AGE/DOSE
Aging & Longevity

An Ordinary Guy Tries Bryan Johnson’s Blueprint Longevity Routine

Podcaster Nick Tucker tries Bryan Johnson’s Blueprint longevity protocol for a month and reverses his biological age — a prediction of how long you have left.

By Bennett M. Sherman

Key Points:

  • Following the Blueprint longevity protocol for a month, Tucker reverses his overall biological age from 36 to 33.
  • Tucker lost 20 lbs while trying Johnson’s Blueprint protocol.
  • Blood fat (triglycerides) dropped ~77%, and harmful cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein [LDL]) fell ~27% after going through the Blueprint protocol for a month.

Nick Tucker, a correspondent from the Hard Reset Podcast, underwent biohacking expert Bryan Johnson’s Blueprint longevity protocol for a month. In doing so, he found that his biological age — a prediction of your cells’ age — was reversed from 36 to 33. The month-long protocol also lowered his body weight by a whopping 20 pounds. Moreover, his blood triglycerides dropped ~77%, and his harmful LDL cholesterol fell ~27%.

These noteworthy findings may help us to understand whether undergoing Johnson’s relatively expensive Blueprint program is worth the cost — $333 per month. Along those lines, Johnson and about 30 doctors designed Blueprint over the course of two years with lifespan extension in mind. However, the website for Blueprint does not make any claims regarding the degree to which it may reduce biological age or extend lifespan.

Johnson says, though, that what is coming with self-care regimens like Blueprint may dramatically extend our lifespans. In that regard, Tucker used body weight measurements, blood fat and cholesterol analyses, and biological age testing to find whether a month of the protocol pays off.

“Is the fountain of youth here right now?” asks Johnson. He adds, “It’s just hiding in tens of thousands of scientific publications.”

An Overhaul of Supplement Intake, Diet, and Fitness

Johnson’s Blueprint self care regimen entails an overhaul of one’s diet, fitness activities, and measurements of the protocol’s overall impact on biological aging. To develop Blueprint over the course of two years, Johnson and hired clinicians evaluated evidence from scientific literature and fused that with data from physical evaluations to tailor his self care protocol. He would then gather more data on his physical health after using the protocol for a period of time and rehash the program until he arrived at his optimized protocol version — what is now Blueprint. After Johnson’s two years of using the Blueprint protocol, he says his rate of aging has been slowed by the equivalent of 31 years.

Over a Hundred Supplements, an Easy-to-Follow Diet, and an Hour of Exercise a Day

To attain this remarkably slow pace of aging, Johnson starts every morning with an intense workout. He also takes over a hundred supplements and drinks a concoction called the green giant that includes cognition-promoting creatine and the pro-longevity molecule spermidine — in the form of chlorella powder.

For his meals, Johnson regularly eats what he refers to as the “super veggie,” a mixture of broccoli, cauliflower, shiitake mushrooms, black lentils, hemp seeds, garlic, and ginger. He dashes the “super veggie” with olive oil and dark chocolate for an interesting flavor that is a bit bitter.

Another staple go-to dish for Johnson is “nutty pudding.” This dish contains macadamia nuts, walnuts, flaxseed, cinnamon, berries, and pomegranate juice.

Interestingly, Johnson consumes all of these foods before 11 AM, leaving an 18-hour window where he does not eat each day. Essentially, Johnson maintains a vegan diet, based solely on plant foods, mainly consisting of the “green giant,” the “super veggie,” and the “nutty pudding.”

Applying Johnson’s Blueprint Plan for a Month Reverses Biological Age and Lowers Body Weight and Cholesterol

Tucker underwent Blueprint’s plan for a month. In doing so, he consumed over 100 supplements a day, exercised an hour each day including 10 minutes of high-intensity exercise, and ate three meals a day consisting mostly of the “green giant,” the “super veggie,” and the “nutty pudding.”

The supplements gave Tucker’s skin a glowing appearance, according to his coworkers. Moreover, he found that his body odor had a metallic scent, possibly from consuming large quantities of iron in the supplements.

Tucker did not enjoy the exercise. He walked for most of his daily physical activity and covered over 100 miles during his month undergoing the Blueprint protocol.

For the diet portion, Tucker was also allowed a third meal each day of his choosing, so long as it did not contain processed foods and was less than 500 calories. He also had to cut alcohol, nicotine, and THC from his diet.

He found the Blueprint diet very boring since he ate essentially the same thing every day. With a little preparation, though, aside from eating a boring diet, he did not find it very difficult to adhere to this dietary protocol.

Also, Tucker did not find that he got hungry while undergoing the Blueprint protocol. He was sufficiently satiated so that he often did not find the third meal necessary.

The Blueprint Protocol Reversed Tucker’s Biological Age

Perhaps the ultimate test of age reversal is the DNA molecular tagging (epigenetics)-based biological age test. For that, Tucker spit into a vial and sent it in for testing. Intriguingly, after just a month of undergoing the Blueprint protocol, Tucker’s overall biological age dropped from 36 to 33, a possible sign of slowed or reversed aging.

Another payoff from the month’s Blueprint protocol endeavor was that he lost about 20 pounds — dropping from about 260 pounds to 240 pounds. Moreover, he lost a substantial amount of abdominal fat, high levels of which can contribute to conditions like type II diabetes and heart disease. His triglycerides plummeted ~77%, and his LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) dipped ~27%.

Combining the Blueprint Protocol with More Affordable Supplement Options

Tucker’s dramatic improvements in biological age, body weight, blood triglycerides, and cholesterol after just a month of undergoing Blueprint beg the question of what can happen after longer periods. Moving forward, Tucker says he may alter some of the dietary habits he used while practicing the Blueprint protocol but will continue to exercise for an hour a day. In that sense, like Johnson, his case may be near-perfect for finding the potential long-term benefits of using the Blueprint protocol.

Since, according to Tucker, the supplements needed for Blueprint cost around $1,000 a month, some people interested in the plan may not be able to afford all of its recommendations. An alternative way to reap the age-defying rewards from the Blueprint plan could be to do research and find what supplements are most essential. Some ideas of important supplements could be compounds called senolytics that eliminate dysfunctional cells (senescent cells), which accumulate with age, along with the cell energy-boosting molecule nicotinamide riboside (NR).

For a much lower price than the nearly $1,000 a month it costs for all of Blueprint’s recommended supplements, one could choose an alternative like RESTORIN. Formulas like RESTORIN harness senolytics and NAD+ boosting molecules, which may substitute for the wide array of supplements the Blueprint protocol recommends.

In addition to this kind of supplement, exercising an hour a day and consuming the “green giant,” “super veggie,” and “nutty pudding” for most meals could set someone well on his/her way to reversing biological age. To confirm the possible age-defying effects of this type of regimen, one could then easily purchase an epigenetics-based biological age test kit for about $250 to $300. Engaging in such a protocol and confirming results with epigenetics-based biological age assessments could propel possible age reversal, similar to Nick Tucker.

Source

Does Bryan Johnson’s $2m biohacking routine actually work? We tested it to see. Freethink https://www.freethink.com/series/hard-reset/bryan-johnson (2023).

References

Björntorp P, Rosmond R. Visceral obesity and diabetes. Drugs. 1999;58 Suppl 1:13-8; discussion 75-82. doi: 10.2165/00003495-199958001-00005. PMID: 10576519.

Ni YQ, Liu YS. New Insights into the Roles and Mechanisms of Spermidine in Aging and Age-Related Diseases. Aging Dis. 2021 Dec 1;12(8):1948-1963. doi: 10.14336/AD.2021.0603. PMID: 34881079; PMCID: PMC8612618.

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