Five Questions for Bryan Johnson, one of many who want to live forever

The other night I watched the documentary “Don’t Die” on Netflix about Bryan Johnson. I watched it for reasons other than entertainment. Those who know me personally know that my scientific career started out during college when I found myself as a researcher in a biotech company working on the science of lengthening telomeres. Although I’m not in that field in an official capacity anymore, the science has never left my mind. As I watched the movie I was curious if Bryan Johnson would either mention, or perhaps utilize some kind of protocol that would involve telomore lengthening. But I was disappointed to see that once again, telomere length is the giant purple elephant in the room no one ever talks about. Or if they do, it is with a lot of disinformation. But I digress…

I think what Bryan Johnson is doing is amazing. To put yourself out in such a light where everyone sees not only the discipline, but also the results, of such a strict health regimen is truly astonishing. Dealing with all the negativity that comes with it indicates a very strong individual of character. And for such an important cause.

Yes, it may seem like Bryan Johnson is doing this for himself, but he’s not. He’s doing this for himself, for his family, and for all others who want to live long healthy lives. I applaud him.

 

Taking care of your body so that you are in optimal health, while preventing so many of the debilitating diseases, resulting in longer healthier lifespan, is not only a difficult everyday task, but it is often met with a lot of resistance, nasty accusations, and even laughter at the person’s expense. I know. I’ve experienced all of it. From being called pretentious, to being attacked on social media, to having my credentials scrutinized. Then there’s the infamous statement of “we all have to die of something”.

Sure, we all die. But it doesn’t mean we have to accelerate our death by choosing poorly. Whether you subscribe to God or mother nature, or whatever in between, or even nothing, the fact of the matter is that we have these amazing brains that have the capability to research diseases, disease process, and not only find and develop treatments and cures, but the ability to learn how to prevent the harm to our bodies in the first place.

This ability has improved our lives greatly. As noted in the documentary, it wasn’t that long ago that people died in their 30’s or 40’s from basic diseases of infection, for which we have plentiful antibiotics now. So I say this: if your answer is that we all have to die of something, then stop wearing your seat belt, do not take antibiotics, and do not have any medical procedure to improve your life, including CPR during a heart attack, or life saving measures during childbirth. That just sounds dumb right? Well exactly. It’s also dumb to say that we all have to die of something. But I digress again, let me get back to the five questions I have for Bryan Johnson.

I feel a bit of a connection with Bryan Johnson as he and I are close to the same age, we both have strict meal plans, both make daily difficult choices that are for optimal health, and we both want to encourage others to make healthy choices. But there are huge differences between us too. I don’t look anywhere near as young as he does, I don’t have as much energy as he does, and I definitely don’t have the financial resources he does for the most optimal treatments. So I have to admit I look up to him a bit as he definitely makes some choices that I should be making but don’t. But I’m also not a millionaire (yet, and despite my efforts), and my lifestyle is dictated by the need to work and make money to pay for the healthy lifestyle choices I make. I also have a different awareness because of my scientific background, and look at many things through a scientific lens. So there are things that he does that I probably would not. Thus the five questions I have for Bryan Johnson.

I don’t know how much of what I saw in the documentary was true, but if they really did film him in his home, and if the show is accurate about his lifestyle, here is what I saw that is not optimal for your health and would like to know what Bryan Johnson has to say about these:

1. Is the food he eats organic? I checked his “Blueprint” olive oil, and while it states it was tested for purity, and lists all the constituents, there is not a single mention of organically grown, nor a certified organic label. At $35 a bottle, my pretentious self expects at least organic and nothing less than certified GMO free. While I do believe it’s actually olive oil in the bottle, unlike many brands that dilute the olive oil with cheaper oils, I do want to know why it’s not organic, or certified non-GMO. Thus my question, does Bryan Johnson choose organic foods over “conventional”? And if not, why not?

Why do I want to know? Well, if you want to live a long life, free of diseases such as cancer, putting pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides, in and/or on your body isn’t exactly the way to go about preventing cancer. I want to see Bryan Johnson succeed. I think he’ll do better if he chooses organic. But maybe there is something he knows that I don’t? Or maybe his doctors haven’t mentioned organic and GMO free as most doctors are not trained in such a field? Or maybe he does choose organic, but decided to omit that as to not overwhelm those who are just starting out on the road to a healthy life? I would really like to know.

