In the search for a longer and healthier life, innovators like Bryan Johnson are pushing the boundaries of what science and technology can do. Bryan is a well-known entrepreneur and visionary, has made significant results in the field of longevity by incorporating lifestyle changes including light therapy into his daily routine.
I aim to explore his fascinating life and work, reveal some of the habits he follows, take a look at the results he has achieved so far and examine how light therapy plays a part in his outstanding journey.
First Things First: Who Is Bryan Johnson?
Bryan is a very successful entrepreneur and forward-thinking investor, known for his ventures in various tech-related industries.
He is the founder and CEO of Kernel, a neurotechnology company focused on developing advanced brain-computer interfaces. Besides to his work with Kernel, he has also founded OS Fund, which invests in transformative technologies that have the potential to reshape our future. Among other things, these are discoveries in the field of diagnostics, synthetic biology and genomics. Some of these already sound like we’re living in a sci-fi movie.
So, we realize that Bryan's life revolves around pushing the boundaries of human potential. He invests in and develops technologies that aim to improve the quality of life, extend human lifespan, and augment human capabilities. Even for me, - who reads quite a lot about current and future medical inventions and biohacking gadgets - the device Johnson’s company at Kernel is developing is quite extraordinary.
So, he’s been on a mission to create breakthrough inventions, while understanding and even improving one of our most important organs, the brain. While he's had becoming more and more successful as an entrepreneur, he started to fail in his private life, which began to fall to into pieces.
The beginning of a new mission
For many years, Brian was a hard worker, who ate junk food, had poor sleep and experienced a lot of stress. Clearly, he burnt himself down in this period of time and compromised his own health. Sounds similar to many of the “successful” start-upper stories, right?
As he writes in his post:
“I overate, gained more than fifty pounds, fueling relentless shame, guilt and malaise.”
He was in a bad shape, was depressed, and even though he worked on exciting projects he didn’t enjoy the process anymore. His divorce even made his life more difficult and miserable. After this "last" call however, he began transforming his lifestyle completely.
Since then, his focus has been on longevity. In 2021, he announced his new company, called Project Blueprint, with the aim of reversing the aging process of his organs.
Project Blueprint requires a very ambitious and expensive effort to make Bryan' organs function like those of an 18-year-old. This protocol involves taking pills, following a strict diet, doing daily hour-long workouts, sticking to a specific sleep routine, while being monitored by a team of over 30 doctors. Besides, Bryan also uses the latest technologies to enhance his results even further.
And he’s been doing it pretty well, as you’ll see.
First Thing After Waking Up: Light Therapy with Lux Lamp
One of the most notable aspects of Bryan’s daily routine is how much he’s committed to light therapy. Studies have shown that adjusting one’s circadian rhythm contributes to better sleep, improved mode and more energy.
This is one big reason why Bryan uses his Lux Lamp every morning. He published a post on his Instagram account as he stands in front of a 12-inch, 10,000 lux lamp which functions as a wake up call for his body and mind.
Bryan gets up at 5.30am before the sun has risen and uses a panel that he bought from Amazon as a natural sunlight replacement. As we can read in his post, he spends about 3-5 minutes bathing in this artificial light everyday.
So the preparation for a quality sleep already starts in the beginning of the morning. If we think about this, everyone should go out to get some natural light. And when it's not possible, use an artificial lamp instead. I’d like to mention that my belief is that you can never mimic fully natural sunlight, but most likely the lux lamp is still more than nothing.
Bryan Johnson’s Red Light Therapy Protocol
As he shared with the public, he does not only use light to mimic natural sunlight, but also red and near infrared light to accelerate healing and slow down the aging process - which is his ultimate goal.
Based on research papers, the therapy has a lot of benefits such as improved mitochondrial function, reduced inflammation, and supported collagen production, all of which contribute to a younger appearance and increase in vitality.
Bryan claims to have experienced remarkable results through his dedication to light therapy. Though the results may vary among individuals, Bryan reports:
- increased energy levels,
- improved skin texture,
- as well as enhanced mental clarity.
Of course, you may say: alright, but he does so many things in order to feel that way. Don’t forget that he tests everything, every device, every bite of food, every movement that he implements in his life, meaning that he tested the effectiveness of red light therapy as well, and he still sticks to this.
