from Hacker News

Blueprint health protocol

by L_226 on 1/2/24, 8:31 AM with 192 comments

  • by kkoncevicius on 1/2/24, 9:21 AM

    I love what the guy is doing. It is a one-man experiment that would be very very hard to reproduce, or even get ethics approval and funding for, by a research lab.

    But on the other hand, I get a sense that the public side of his results are overblown. For example, my field is epigenetics, so I had a look at his "epigenetic clock" results. He uses "DunedinPACE" to track the rate of aging and his result is supposedly 0.72 (which very roughly estimates that he ages 0.72 years per a single astronomical year).

    However, what is not mentioned, is that this result, while impressive, is not so extraordinary. He is number 6 in his own online leaderboard [1]. And the people who beat him at this metric don't do anything fancy to get better numbers than him [2]. Why not mention things like that along with all the optimism?

    [1]: https://rejuvenationolympics.com/leaderboard/#absolute

    [2]: https://fortune.com/well/2023/11/04/longevity-women-biohacke...

  • by marviel on 1/2/24, 2:49 PM

    Thought this section would be helpful to highlight:

      > If you’d like to stop this insanity...:identify the worst version of yourself.

  > For me, it was 7pm Bryan who would eat everything in sight to try and momentarily escape life pain. He is a monster, overpowering, and indifferent about all other Bryans needs. A sweet talker and expert rationalizer.  7pm Bryan ruins life quality for all other Bryans:

  > - awful sleep

  > - overweight

  > - poor health

  > - accelerated aging & disease

  > - turbulent emotions

  > - depressing life outlook

  > The solution: revoking 7pm Bryan’s authority to eat food.

  > Now your turn:

  > - Step 1: identify your 20% rascal..

  > - Step 2: list what decisions they are and are not authorized to make

  > - Step 3: wait for them to appear

  > - Step 4: approve or deny their requests using step 2 list

  > - Step 5: celebrate happy you for stopping self harm.

  > Believe it or not, this is your most consequential and powerful life intervention.

  • by thatguysaguy on 1/2/24, 8:53 AM

    I have no idea whether his stuff will work but I'm glad people are trying wacky stuff to find out.

  • by RanTig on 1/2/24, 9:32 AM

    I really wish he did his research without being restricted to a vegan diet. He mentioned in one of his videos that his choice for a vegan diet isn't motivated by health, so I can't help but think that part of these recommendations are just there to mitigate the effects of that specific diet. For example, an omnivorous diet might not need certain supplements.

  • by harporoeder on 1/2/24, 1:20 PM

    I wish blueprint was more public and open about the methodology and data. Johnson is doing so many interventions and it would be interesting to have public data for them beyond a periodic aggregate snapshot on the blueprint websites which basically amounts to a marketing page. In comparison someone like Michael Lustgarten (1) publishes nearly everything, documents what intervention they are about to do, do it, and then publish the results.

    https://michaellustgarten.com/

  • by andrewingram on 1/2/24, 2:02 PM

    I think i've mentioned this here before, but a friend of mine (Andrew Steele) is an anti-aging biologist, and has written a book on the subject. He's an excellent communicator, and a while ago did a video examining Bryan Johnson's claims: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rs_JK-pTTQ

  • by paul7986 on 1/2/24, 8:55 AM

    In this Abc News interview he doesn't look healthy to me ..his skin looks weird even with tons of lighting their using.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw2H_j81_50&t=75s

  • by mkreis on 1/2/24, 8:58 AM

    Wow, just look at the number of pills he takes every day: https://protocol.bryanjohnson.com/#step-2-supplements

    And then apparently the same dish, every day... definitely a very scientific approach.

  • by close04 on 1/2/24, 9:45 AM

    > + 31 year age reversal in grey hair age (80% reduction in grey hair)

    I'd be a lot more interested in this if I still had hair. But what's surprising is that the man I see in all the pictures and videos like one linked in another comment [1] clearly dies his hair. That's a very interesting choice for a someone who appears to be naturally blond based on the childhood photos in the video, and with 80% reduction in grey hair.

    Also:

    > Monthly Blueprint cost = $1,684.50

    Being healthy was never easier if you're rich enough to afford the healthy lifestyle (it may be a lot cheaper than $1.6k/mo but still expensive). It's good that we know what it takes to be healthy but if it can only be available to a few than it won't bring a health revolution.

    [1] https://youtu.be/kw2H_j81_50?t=170

  • by MichaelRazum on 1/2/24, 9:07 AM

    Maybe the guy is overdoing it (obviously). On the other hand, it seems that he put a lot of research into optimal nutrition. So would consider the meals pretty solid.

  • by RcouF1uZ4gsC on 1/2/24, 9:02 AM

    Looking at his brain health

    https://protocol.bryanjohnson.com/#brain-health

    It appears he has some brain markers such as white matter hyper intensities and ventricular volume that are older than his age of 46.

    The Blueprint health protocol may end up giving people with healthy bodies but an aging brain, so they will be able to live many years with dementia (because the body is otherwise healthy).

    Whether having a healthy body with dementia is worth spending all this money and effort for is an interesting question.

