I’ve tracked Bryan Johnson since ’15 – My top 8 practical longevity hacks

This thread comes directly from Bryan Johnson’s Blueprint Protocol and his public information about tracking hundreds of biomarkers. He’s the most measured man in history. I have read everything. In 2023, I produced a six-part video series of my findings. I stay updated with Bryan Johnson’s books, YouTube, X, conferences, and newsletter.

Why is Bryan Johnson’s body temperature 5° cooler?

Bryan Johnson monitors many biomarkers daily, including his body temperature, which produces the most peculiar result of all.

He claims his waking body temperature is 94°F (34.5°C), which almost 5°F (2.4°C) lower than a typical human body temperature of 98.6°F (36.9°C).

Hypothermia occurs when your body temperature drops below 95°F (35°C), a medical emergency that can be fatal if not treated promptly.

Wim Hof is famous for taking his body temperature drastically below levels the medical community thought was possible without resulting in death, but only for a short duration.

What Bryan Johnson has achieved is like taking a metaphorical 24/7 cold plunge.

Johnson says this is an expected result of everything – diet, sleep, exercise – and doesn’t attribute it to one supplement or protocol in particular.

Biological vs Chronological Age

Bryan Johnson’s Blueprint Protocol is about taking action today to slow the rate of aging. Let me introduce you to Ren and Kai.

Both were born on the same day. That means their chronological ages are identical.

Their population’s life expectancy is 82 years.

Ren led a normal life – semi-stressful job, family life, gym when possible, routinely has dessert and aclohol. Upon retirement at 61, Ren started to prioritize health. Ren’s rate of aging is 1.1, or 10% faster than normal. Ren died at the age of 74 (chronological age) with a biological age of 82.

Kai’s rate of aging is 0.85 due to emphasising health starting in their 20s when the benefits were hard to measure. Today, Kai is 85 years old and can expect to live healthfully until 97 and likely become a great-grandpa.

Chonological age is a measure of time. Biological age is a measure of your organism.

This brings me to the first easy longevity hack you can implement today: track your cardiovascular age with the Oura smart ring application. Bryan Johnson prefers Whoosh, and I’m sure they also track this. Putting some focus on this metric will change your habits.

Oura has a monthly cost, which I believe is around $6. Bryan Johnson uses the Whoop watch, which has no upfront cost but requires a higher subscription fee of around $20 per month.

Who is the author?

My name is Danny, and I write 100% of the threads here. I have been following my own version of the Blueprint Protocol long before Bryan Johnson decided to become healthy in 2018. I’ll share at the end, the things that I do regularly.

I’m 37 years old with 8% body fat and a VO2 max of 58.9 (top 1%).

I have been weightlifting consistently for 22 years. My strength puts me in the top 1% of the population. Deadlift: 475lbs; Bench Press: 315lbs; Squat: 180lbs.

I have been cooking for myself since 2015 when Airbnb fired me and I became jobless. I cook a mix of pasta, rice, lentils, quinoa with typically a seafood protein and veggies. In the morning, I have a super smoothie packed with fat, fiber, vitamins, minerals, fruits, protein, and delicious carbs, including sugar in the form of agave syrup.

Easy Longevity Hack #2: add fiber-rich and powerhouse superfood black lentils into your diet. They beat pasta, rice, quinoa, and regular lentils in every nutrition category.

I’ve been sleeping on time and well since my mom made me when I was very young. Minus some party years in college and a few years afterward, bedtime is 10:30pm.

And I’ve been tracking over 100 blood markers every year since 2013 (this will be a future longevity hack and could push you over the edge to focus on your health).

In summary, here are my longevity regulars:

• 30- t0 60-second cold therapy at the end of showers
• Drink 20oz of water 3 hours before bed to sleep throughout the night. Drink 10 oz upon waking up.
• One apnea session per day
• 3 full-body weightlifting workouts weekly, plus 3 calisthenics
• One 45-second HIIT after full-body workouts
• Cooking my own meals (90%): fruits, veggies, grains, and proteins
• Sleep 10pm – 6:30am, 95% of the nights
• As of 2025, I added HBOT (hyperbaric oxygen chamber), but with a caveat

Blueprint by Brian Johnson: Summary

Bryan Jonhson has coined the term Self-Aided Destruction or SAD.

SAD is:

• an irregular sleep schedule
• steroids
• prescription drugs like adderall
• a poor diet
• sitting on the couch every evening after work rather than exercising
• no social life
• smoking
• a sunburn

The Blueprint Protocol replaces your error-prone human decisions with a refined, health-optimized algorithm.

This is no different than the TikTok algorithm that keeps you scrolling. Bryan Johnson’s longevity algorithm, he claims, will keep you addicted to being healthy.

It focuses on diet, sleep, and exercise. But there are aesthetic purposes, too, like dental health and hair loss prevention.