2. Has he considered the safety, and, synergistic effect of all the supplements he takes combined with his diet? The really long list of supplements in his pantry that apparently he takes daily is in short, a lot of stuff. I have nothing against supplements. I take supplements myself and even resell some of the ones that we found to have the least amount of bad ingredients on my online store. So I am not questioning his decision to take supplements for better healthspan; not at all, I support it! But this brings me to a two part question on this: Are the brands tested as safe? And what about the synergistic affects of the combination of these?

What I mean is, does he check all those bottles for additional and unnecessary ingredients? I saw some brands I recognized, but also many I did not. And in reality, not all supplement brands are safe. Very few test for toxic byproducts, and many just don’t care what other ingredients are used to turn the herb/supplement into pill form. Sometimes the ingredients are hard to find on the bottle (that should be a sign!), and sometimes there are fillers that are actually harmful and have the opposite effect of what the product intends. So it’s important to know what’s in that pill. And find a different brand if the ingredients are questionable.

3. Which then brings me to the synergistic results of taking so many supplements. If you take a kitchen sink full of chemicals and mix them in your body, there are bound to be chemical reactions that form other molecules. One example of this is when benzoic acid and its salts reacting with ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) in soft drinks, which form small quantities of a carcinogen benzene.

The reality is that when you have two chemical structures, even if all natural and safe, when combined, they can react and turn into a third structure that may no longer make the combination of these compounds safe. So when you have hundreds upon hundreds of constituents combined together in large quantities (such as found in supplements), how do you know they are not mixing together to form something unexpected? Then there is the issue of how these constituents are identified on the label. A lot of things don’t have to be identified such as “natural flavors” (which can be almost anything it seems). You can read more about such details in our article here. So my question to Bryan Johnson is, has he (or his doctors) considered any of this?

4. Does Bryan Johnson know how telomores work? Skin regimens that are designed to remove old skin so new skin can replace it, while the immediate effect of this is the look of fresh young skin, on a molecular level, there is a lot more going on. Every time a cell divides for whatever reason, the limited supply of telomeres that we are born with shorten. Eventually your telomores run so short they can no longer divide – one of the biggest contributors to aging.

While I’m not certain what exactly was being done to his skin in the documentary, I did see the inflammation that resulted, and frankly, that should be a sign right there that is not a healthy regimen to use. You are only born with so many telomeres, and even if you slow down the rate of which your telomeres shorten by use of caloric restriction, exercise, and healthy choices, forcing the telomeres to shorten through skin removal has the opposite effect. You can read Rob’s article about this here. So in the long run, forcing your cells to divide via whatever process, on a molecular level, actually speeds up aging. (Slowing down cell division is actually one of the main ways the drug Rapamycin provides longevity benefits.) I also want know if Bryan Johnson is aware of this, and if not, can we have a conversation?

5. Speaking of skin, what about personal care products? What does he use for shampoo/soap? Lotion? Does he check ingredients on those as strictly as he is with food choices? No, I am not trying to get Bryan Johnson to buy my products, though it probably seems like it. I simply want to know what brands he uses, and if he’s considered the toxic effects of so many harmful ingredients found in many personal care products. Our skin is alive, and we should feed it live food for the skin, not harmful chemicals designed to allow a cream to sit on a shelf for a year while it’s waiting to be purchased. There are studies to show that what you put on your skin is often absorbed systemically. So it is not a question if toxic ingredients get into your body through your skin. But I want to know if Bryan Johnson is aware of this, and if so, what is he doing about it to prevent such a problem?

I don’t actually expect that Bryan Johnson will see my article, thus I don’t actually think I will get to hear what he has to say on these topics. But I imagine I am not the only one asking these questions. And again, I think what he’s doing is truly revolutionizing attitudes towards healthspan, and choices we make to improve our health. But maybe, by chance he’ll see this, and he and I can have a conversation about what he’s doing, why, and if my concerns are valid to him. And just maybe, I can contribute something to his health regimen, to help him live even longer.