Doctor Reacts to Bryan Johnson´s Anti-Aging Diet

[00:00:00]Brian Johnson spends millions every year on his diet and program to delay aging and death. I'm going to show you how to do it for free. Brian Johnson is the eccentric millionaire creator of Don't Die, a program aimed at slowing down or even stopping the aging process. A major part of the program is a carefully designed diet. But when you strip it down and you take away all the flash, the most powerful points of his diet are not the expensive parts. They're not some secret for millionaires that is beyond your grasp. They're things you can easily replicate in the comfort of your own home for no extra cost. In fact, if you follow what I'm about to share with you, you might even save money. I received my PhD for research on aging and nutrition. And I've put everything I've learned over the years into designing my own diet to maximize health and delay death. And going over Brian Johnson's diet surprised me honestly because he gets a lot of things right. In fact, I think his approach beats a lot of popular influencers out there, including some that are doctors and scientists. But there's also a number of things about Brian Johnson's diet that are extremely controversial and that might not even be a good idea.

[00:01:20]So throughout the video, I want to focus on this question. When we remove all the branding and all the hype, which parts of his diet will actually deliver results for you, and how can you implement them as easily and as cheap as possible, and which other parts you don't need to waste time and money on?

[00:01:40]If you want more evidence-based breakdowns like this with no sponsors and no sales, subscribe. According to his website, Brian Johnson eats about 2,200 calories a day, a little over that, which puts him at a 10% caloric deficit. He explains in some of his videos that his philosophy is that every calorie in his diet needs to fight for its life. So, he's under consuming calories every day indefinitely into the future. And that is a really, really controversial strategy. I'll summarize everything we know on this topic real quick so you can make your own informed decision. When I was working on my PhD, caloric restriction was huge. We talked about it all the time and we did these experiments. You can calorically restrict animals in the lab like small worms or fruit flies or even mice and they do live longer when you do that.

[00:02:35]It's actually pretty impressive. But you keep these animals in an unnatural environment in the lab where they have access to unlimited amounts of very caloric rations. So we always wonder, we always have these discussions in lab meetings. Are we just rescuing the damage of over nutrition when we calorically restrict or are we actually extending the maximum lifespan of the species? In humans, studying aging is extremely difficult because it takes forever. There's one recent trial that actually tried to calorically restrict people for a couple years and they did see some benefit. Their blood work improved and this biomarker of aging, it's called an epigenetic clock that improved as well. So, it's suggesting that they're aging at a slower rate when they're calorically restricted. But the concern here is similar to the animal research because although these participants were not obese about half were overweight and the average body fat in the group was pretty high and in fact the participants that were calorically restricted lost some body fat. So are the benefits just because of the fat loss? Are we just rescuing the harms of over nutrition which has a lot of value?

[00:03:46]No one's arguing that. or are we actually extending the maximum lifespan of the human species, which is a completely different question. So, what does all of this mean for you? Well, if you have some excess body fat, like most Westerners do, then absolutely finding a way to restrict calories to moderate calories is going to be beneficial. And it doesn't have to be counting calories.

[00:04:08]There's many ways to do it. It will reduce your waist and your blood work, your cholesterol, your blood sugar, your blood pressure. Everything's likely to improve. But if you're already very lean, very low body fat like Brian Johnson is, and very physically active, and eat a very clean diet with no junk, then it's pretty uncertain if cutting calories even more beyond that is going to provide any benefits. And it could even cause some harm. Loss of muscle, loss of bone mass, hormone issues, or some things that could go ary. Brian Johnson does all kinds of blood work and tests all the time. So I imagine he's on top of that. But those are some theoretical concerns. And so personally, that's what I try to do as well. I absolutely dial down the calories to lose excess body fat to get to an ideal body weight and body composition. But once I'm there, I don't keep cutting calories for the rest of my life. I just maintain. So this is the first mindset shift in the video. So you don't necessarily want to just copy someone's anecdote bit by bit exactly. You want to understand is the benefit likely to come from the extreme behaviors or is it something more basic. Okay. But the next question is even more controversial and more relevant to you honestly and that is how does Brian Johnson distribute those calories in his diet? He gets about 25% of his calories from protein.