Hair Loss Blueprint Tips

People seem to be most interested in Bryan Johnson’s hair loss protocol, so I put this section up front, but you’ll understand it’s genuinely unspectacular.

Bryan Johnson claims he has reversed his gray hair by 80%. He didn’t. This doesn’t exist. I bought hair dye based on his recommendation. Of course, he never said it was hair dye. But, it was..simply..a hair dye.

Later, he admitted to using hair dye.

If you’re reading this section, it’s a near certainty that you are losing your hair. In case there are any insanely curious readers, let’s take a quick step back.

Hair loss happens to nearly everyone, including women. That’s why you notice the few 30+-year-olds with great, not grey hair. I noticed one the other day and felt jealous. Full head of thick hair. That’s how you’ll know. Anyways, hair loss prevention has two components: slow the loss and regrow what you can.

Let me be clear: Bryan Johnson does nothing special to date that has any further positive effects for hair growth. He is trying new things, bless him for that, but nothing magical so far. If eating insanely clean, getting to bed on time, and exercising regularly has bonus effects on hair loss or growth, Bryan Johnson and I surely experience them, but it’s not measurable.

I will close out this section by giving you the relevant longevity hacks. Admittedly, they’re a cop out because BJ has nothing to do with them. They’re widely available and proven to work over decades.

Easy Longevity Hack #3: Use finasteride to slow hair loss and topical minoxidil to regrow what you can.

If you’re worried about post-Finasteride syndrome like I was, I recommend the YouTube channel Hair Cafe. Currently, I take 0.50mg every other day. That is just above the minimally effective dose of 0.20/mg/day.

What Supplements Does Bryan Johnson Take?

Firstly, a rumor to disarm: Bryan Johnson does not take a hundred supplements daily. He used to, but doesn’t anymore. He might in the future. His supplemental routine changes based on his biomarkers.

Why does Bryan Johnson take supplements? To adjust, up or down, a particular blood biomarker.

It’s similar to taking a statin to lower your blood cholesterol, except Bryan Johnson wants to adjust his health all naturally.

One big warning before we start: supplements are not FDA-approved, so purity is an issue.

Longevity Hack #4: I recommend checking LabDoor.com for their independent testing to verify the purity of your supplements.

Here are some of the more common or more unique supplements Bryan Johnson has taken:

Supplement	Purpose	Status	Notes
Creatine	Muscle strength, cognitive health	✅ Current	5g daily
Melatonin	Sleep aid	✅ Current	Often paired with magnesium
Magnesium	Sleep, relaxation	✅ Current	Glycinate is a popular form
5-HTP	Sleep, serotonin precursor	🧪 Occasional	Natural alternative
Lithium (low-dose)	Mood stabilization	🧪 Occasional	Microdosing (<5mg)
NMN / NR	Boosts NAD+, life extension	🧪 Intermittent	Long-term effects only measurable after decades
Curcumin	Anti-inflammatory	🧪 Use varies	Watch for purity issues
Metformin	Blood sugar regulation, anti-aging	❌ Discontinued	Once used for lifespan studies
Rapamycin	mTOR modulation, longevity	❌🧪 Controversial	Experimental; discontinued due to increasing rate of aging
Testosterone	Hormone balance (used when underfed)	❌ Discontinued	Used during low-calorie period
HGH (Human Growth Hormone)	Muscle repair, recovery	❌ Discontinued	Not currently part of protocol

Bryan Johnson Sleep Schedule

Bryan Johnson’s bedtime is 8:30pm. He wakes up without an alarm at 5am. This is roughly 9 hours and 30 minutes of sleep per day.

He stops looking at screens hours before bed.

He uses blue-light blocking glasses a few hours before bed.

Essentially, he tries to wind down before bed.

I suggest not taking calls or reading texts or social media messages hours before bed simply because you don’t want to receive any bad news that affects your sleep.

There have been times when I’ve checked my phone and couldn’t fall asleep because something was on my mind.

Sleep is sacred. Johnson calls himself a professional sleeper.

Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night to pee? I noticed about 50% of the population does this and considers it normal after having done it for decades.

It is not normal and is easily preventable.

I asked a friend, and she said no. Then she told me she wakes up at 5am to go pee. When I asked her if she goes back to bed, she said that sometimes she can’t fall back alseep. So, if at any time during the night or the morning having to pee is the thing that wakes you up, pay attention because this is the easiest and most effective thing you can do to extend your life.

Longevity Hack #5: Drink 200ml or 20oz of water 3 hours before bed and pee just before you’re ready to fall asleep for a whole night of uninterrupted sleep.

This is what works for me. I go to bed at 10 to 10:30pm, so I drink 20oz of water at 7pm and usually eat dinner around 7:30 to 8pm. This allows me to sleep through the night and drastically increase my sleep quality. For you, it might be 2 or 4 hours before bed, and it might be 15 or 25 ounces of water.