  • by yawboakye on 1/2/24, 9:56 AM

    the goal shouldn’t be to avoid death but to live our old age in adequately healthy and strong bodies (proportional to age and our daily routines) and a sharp mind still capable of following complex arguments. i doubt the strategy for this involves all this sacrifice and masochism. but fear of death is such an overriding fear. it commits us into slavery and makes us do crazy things with sufficient justification. life’s for living not longevity. so live! tecumseh’s poem comes to mind:

      So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and bow to none. When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself. Abuse no one and nothing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision. When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.

  • by gotbeans on 1/2/24, 9:22 AM

    The first thing that comes to my mind upon seeing something like this is how well will he handle aging and deterioration.

    My extreme prejucide is he is indeed obsessed with his health. Human health sometimes is not about the bad things we get? but how well do we handle those curve balls.

  • by mhb on 1/2/24, 2:52 PM

    Peter Attia seems a bit more reasonable:

    Introduction to My Longevity Tactics

    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38842186

  • by maeln on 1/2/24, 9:29 AM

    I kind of fail to see how would this be useful for anyone but him. The fact that he has a team working with him to make him the most healthy human possible is cool and all, but there is absolutely 0 guarantee that what works for him would work for any one else. Our bodies can be surprisingly different, this is why it can be surprisingly hard to draw any conclusion from research involving a few hundreds tests subject. As an example, a lot of diets are still contentious and the subject of many debate.

    So with one data point ... For all we know, his Blueprint might be over-optimize for his own body and might be extremely detrimental to most people.

    Although, on a side note, seeing how my grand parent fared towards the end of their life, I did realize that I do not fear death or aging, I fear the slow withering where you get more and more diminished. So I get where this idea is coming from

  • by ecmascript on 1/2/24, 9:09 AM

    I think Bryan is an interesting dude and no matter if you think he is insane or not, it's interesting to follow and the message is a good one.

    He is literally telling people to sleep more, exercise more, eat better etc etc.

    How can you be against that?

  • by alt227 on 1/2/24, 2:32 PM

    I am really surprised of the amount of people on hacker news, what I consider to be an increcibly intelligent community, actively defending or advocating what this guy is doing!

    If he wasnt selling something, it might be a bit more credible! https://blueprint.bryanjohnson.com/collections/homepage-coll...

  • by arkitaip on 1/2/24, 8:52 AM

    I love his scientific approach to health and I find his transformation inspiring but the costs of following his protocol is probably in the hundreds if not thousands every day.

  • by zubairq on 1/2/24, 9:21 AM

    I've seen some of Bryan Johnson's work... will keep an eye on it as he seems a lot like Tim Ferris where he experiments on his own health and shares the results!

  • by hiddencost on 1/2/24, 9:10 AM

    Anyone who talks about being a genius in their self promotion does not have your best interests at heart.

  • by bawolff on 1/2/24, 9:46 AM

    Now im curious why he believes electrically grounding your bed sheets will give you a better night sleep.

    I assume this is some crazy conspiracy theory, but still curious.

  • by poulpy123 on 1/2/24, 11:42 AM

    Isn't he the guy who inject himself the blood of young people ?

  • by RandomLensman on 1/2/24, 9:41 AM

    So what is the cutoff to say this works? Live to 130? 150?

  • by anon23432343 on 1/2/24, 9:29 AM

    Why is this on top of HN?

    Shameful self promotion into a cult?

  • by PostOnce on 1/2/24, 9:17 AM

  • by anonu on 1/2/24, 2:58 PM

    where does one even get this type of testing / blood work / V02 max / stress testing done?

  • by theusus on 1/2/24, 8:52 AM

    It's supposed to come this Friday.

  • by superposeur on 1/2/24, 6:06 PM

    I’ve been making his Nutty Pudding as a lunch for the last few months. It’s easy to prepare, portable, satiating, and scrumptious.

  • by sureglymop on 1/2/24, 9:20 AM

    Honestly it sounds like he is putting a lot of stress on himself and I'm not sure that helps to stay young at all. He doesn't look young but at least he dresses younger which I guess is something.

  • by meindnoch on 1/2/24, 9:05 AM

    Sounds like torture to me. And the guy doesn't look healthy at all. More like someone who's about to start chemo.

  • by epgui on 1/2/24, 12:53 PM

    I know I’m going to get downvoted for going against the crowd, but as a biochemist my impression here is that there’s at least as much pseudoscience as there is science.

  • by Ecstatify on 1/2/24, 9:15 AM

    What is this guys agenda? Seems like he’s on the path to setup a cult.

  • by yodsanklai on 1/2/24, 9:17 AM

    He just looks like a 50-years old guy who spends a lot of time in the gym/kitchen. His face and skin texture give away its age.

    I have no idea about his health protocol, but I'm pretty sure a regular healthy life style (avoiding junk food + recommended dose of exercising) would give you the same results in term of longevity.

  • by maelito on 1/2/24, 9:04 AM

    - be rich

  • by moolcool on 1/2/24, 1:59 PM

    So if you devote an inordinate amount of time and money on longevity, you can know what it feels like to be a 45 year old man in a 42.5 year old's body

  • by atemerev on 1/2/24, 9:00 AM

    I don’t understand this pervasive fear of death in the tech community. Yes, one day we are all going to die. Yes, one day the human civilization itself is going to die. The entire universe will die too. So what? We all knew this from the age of five or so.