In continuation of my last blog - “How I will STOP” ageing” Bryan Johnson - here is his specific and detailed daily protocol.
To reprise, Johnson initiated Project Blueprint about 1.5 years ago with himself as the subject of the study. Project Blueprint seeks to create a protocol for us which would consider the health of all our 78 organs, targeting to remain at the same biological age at the end of 365 days of chronological time.
Lets dive in: his Daily schedule:
Food plan: 3 fixed meals a day, within 6 hours. 5am-11am. 1977 calories a day. 24% calorie restricted Vegan diet. 70 lbs of veggies / month. Has No caffeine, no alcohol, no added sugars, low sodium. Diet has 19% protein, 33% carbs, 48% fats.
Upon waking he has something called Green Giant which contains: water, 2 Tbsp chlorella powder, yielding 13.5mg spermidine, Amino Complex 7.6 g, Creatine 2.5 g, Collagen Peptides 20 g, Cocoa Flavanols 500 mg, Ceylon Cinnamon 1 tsp, mixed together (about 150 calories).
Meals are: Super Veggie, Nutty Pudding, and a Third meal that varies and consists of vegetables, nuts, seeds, and berries. Each has been methodically crafted based on gold standard scientific evidence for optimal nutrition. They continue to be modified at the introduction of new evidence.
Super Veggie contents: Black lentils: 300 grams (weighed cooked), Broccoli (head+stalk): 250 grams, Cauliflower: 150 grams, Shiitake or Maitake Mushrooms: 50 grams, Garlic: 1 clove (a piece), Ginger Root: 3 grams, Lime: 1, Cumin: 1 tbsp, Apple Cider Vinegar: 1 tbsp, Hemp Seeds: 1 tbsp, After prep, drizzle 1 tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil, with a sprinkling of 1 tbsp of 100% dark chocolate, all blended together like a hummus (about 378 calories)
Nutty Pudding contents: Almond milk: 50-100 ml, macadamia nuts: 3 tbsp, walnuts:
2 tsp, Flaxseed: 1 tsp, Brazil nut: 1/4, non dutched cocoa: 1 tbsp, sunflower lecithin: 1 tbsp, ceylon cinnamon: 1/2 tbsp, blueberries/raspberries/strawberries: 1 cup, cherries: 3, pomegranate juice: 2oz, made into a pudding (about 322 calories)
Third meal contents: One option: Asparagus Almond Beet Salad: Beets 500 grams cooked, Asparagus 300 grams cooked, Almonds Slivers 21 grams, Arugula 1 cup,
Shallot 1 large, Balsamic 3 Tablespoons, Dijon 3 Tablespoons, Mustard Seeds 1 Tablespoons, had like a salad (about 500 calories). Other option is an Orange fennel salad or a stuffed sweet potato (about 500 calories each).
Balance calories come from Pea protein (29gms) 260 calories, olive oil (30ml) 240 calories, dark chocolate (15gms) 138 calories. His food, in the US, costs about $ 45 /day.
Meal timings: around 6am, 9am and 11am.
Exercise plan: Daily Protocol: 1 hr workout everyday, 7 hours / week, ~25 exercises, heart beats for the 7 hours / week workout is divided as: 88-105 bpm ~1 hr, 106-159 bpm ~ 4hr 30 min, 159+ bpm ~ 1 hr 30 min.
Exercise Routine: Backwards Sled, 2 min, Stretches: kneeling shin; pancake; hip flexor; couch, Poliquin step ups: 3x10, each leg, slant board squats: 3x15, ATG split squats: 3x10, face pulls: 3x10, Butterfly: 3x10, Tricep extensions: 1x25, Band pull apart: 1x15, Nordics: 3x10, Reverse Nordics: 3x10, Tibialis raises: 3x20, IsoTib ankle rotations (each): 3x10, Pull ups: 3x10, Leg raises: 1x50, Obliques (each side, on a hyperextension): 1x50, Back extensions (on a hyperextension): 1x25, Seated calf raises: 3x25, 10 min HIIT (M,W,F), Hiking on weekends, basketball, tennis.
His Current Fitness Score:
Scoring equal to top 10% of 18 year olds in the following:
Bench press single rep max, 240lbs, top 10% of 18 year olds
VO2 max 58.7 mL/(kg·min), top 1.5% of 18 year olds
Leg press, single rep max. 800 lbs
Push ups, continuous, 60
YMCA sit and reach, 26.5 inches.
Grip strength (dominant hand) 60 kg, above the age related peak that occurs in men at age 32.5 (Jamar Dynamometer Corporation reference data)
Workout and diet Result: Body fat: 6.9%
Sleep plan: Sleeps at 8.30pm; wakes up at 4.30am. Uses Oura ring to track sleep and other parameters. Sleep room has blacked out windows for complete darkness. Has no food after 11am and no liquid after 6 pm. Uses f.lux to auto-optimize laptop screen brightness. Uses Blue light blocking glasses starting at 7 pm. Keeps a 1 hour minimum wind down time after work, before going to sleep. Does 5–10 minute meditation before bed. Sleeps in a temperature controlled cooling mattress, set to 62.6F (17 deg C). His Room temperature is set to 67F (19.4 deg C). Is in bed by 8.30pm sharp. Has No morning alarms. Sleeps with a deep wave sound machine. He now has a perfect 100% sleep efficiency score on WHOOP.
Supplements: Currently has about 104 pills a day!