Does Bryan Johnson Drink Coffee or Alcohol?

No. Bryan Johnson used to consume both alcohol, in the form of wine, and coffee, but has since stopped for different reasons.

He’s made no comments on coffee’s relation to life extension, but it affected his sleep, and for that reason cut coffee completely out of his diet.

Alcohol is at best a neutral and at worst, harmful for life extension. It’s not a net positive, and Bryan Johnson has removed all forms of alcohol from his diet. He considers alcohol SAD.

Did Bryan Johnson take the Covid vaccine?

No one is immune from poor decisions.

Bryan Johnson initially was enthusiastic about the mRNA vaccine, in which he had indirectly invested in the technology seven years earlier. He received the Moderna vaccine in April 2021. Since then, he has expressed regret for taking the vaccine, and it has affected his heart health ever since.

Related Thread: How I Think About Risk + Thoughts on COVID

Bryan Johnson on Hyperbaric Chambers

Bryan Johnson has shared that he thinks hyperbaric chambers are possibly the most efficacious treatment he has ever used. But, how do you know which hyperbaric chamber to pay for?

You want a hard-shelled hyperbasic chamber with a 2.0+ ATA pressure rating. This converts to 28.4 PSI.

Ask how much time you’ll be under maximum pressure. Usually, there is a period (5-15 minutes) at the beginning where the pressure is increasing slowly and at the end (5-10 minutes) when the pressure is decreasing back to normal. A business can increase both of these times, but realistically, they are overly cautious already and with someone watching over you, there is limited to no risk for reducing these warmup/down times.

You want medical-grade 100% oxygen and not oxygen concentrators. Our atmosphere is 21% oxygen.

You should receive treatment for between 60 to 90 minutes.

Finally, evaluate “stupid rules”. For example, Bioxellerator in Medellin, Colombia, makes you wear a breathing mask while inside the chamber.

The question to ask is: what is the pressure they run at?

Blueprint Diet in a Nutshell

Bryan Johnson is vegan, but he doesn’t claim this is necessary to follow the Blueprint Protocol.

His first meal is before most people wake up, and his last meal, known as dinner, is at 11:30am. The timing is designed to improve his sleep quality.

He does not consume salt.

He uses low-temperature, high-humidity, high-acidity, high-antioxidant cooking methods to avoid formations of AGEs and ALEs.

You don’t need to remember all of that.

Lonvevity Hack #5: Cook your food on low temperature.

His diet is 2,250 calories and consists of:

• 25% protein, or 130 grams at 520 total calories
• 35% carbs, or 206g at 824 calories
• 40% fat, or 101g at 909 calories

This is similar to my diet of 25% protein and carbs and 50% fat at 3,000 daily.

Don’t be afraid of fat. It satiates you more than carbs and increases your testosterone.

Also, don’t be afraid of carbs. Carbs make you strong.

Do be afraid of the combination of fat and sugar. This is deadly.

There have been periods where I ate 5,000 calories per day when I was bulking to 205lbs or 93kgs. I am convinced this is unhealthy, but I was not fat. I have an extremely dynamic metabolism only rivaled by bolemic women said Menno Henselmens, who I paid $8,000 over 9 months to be my trainer.

Many people talk about cheese being bad or hamburgers being unhealthy, etc. While there is an argument to be made, I eat pizza and burgers and pasta and even sweets, but there is one ingredient I avoid at all costs.

It requires you to read the nutritional label.

Longevity Hack #6: Avoid the ingredient that creates trans fat – partially hydrogenated oils.

Every time you eat trans fat, it stays in your body until it eventually blocks a vein or artery and kills you.

You cannot rely on the nutritional label because there are tricks to show 0g trans fat when there is actually the dangerous human-made crooked molecule.

If the product contains less than 0.5g per serving, the nutritional label can show 0g. So what if there’s 0.6g trans fat? Then, the manufacturer will decrease the serving size from 30g to 24g, the trans fat per 24g serving is now 0.48g, and you’ll see 0g on the nutrition label.

Diet is so essential and so ignored that I want to give you another longevity hack.

Longevity Hack #7: Choose the product with the fewest ingredients.

Let’s say you want to buy a chocolate bar. Read the nutritional labels until you find the product with the fewest ingredients.

A bar from Hershey’s will read something like this: Sugar, Milk, Chocolate Cocoa, Butter, Skim Milk, Milk Fat Lecithin (Soy), PGPR, Natural Flavor

The ingredients are always listed by weight, so Sugar is the main ingredient in that chocolate bar.

Choose the one next to it with an ingredient label closer to: Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Solids

How to test your blood biomarkers?

