Inside 45-year-old's £2million a year bid to reverse his biological age
The controversial "Project Blueprint" is a diet and a lifestyle presented by a former tech CEO who says he used the method to reverse his "biological age," and is backed by a doctor - 29-year-old Oliver Zolman.
After Bryan Johnson sold his company, Braintree, for $800 million, he realized that 20 years in the tech industry "destroyed his body" and began looking at ways out.
Now, Johnson eats all of his food by 11 a.m. and goes to bed at 8:30 every night, and says this process gave him "the 37-year-old and the lung capacity of an 18-year-old." Johnson is 45. Behind this diet though, is a doctor who has made headlines along with Johnson. The 29-year-old Dr Oliver Zolman.
Johnson spends around £2m a year to fund a team of more than 30 medics and health workers, who are led by Zolman. They monitor the functioning of his body and all its organs, 24/7.
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Johnson wakes up at 5am, takes around two dozen supplements a day, and eats a strict vegan diet of blended foods, as well as gets blood treatments for hair growth (Bryan Johnson / Blueprint)Bryan Johnson and the Blueprint Diet
Johnson has always had a following online where he roused fans with his 'anti-ageing' diets and exercise. Several months ago, another YouTuber tested out this diet - and to his surprise, it worked. His results went viral, dragging both Bryan Johnson and the doctor behind this controversial regime into the spotlight.
The theory that drives doctors like Zolman is that many medical professionals now believe you can reverse your biological age. The explains that, "biological age means the true age that our cells, tissues, and organ systems appear to be, based on biochemistry."
Johnson changed his lifestyle in 2019 after selling his company and getting a divorce, with his new diet helping him lose 60 pounds in a year, according to posts on Medium. On an episode of published last week, Johnson said he takes 111 pills a day, including zinc, lithium, and turmeric, and was led to that conclusion by "the data."
Johnson's diet has made headlines as he's participating in some strange processes (Instagram/_bryan_johnson_)
Bryan Johnson, 45, spends $2million a year on a team of more than 30 doctors and medical experts that oversee and test almost every one of his organs (Bryan Johnson / Blueprint)After eating his breakfast early in the day, Johnson works out for 45 to 60 minutes seven days a week. He does at least 30 exercises each time. After that, Johnson played sports like basketball and tennis. To help with cardio, he did trail running. The goal is to do all this while running on a calorie deficit, said the millionaire.
Johnson told the podcast that he eats 2,250 calories a day and intermittently fasts. He eats all his food between 6am and 11am. He said he "aimed to eat 70 pounds of vegetables a month," didn't use salt on any of his meals, and had no added sugar.
According to an overview of his diet, Johnson's daily meals included a 'green smoothie' that contains supplements such as spermidine, creatine, and collagen peptides. For lunch, there's a "super veggie" salad, a "nutty pudding," and a third meal that consists of about 500 calories, such as orange fennel salad.
Dr Zolman's obsession with anti-ageing
"I hope I can reverse ageing in a way that can help save the NHS," Dr Zolman told iNews. While there's been some debate on Johnson's intentions and why the millionaire is so obsessed with looking young, Zolman says that his interest is scientific.
"I have two clear objectives," Zolman states. "I want to prove that you can reverse ageing in all organs, and prove that by 2030 I can get a 25 per cent reduction in ageing in all Bryan’s organs."
'Electric shocks have given me the erections of a man half my age' said Johnson on a podcast (Instagram/bryanjohnson_)The scientist has set up a peer-reviewed journal where he's publishing the results of Johnson's diet, The Journal of Human Phenotypic Rejuvenation Case Reports & Biological Age Quantification Science. Zolman confirms in his publication that since "March 2020, Johnson’s heart rate variability has gone from that of a typical 54-year-old to that of a 33-year-old."
While nothing that there are at least 50 studies that show reverse-ageing is possible in mammals, Zolman notes that two emerging fields of medical science, gene therapy and stem cell treatments, will do the most good for the rest of us. "It’s gene therapy that will be able to reverse ageing in the whole population," he says.
Where the diets get strange
Bryan Johnson, also on a podcast, said he managed to reverse ageing in his penis by 15 years through a "painful" shockwave therapy. The shockwave therapy involves using a wand that administers acoustic technology to create "micro-injuries," similar to workouts, prompting muscle rebuilding.
Despite describing the treatment as a 7/10 on the pain scale, with the tip being a 9/10, Johnson expressed satisfaction with the results, stating his subjective experience was as if his penis had become 15 years younger after two months.
Johnson has spent millions to get "the lung capacity of an 18-year-old" (Bloomberg via Getty Images)Johnson said on the podcast: "There’s this technology — you have a wand and you sit in a chair and the technician uses the wand and basically shocks your penis through acoustic technology. It’s a technology that has a broad range of applications, and it’s also used for erectile dysfunction."
In addition to that, Johnson says he drink any fluids after 4 p.m. so his sleep won't be interrupted by needing the bathroom. To go a little further, he used a special machine to "strengthen his pelvic floor and his bladder."
Johnson has also received blood plasma from younger people, including his teenage son, but because he didn't see any benefit.
To help combat ageing in his appearance, Johnson paid for a "custom hair formulation" designed to "prevent hair loss and encourage hair growth." When he wakes up, he wears a red-light-therapy cap for six minutes and gets regular platelet-rich-fibrin treatments (blood injections) to the scalp, he says in Bartlett's podcast.
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