returns. I wont go into it more than that as I dont want too many novice traders to lose their shirts. Unless they look like Bryan Johnson.
I gotta say…At first (and second!) glance Bryan’s regimen is A LOT. But, the description of his Why and the discussion about the journey so far (from Blueprint website) is endearing. And, although I personally wouldn’t have opted for a Vegan diet, it’s hard to argue with his current labs and diagnostics. They are excellent.
Also, if you haven’t had an IPL treatment you may not appreciate how very uncomfortable doing it to your entire body every week would be! Yikes!
It’s cool/crazy tech for sure. FirmTech has only been available for about a year but it’s a neat little device. If we’re quantifying everything else … Why not erections?
There are a few ways to use them but he’s using IPL to get rid of sun damage and keep the skin youthful. It feels zippy, like zapping your skin with a rubber band over and over again. Definitely not fun in sensitive body areas!
An IPL device works by delivering an arc of light energy that penetrates all levels of the skin, without harming the surface (the epidermis), so there’s little to no downtime afterward.
This light treatment can be performed on the face, hands, neck, chest, and legs. The size of the head of the IPL device is usually larger than most laser spot sizes, which allows for rapid treatment of large body areas.
Most people need a series of IPL photofacial treatments to see optimal results. They’re typically performed three to four weeks apart