[00:05:34]35% from carbs and 40% from fat. Right off the bat, this upsets every diet tribe on the internet. The low-faters think it's too much fat. The low carbers think it's too much carb. Leaving ideology aside, we want to look at this objectively based on the best evidence we have. Is this approach, is this breakdown likely to bring benefits for you? So, let's start with protein.

[00:05:59]There's basically two schools of thought out there on protein and longevity. One view is that you want to keep your protein very low to live long. And people often point to the work of Velter Longo. And the rationale there is when we eat protein, it induces IGF-1, this growth factor. And so it might cause cancer and speed up aging. And in fact on his website Longo proposes a pretty low range of protein intake of 73 grams of protein per kilo of body weight per day which is right under the RDA. A lot of people already complain the RDA is too low. Valter Longo's recommendation is to eat slightly below that at least until the age of 65. After 65 he recommends more. The other school of thought is the opposite that you want to eat high amounts of protein. This is championed by people like Peter for example. And the idea there is that with age we lose muscle mass. And so you want to be as muscular as possible in your middle age so that when that inevitable muscle loss comes we still hold on to enough muscle by our later ages. And so you want to eat a lot of protein to get a lot of muscle. That's basically the rationale. And Peter Retia on his website recommends from 1.6 to 2.2 g of protein per kilo of body weight per day.

[00:07:25]So it's about 2 to three times what Velter Longo recommends. So a huge spread. And Brian Johnson eats about 1.6 g per kilo of body weight per day. So that's more than twice what Velter Longo recommends. And it's around the minimum that Peter Aia recommends. And I agree with Brian Johnson's approach. the evidence backs him up. And this is something I've changed my mind on over the years as the evidence evolved.

[00:07:50]During my graduate work, we published these experiments showing that you can restrict protein intake in model organisms like fruit flies and you extend their lifespan that way. But this hasn't really translated to humans. When we look at human data, we actually see a lower risk of mortality for some types of protein like plant protein for example or some animal proteins like fish. So this is saying that the problem is not really protein per se. It depends on the source. So I don't really find longu and the low protein school of thought very compelling. And as far as hypertrophy, we see that maximize around 1.6 six grams of protein per kilo of body weight per day. So that's roughly what I shoot for around Brian Johnson's range or the low end of Peter's range in that ballpark 1.5 1.6. And I pay more attention to the source of the protein.

[00:08:50]And this is what I recommend also for most people because most debates online on this topic put too much emphasis and too much focus on the amount of protein, which is not a problem for most Westerners, and not enough focus on the source of protein, which is a much bigger issue. So, we'll come back to this question. Right now, let's look at some of Brian Johnson's actual meals. I looked at his website. I looked at a number of his videos. The details vary a little bit, but it sounds like he eats about three times a day, which is normal. But all of his meals are shifted really early. He gets up before sunrise at 5:00 a.m. and he's done eating before noon.

[00:09:29]>> An hour and a half or 2 hours later, I will have my final meal of the day.

[00:09:33]>> That's right. He eats all of his meals before noon. So, he eats in roughly a 6h hour window and then he fasts the rest of the time. the other 18 hours or 17 and 1/2 hours, something like that. This sounds so unusual and extreme enough that a lot of people think this is the secret sauce that will get you the benefits and maybe this is what we got to replicate. But is this backed by evidence? Fasting per se doesn't make a meaningful difference when you match for calories and for meals eaten. Whether you eat these meals more spaced out over the course of the day or more concentrated and then you fast the rest of the time doesn't seem to make much difference for body weight, metabolism, etc. That doesn't mean the fasting is useless. Some people like to use fasting as a strategy to reduce calories, to reduce the overall amount of foods eaten or to reduce snacking and it can be very powerful, very effective. It's just not the fasting itself that's delivering the results. On the other hand, this question of timing, so eating the exact same meals and same spacing, same amount of fasting, but the meals shifted earlier in the day versus later in the day, that has some evidence to back it up. Some studies find a benefit of eating our calories earlier in the day, morning and early afternoon. The effect is not huge. It's not seen in every study, possibly because it's relatively small, so you don't always see it.