As stated earlier, Bryan uses red light therapy for accelerated healing, skin health, for mood and sleep quality improvement. He’s been trying out several different brands and manufacturers, but what we can tell from his latest Instagram post is that his current panel is from RedDot Led, straight from China.
The panel emits 630 nm and 830 nm wavelengths and there’s a pulsing option ranging from continuous pulse up to 40 Hz.
This device has a claimed power output of 200 mw/cm^2 irradiance at 6 inches (noting that often manufacturers claimed numbers are a lot less than our tested figures).
Compared to recommendations from other red light therapy brands, Bryan doesn't suggest to do red light therapy every day, but only 3 times a week for a length of 12 minutes. It’s a powerful, full body panel, so it's more effective than a smaller, portable panel.
Bryan also uses FlexBeam, a wearable device, especially for healing of his vein after blood tests, but also for smaller injuries.
In 2021, he also tried Celluma Light after waking. He combined his light therapy sessions with mediation practices. It's a matter of question whether he still uses this product or changed it for something else.
Daily Routine Beyond Light Therapy
While light therapy plays a crucial role in Johnson's daily routine, it's not the only factor contributing to his overall health and well-being.
Clean eating combined with intermittent fasting + dozens of supplements
Bryan follows a holistic lifestyle, encompassing clean eating, regular exercise, meditation, and other practices designed to optimize his mental and physical health.
As for the diet part, he’s vegan. Each morning he has his morning drink, named "The Green Giant,", then he eats a “Super Veggie” bowl and a “Nutty pudding”, and finally another meal around noon which is also based on veggies and salads.
Besides his repetitive, plant-based meals, he takes dozens of supplements including creatine, vitamin D3, ashwagandha, B-complex, Zinc and so many more.
Morning, full body workout
Bryan's fitness protocol emphasizes muscle memory and requires mental engagement, as the same exercises are performed every single day. In the mornings he performs full-body strength training as well as mobility exercises, adding extra high-intensity interval training (HIIT) sessions to these.
Testing and fine-tuning
His professional team is constantly looking for new possibilities that could foster his mission. They dive deep into research papers and collect evidence of how that particular activity can improve his longevity.
As he also stated in an interview:
“We would gather all the evidence, we would create clinical guidelines, and then we'd implement the protocols. My daily lifestyle is a result of that process.”
And you won’t be surprised by the fact that measuring the effectiveness of any of his activity or habit is non-questionable.
If he introduces a new routine or a new device into his life, he’ll test how it affects his health. He does blood tests regularly. He's constantly wearing a WHOOP band, which records data about your fitness, sleep, and stress levels.
Some of his routine measurements include:
- Weight, body fat, muscle mass, body water, BMI
- Sleep: HR, HRV, Deep, REM, Respiration Rate, Body Temp
- Blood Glucose
- MRI - whole body
- Ultrasound - whole body
- Biofluids (blood, stool, urine, saliva)
- Physical fitness - whoop + Polar
- Eyes
So testing is key. Now it's unclear how he measures the affects of red light therapy specifically. But the fact that he continues doing it suggests that it likely contributes positively to enhancing his overall well-being.
Getting Younger Every Day: His Results Up Until Now With The Blueprint Protocol
Over the course of two years following the Blueprint protocol, Bryan achieved remarkable results in various aspects of his health and aging process.
Here's some of his achievements:
- Slowed aging
- Clinical biomarkers
- Gray hair reduction
- Brain health
- Sleep quality
Quite fascinating, right?
Note that, these are his results of following the whole protocol, so not only doing red light therapy.
I've reached out to Bryan asking him how much of the results are due to the use of red light therapy. I hope this is a question that we'll be answered soon. So come back as we'll update this article!
Light Therapy Is Helping Reducing Bryan's Biological Age
While light therapy seems to be a key component of his strategy for reducing biological age, it’s important to note that probably his holistic approach, all together contributes to his success. This includes an extremely strict diet, regular exercise, meditation, and other practices designed to optimize his health. The combination of these elements likely lead to those remarkable results he reports.
Bryan's dedication to exploring and applying innovative technologies and sticking to his exceptional lifestyle, serves as an inspiration for everyone interested in biohacking and lifestyle changes. However, he has a team of professionals behind his back, so he’s in a safe zone. So, if you’d do the same, be cautious. We’re different and not everything works for everyone!
