Bryan Johnson, a tech entrepreneur and dedicated biohacker, has been undergoing an extreme and costly anti-aging regimen in his quest to reverse the aging process — spending upwards of $2 million annually on experimental treatments.
So far, Johnson claims to have seen remarkable progress. He reports having the heart health of a 37-year-old and the lung capacity of an 18-year-old, despite being in his 40s.
But not all of his methods have gone smoothly — or without controversy. From adhering to a highly restrictive diet to controversially using his teenage son’s blood plasma, Johnson has pushed the limits of what many consider ethical or even safe.
In a recent update to his followers, he recounted a particularly alarming incident where his face dramatically swelled up, the result of a significant error in his routine.
The Silicon Valley entrepreneur is in his 40s, but he explained to his followers that his harsh experiment helped him achieve the ‘heart of 37-year-old’ and the ‘lung capacity of an 18-year-old’.
Bryan Johnson detailed the one mistake he made which blew his face up (Instagram/@bryanjohnson_)
He has spoken of his routine time and time again, which aims to lower the biological age of each of his organs, making them lower than his chronological age.
But his journey hasn’t been without its bumps and hiccups.
In fact, there was one which saw his face blow up and become swollen and puffy, making it so that he resembled a bowling ball.
In a video uploaded to his YouTube channel, Johnson revealed what that thing was, and what it looked like.
Johnson explained: “My face blew up when I was doing fat injections.
“In the early days of my endeavor, I went on caloric restriction. I got very skinny and that has the effect of wiping out all the fat in your face.”
He added his surprise: “Turns out that makes you look really old. I was trying to make my face look youthful with more fat, injecting the fat, and I had a severe allergic reaction and it blew up – I guess a bit more than I bargained for.”
His routine is quite a lot for most people to handle, but he’s managed to bring his biological age down and feels better than ever.
Explaining just what he does each day, Johnson went on the UK This Morning show to break down the steps that have been working for him.
Explaining how he is eating his meals from his strict diet before 11am and going to sleep at 8:30pm, the 47-year-old shared how long he dedicates to his ‘longevity protocol’.
He told hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard: “I should probably prime and say because what I’m going to say is probably pretty alarming to a lot of people, right. But I do spend five hours every day going through my longevity protocol, okay?
“It begins at 4:30 in the morning where I do a series of- I put, I get light in my eyes, I take my temperature, I do an hour of exercise, I do 20 minutes of sauna, I do 90 minutes of hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and six minutes of red and near light. And then I have a lot of vegetables, berries, nuts, seeds, extra virgin olive oil.
“I have become the most measured person in human history.”
Fat injections led to an allergic reaction (YouTube/BryanJohnson)
While a lot of people might want to give it a try (if they could afford it), others have slammed Johnson in the past about the money he spends, and the way he looks now.
However, Johnson appeared to give a rather philosophical take on the critical comments via his YouTube channel and insisted people would eventually get on board with his efforts.
He said: “None of us have any idea what we are talking about.
“If we all introspect, we all realize that we are not the independent thinkers that we think we are.
“We do what other people do, we want to be part of the tribe, we don’t want to be ostracized.
“It doesn’t matter at all what anyone says, the only thing that matters is what they do.
“So, it is not even a question of whether this is correct, it is inevitably correct, it is just a matter of are you going to be an early adopter or are you going to be a late adopter.”