[00:11:04]Bottom line, eating our calories earlier in the day. Everything else held equal might be a little better metabolically than eating them later in the afternoon, evening, and night. But don't forget the role of food quality and overall food quantity are much stronger. They easily trump this effect of timing. So, do I think you need to be doing this extreme version that he does? I don't. We don't have strong evidence to back that up.

[00:11:31]That you need to eat everything in a 6-hour window and be done by noon. If he likes it, that's fine. I personally don't do that. And I don't stress too much over timing. I try to eat most of my calories earlier in the day. I try not to have large heavy meals at night and that's about it. I don't lose sleep over the exact timing of meals and I don't do complete fasts after a given hour. Okay, you've made it this far.

[00:11:57]This is where we shift gears because we've dispelled a lot of the distractions. Now, we look at the exact foods he eats and this is where your benefit is likely to come from. One of his staple meals, he calls it super veggie. He's big on branding. I think this a business guy thing. It's basically a veggie bowl. It includes lentils, mushrooms, a number of vegetables, broccoli, cauliflower. So, this meal gets a lot of things right scientifically and for health benefits.

[00:12:26]Lentils are one of the best sources of protein out there. I have them all the time. They come with some fiber and they come with resistant starch. So, it's great for your gut. Lentils are also great for your blood sugar because they're low glycemic index due to the fiber. And then the cruciferous vegetables, the broccoli, the cauliflower, those are a good source of sulforophane, which is a powerful antioxidant. And then the seasonings he uses are all fantastic. Garlic helps lower blood pressure. Apple cider vinegar is good for your blood sugar as well. So yes, it's a great idea for you to include this type of meals in your diet. Most Westerners, it would be a godsend if they ate more meals like that. He also adds a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. high in polyphenols to this meal. Actually, he adds that to most of his meals. He's big on olive oil. In one of his videos, he even says extravirgin olive oil is his number one anti-aging food. That might be an overstatement, but yeah, the evidence for olive oil is great. It's good for the heart. It's good for your liver. You name it. Is olive oil uniquely good?

[00:13:31]Probably not. I mean, any of these healthy fats, avocados, walnuts, they're all great. We do have a lot of evidence for olive oil. It's been studied a ton.

[00:13:42]So, I would say our confidence level for olive oil is pretty high, but I wouldn't say it's the best fat out there. It's one of the great ones for sure. And he also adds some fermented foods that bowl like kimchi. Fermented foods are great for the gut. I'm a little more cautious with kimchi because it most of the kimchi brands are very high in salt. I don't know if he uses different one or if he makes his own lower in salt or not. Salt is another fascinating topic because Brian Johnson doesn't add any regular salt to his diet. Zero. Although one of his supplements contains some Himalayan pink salt. So he's not on zero added salt, but he doesn't add any to foods and none of the regular salt. So what does that mean for you? Do you have to add salt? Sometimes people ask me if we need to add some salt to foods. We don't need to add salt. We need sodium.

[00:14:30]Sodium is an essential nutrient, but the amount we need is actually pretty small.