I’ve been testing my blood and recording the results since 2013. For me, this is as close to our best health preventative medicine as there is. I have received testing all over the world, including India, USA, Philippines, and Colombia. I even tested at two labs on the same day and compared the results. Check out the dannybooboo YouTube channel for that video.

How can you realistically test as many blood biomarkets as Bryan Johnson?

Move to Medellín, Colombia, and get hundreds of blood biomarkers tested as often as you want without insurance for a few hundred bucks.

Joking aside, Bryan Johnson is working on various offerings so that people who are interested in following Blueprint but don’t have the time or money that Johnson has can still do it. This includes full-body MRI scans, diet, blood testing, and more.

Your insurance covers basic testing through your Primary Care Physician. While these are good, they are incomplete. Modern medicine is not preventative, so if you want to test, for example, your testosterone, you’d first have to have negative symptoms, explain them to your doctor, maybe try some basic protocols the doctor suggests, maybe see a specialist, then maybe get your blood tested for free and total testosterone.

Bryan Johnson Fitness routine

Bryan Johson works out very early in the morning and combines cardio and strength training.

He tracks his heart rate throughout and has specific goals of how much time he should be in each of the 5 heart rate zones per workout and week.

Here are his recommendations:

• Work out 6 days per week; 3 strength, 3 cardio
• Aim for 150 minutes of moderate exercise where you can hold a conversation
• 75 minutes of intense cardio where you could not converse
• Add flexibility, balance, and mobility

As you know, I’m a big proponent of working out. I think it affects everything from your confidence to your sleep and even your income. The great thing about being physically fit is that it only shows on the outside when the inside is in peak condition.

Who is Bryan Johnson?

At this point, almost everyone in the health and wellness space knows the name Bryan Johnson, who is not to be confused with steroid-ridden, aged, liar Brian Johson or Liver King.

Bryan has been well-known in Silicon Valley since 2013 when he sold his company Braintree to PayPal for $800 million.

In 2018, he started what would become the Blueprint Protocol (officially named in 2021).

He burst into worldwide fame in 2021 with the following headlines:

Bryan Johnson spends $2 million every year to live forever.

This tech millionaire takes blood plasma from his son.

My Bryan Johnson Criticism

“Do you think you’re going to die?” Bryan Johnson: “No.”

The main NPC critique is that Bryan Johnson is profiting from Blueprint. My response: who the fuck cares? You make something, you also sell it, you earn income. Let’s move on from that point.

My issue lies elsewhere: his shifting priorities.

Back when he was mostly out of the public eye, he devoted himself entirely to his health—with near-flawless discipline. He often references his eight-month streak of perfect sleep scores. But why only eight months?

Once the big spotlight found him starting in late 2023, health slid down his list of priorities. He showed up at Paris Hilton’s birthday bash. He did something with Kimmie K. He rang in the New Year at a star-studded party. All events taking place late into the night. He claimed to nap beforehand to make up for lost sleep, but let’s be real, it’s not the same.

In his YouTube video introducing his hyperbaric chamber routine, which consists of 60, 90-minute sessions over 3 months, or 6.25% of waking hours, he stated that he was too busy even to drive 15 minutes to a local clinic, let alone spend 90 minutes inside the chamber five times a week. So he had one installed in his home, allowing him to work during treatment. In that same interview, he said that he’s running four companies.

This is not the behavior coming out of a man who wants to live forever. Oh, and that brings me to me next point. In the past, he said that he’s not trying to live forever.

More recently, he said that he will not die.

A common critique of Blueprint is that it strips all the fun out of life. And sure, some people wouldn’t want to live like that. They’re free to opt out. But Bryan isn’t. He set the standard.

Yes, he parties far less than most. But what’s the measurable impact of even occasional indulgence? Is partying once a month meaningfully better than partying every weekend?

At some point, the returns diminish. Maybe one late night per month shaves a week off your lifespan, while four per month costs you two. The tradeoff might sound trivial—unless you’re aiming to squeeze every extra moment from your final decades.

So the question is: would you trade three extra nights of fun in your 30s for a week less life in your 80s?

For Bryan, it seems fame has crept slightly ahead of health in his priorities. And for someone who’s publicly chosen sleep over sex and skipped major events for recovery, that shift raises questions.

Conclusion: Sleep, Diet, Exercise

The main thing I want you to get from my article is that you should begin to focus on health when you’re young and it’s unnoticeable because when it becomes noticeable, it’ll be too late.

If you’re starting to become health due to an ailment – that’s too late, though still better than never starting to prioritize health.

Similar to a man going bald, starting earlier is the best approach.

Or a woman getting cellulite, a lifetime of eating well and going to the gym will delay the malady.

And everything combined – sleep, diet, exercise – will delay death or allow a few more years of healthy, independent life at the minimum.

Next, go check out the complete Bryan Johnson six-part YouTube series for more.