Upon waking: Acarbose 200mg, Ashwagandha 600mg, B Complex .25 pill, BroccoMax 250mg, C 500mg, Ca-AKG 2 gram, Cocoa Flavanols 500mg, D-3 2,000 IU, DHEA 25mg, E 67mg, EPA 500mg with vitamin E 5mg, Fisetin 150mg, Garlic 2.4g equivalent, Garlic 1.2g (kyolic), Ginger Root 2.2g, Glucosamine Sulphate 2KCL 1,500mg, Iodine as potassium iodide 125 mcg, Lithium, as lithium orotate, 1mg, Lycopene 10mg, Lysine 1g, Metformin ER 1,500, Nicotinamide Riboside 375mg (6 x wk), N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine (NAC) 1,800 mg, PABA 100mg, Proferrin 10mg, Spermidine 13.5mg, Turmeric with piperine 1g, Taurine 1g, Ubiquinol 100mg, Zeaxanthin (20mg Lutein, 4mg Zeaxanthin), Zinc 15mg
with Dinner: Acarbose 200mg, BroccoMax 250mg, C 500mg, Ca-AKG 2 gram, Cocoa Flavanols 500mg, EPA 500mg, Fisetin 150mg, Garlic 2.4g equivalent, Garlic 1.2g (kyolic), Ginger Root 2.2g, Glucosamine Sulphate 2KCL 1,500mg, Hyaluronic Acid 300mg, Lysine 1g, L-Tyrosine, 500mg, Metformin ER 500 mg, N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine (NAC) 1,800 mg, Nicotinamide Riboside 375mg (6x wk), Turmeric 1g
Before bed: Melatonin 300 mcg
Others: Rapamycin 13mg, bi-weekly (Rx), HGH .6mg, 5x wk, 17aE2, 4g wk transdermal, Testosterone 2mg patch 6x wk, B12 methylcobalamin 1x/wk
Health Tests: He does about 150+ tests on 70+ body organs on a daily / regular basis to check the impact of his regimen on each organ’s health! The objective is optimise the regimen to keep improving organ health, to achieve a reduction in aging of 25% across all 78 organs by 2030! He has a team of 30+ medical experts working with him on the tests and his daily protocol.
Some of the regular tests are: Weight, body fat, muscle mass, body water, body temperature, BMI, Biofluids (blood, stool, urine, saliva), Blood Glucose, MRI - whole body, Ultrasound - whole body, SpO2 while sleeping, Sleep: HR, HRV, Deep, REM, Respiration Rate, Body Temp, Physical fitness - whoop + Polar, VO2Max, hearing, eyes, and tests for all other body organs including the heart, brain, kidney, lungs, liver, thyroid, prostate, gastro, hair, skin, oral, etc.
As already shared - Johnson’s entire data, progress, daily regimen, diet, etc. are published on their website https://blueprint.bryanjohnson.co/
Johnson’s result so far, after about 1.5 years of initiating the Blueprint protocol:
Slowed pace of aging by equivalent 31 years,
+ Now aging slower than the average 10 yr old
+ Body inflammation is 66% below the average 10 year old
+ V02 max: 58.7 mL/(kg·min), top 1.5% of 18 year olds
+ Perfect liver fat (1.36%, top 10%.), iron & stiffness (MRI)
+ Ideal whole body muscle & fat (MRI)
+ 50+ optimal clinical outcome biomarkers
+ 100+ markers < chronological age
+ Perfect liver markers: ALT+AST+GGT = 49
+ Leg press single rep max: 800 lbs. Top 1-2% of 18 yr olds.
+ Bench press single rep max: 240 lbs. Top 10% of 18 yr olds.
+ 12 year age reversal in 500 day average HRV
+ 31 year age reversal in grey hair age (80% reduction in grey hair)
+ 99th percentile in sleep performance of Whoop users his age
+ Identified and corrected (w/o surgery) ticking time bomb: bilateral internal jugular vein (IJV) stenosis
+ Brain white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) reduced by 50% (MRI)
+ 30+ organ ages quantified
+ Free testosterone index (FTI) biological age reduced 20 years
I must also add that most of his family is now following his protocol, including his father, sons, etc. and it appears that they are all elated with the results! Johnson states emphatically that he has never been happier.
Johnson’s other notable quotes:
“If Tech improves every year, why not humans? (considering that the default for humans is to grow old - agewise and deteriorate - healthwise, year on year!)”
My goal: one year of chronological time passes and my biological age stays the same.
Takeaways: Johnson’s Blueprint protocol is indeed rigorous and perhaps extreme. A large many have responded by stating that he must be crazy and even inhuman, some said that there was no point, if we have to live this way!
Others have pointed to the shortcomings of Project Blueprint as a clinical study - it has a subject of 1 - a 45 year old male, who has followed it for 1.5 years! Not enough to extrapolate for the masses!
Every new learning helps us advance as a species - and that should be the takeaway. If this protocol has helped 45 year old Johnson achieve staggering health results, thus far, what can we adopt in our lives to improve our health too? We may not be 45 or male, but surely there will be practices that we can adopt from Blueprint, and check for their impact on our health.
Here is my goading: lets make a list of protocols that we can follow in each area
diet,
exercise,
sleep and
supplements,
starting now for a minimum of 1 month, and maintain a log - of daily action and health impact - qualitative and as measured by tests if possible.
Will look forward to hearing from your about your Blueprint protocol list from here and your results. I will also share my Blueprint protocol list, and results, every month, over the next couple of months.
We are sure to feel better, and younger, and be thanked by our organs.
You IN?
Lets get to the Next Level!
Akkshay Mehta
(Age Reversal Evangelist)
This blog is my effort to inspire you with the latest developments in the space of healthspan, lifespan and age reversal. In simple English! Do share and Stay tuned.
I would love to hear from you. I can be reached at agm@growyoungtech.com