[00:14:34]And sodium is included in all kinds of foods. Vegetables, animal foods, they all contain sodium. So you don't need to add salt to food. Now whether adding it is good or bad depends on the individual. Most westerners over consume sodium and their blood pressure is a little too high and they would benefit by cutting back. Although a lot of the sodium comes in ultrarocessed foods, not necessarily added at the table. But individually, some people see their blood pressure skyrocket when they add salt. Some people are much more salt tolerant. They can handle more. Some people even have inverse salt sensitivity. So you take away the sodium and their blood pressure goes up. It's unusual. It's about 10% of people, but it's a thing. So I think it makes sense when it comes to salt to personalize for your nature and your goals. And as for these fancy salts, the Himalayan pink salt and the Baja sea salt, it's mostly hype. We looked at this in a previous video. No matter where the salt comes from and what color it is, it's still going to be overwhelmingly sodium chloride, 98 or 99%. So, it's still going to have the same effects on blood pressure as regular salt. The argument for these fancy salts usually is the trace minerals, but when you look into this, and we covered that in that previous video, the amount of those trace minerals is minuscule. So, it really doesn't make a difference nutritionally. There's a study that quantified this. They estimated that in order to get a meaningful amount of trace minerals from pink salt, you'd need to get six times the maximum amount of sodium recommended. So for most people, that would just skyrocket blood pressure. It's stepping backwards. Save your money with these fancy salts. It's mostly hype. Take it with a grain of salt. Sorry. Just use regular salt. And if your blood pressure is high and you want to lower it, potassium salt is one option. That's actually evidence-based.

[00:16:22]That's what I use at home. Okay. Another example of meal that Brian Johnson gives is a sweet potato curry with quinoa. It includes sweet potato, quinoa, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, and some seasonings and spices as well. So, his meals are definitely fiber richch.

[00:16:39]They're antioxidant rich. That he nails.

[00:16:42]There's no argument there. Just to illustrate this, a recent study asked which foods are more strongly linked to healthy aging, which they defined as preserving all aspects of health and living to the age of 70 without chronic disease. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, unsaturated fats, nuts, legumes, and low-fat dairy were linked to better odds of healthy aging. And then trans fats, sodium, sugary beverages like soda and red and processed meats were linked to warons. And so, as you can see, Brian Johnson nails almost every item that study found with the exception of dairy, which we'll come back to. Now, this is where most content on longevity fails miserably because most people focus on details and fads and expensive supplements that give you little to no benefit. Whereas Brian Johnson's diet actually gets the fundamentals right, and that's what's going to deliver results. The irony is that Brian Johnson is often seen as a fad guy, but his diet actually snubs every fad. He's not scared of fats, but he chooses healthy fats. He's not carbopobic. He's not terrified of carbs, but he chooses the best sources of carbs, whole grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables. So on that chapter, he aced it scientifically.

[00:18:07]One recent study estimated that a diet with whole grains, legumes, fish, fruits, vegetables, and nuts, if started at an early age, would extend life by more than 10 years compared to a standard American diet. And the largest gains would come from eating more legumes, more whole grains, and more nuts. So, we're starting to answer that initial question we posed in the beginning of the video. When we strip away all the hype and all the showmanship, what remains that's actually going to deliver you the results are some of the most sciencebacked foods on Earth. Okay. But there's an important question left for you and your diet. Brian Johnson doesn't include any animal products. He's not entirely vegan because he has a collagen supplement in there that is from animal origin, but his foods are all plant-based. So, do you need to do that to extend life and to avoid disease? He explains in some interviews that he's vegan by choice, not by need.

[00:19:06]>> I'm vegan by choice.

[00:19:08]>> So, he doesn't think that animal products necessarily harm you. And the science backs him up on that. For example, one study looked at Adventists from California, which are known famous for their longevity, and they separated them by diet. So, the omnivores, the vegans, the vegetarians, the pescatarians, and the pescatarians were actually the only ones that had significantly lower mortality than the omnivores. The other plantrich diets, the vegans, vegetarians, etc., they trended towards lower, but didn't reach statistical significance. And as we said, fish is generally linked to, if anything, lower mortality. So you don't have to be completely plant exclusive for health, for longevity, but you do want to have a diet that is high in fiber and high in plants. Now, his reason for eating a vegan diet is actually really interesting. He says that AI is about to dominate us real soon, and it's going to model its behavior on ours, on whatever it sees us doing. And so we want to show compassion over creatures that we dominate so that AI sees it and does the same thing to us and doesn't treat us like trash. It's an interesting argument. It's almost ethics for a self-s serving reason. You let me know your thoughts on that. Brian Johnson has also shared some of his favorite desserts or snacks. One is what he calls nutty pudding. It's basically a mix of nuts, seeds, berries with some cocoa, and some bee protein mixed in as well. So, a lot of healthy fats, a lot of antioxidants. Smart choices. No question about that. In addition to all of his food, he also takes a plethora of supplements. I mean, I think it's 50 or 100 different supplements a day. That's a an a whole video by itself. Suffice to say, for today, I don't take the majority of the supplements he takes. I don't think they have very strong evidence. I'll only touch on a couple exceptions. B12, for someone like him who's on an plant exclusive diet, you need a source of B12. I checked. He does supplement that. Vitamin D, he said he's not in the sun much. He doesn't eat dairy. He doesn't eat fish. So, there's no source of vitamin D in his diet. I checked. He supplements that as well.

[00:21:21]2,000 international units a day. The RDA is only 600 for an adult, but 2,000 is fine. It's not a dangerous dose. He also takes an algae oil for EPA, DHA, these long form omega-3s. The evidence is not super convincing, but there's some evidence suggesting benefit or the brain, maybe the heart, particularly for people who don't have EPA in their diet.

[00:21:45]And algae oil has been shown to be absorbed just fine, just like fish oil.

[00:21:49]And it might actually be cleaner, lower in contaminants because of the way the algae are grown. As for organic or conventionally raised, and this might surprise you, he is pretty cynical about organic food, he doesn't buy that it's uh beneficial, and that's actually a reasonable take. Despite all the hype, we have no compelling evidence that organic food provides any clear benefit.

[00:22:12]So, it's personal preference. I also don't worry much about it. I by conventionally raised almost always. But the main thing is to eat healthy foods.

[00:22:19]Eat fruits and vegetables and all those good things. Whether they're organic or not is up to you. Okay. Drinks. He has this green smoothie that's basically spinach, kale, banana, cherry, and then some nuts and seeds. He also has water of course, and then tea. And he has this drink that basically he took a bunch of supplements and made them into a liquid form. Other than that, he drinks zero alcohol, zero soda, actually zero refined sugar in all of his diet. And those are good choices as well. Okay, now let's get into the most useful part, the most actionable part. If you want Brian Johnson's results, but you don't want to be Bryant Johnson, this is what I would actually recommend to a friend.

[00:22:59]Rule number one, remove the junk. Sugary drinks, processed meats, artificial desserts, fried fast foods, ultrarocessed snacks. Getting rid of that is the most bang for your buck.

[00:23:10]Rule number two, the fiber foundation.

[00:23:13]Legumes, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, and seeds. These should be staples of the diet that you have daily.

[00:23:22]Good for the heart, good for the gut, good for the brain, you name it. If you want one cheap longevity food, add more legumes to your diet like beans and lentils. Rule number three, best fats.

[00:23:35]Olive oil, nuts, seeds, avocados, fish and seafood, fermented dairy. You don't need less fat in your diet. You need better fats. Rule number four, enough protein but from great sources. Beans, lentils, fish, seafood, lean meats. This is especially important if you're older, over 65, if you're very physically active, or if you're trying to lose weight. And protein powder is fine, too, if you need a little extra. Rule number five, cover any nutrient gaps. If your diet is plant exclusive, have some B12.

[00:24:08]If you don't catch much sun, you might need a vitamin D supplement. If you don't eat regular salt or fish or dairy, you might need to supplement iodine, etc. So, that answers our initial question. When we strip away all the money and all the flash and all the branding, the healthy core is very simple. Remove the junk, eat healthy foods most of the time, and address any nutrient gaps. Brian Johnson had an entire team research and design this diet with endless resources, and you can get the same benefits at home cheap. Is this diet going to make you immortal? Of course not. It's going to help you avoid disease and age as gracefully as possible. Subscribe for more evidence-based breakdowns. No hype, just the science, and no sales. I'll see you on the next