Tech millionaire Bryan Johnson, 47, recently suffered a severe allergic reaction following an experimental anti-aging procedure involving fat injections intended to restore facial volume as part of his 'Project Baby Face'. Johnson, focused on reversing the effects of aging, underwent the procedure to mitigate the gaunt appearance caused by his strict diet and low body fat percentage.
In an Instagram post, Johnson shared his experience: "Immediately after the injections, my face started to explode. And then it got worse, worse and worse, until I couldn't even see," he stated, as reported by El Tiempo. The allergic reaction left his face swollen and his eyes nearly closed, resulting in temporary vision loss.
Despite the side effects, Johnson's face returned to normal after seven days. He acknowledged the failure of the treatment but remained undeterred in his quest for youthfulness. "Seven days later, my face was back to normal and we were back in the trenches reformulating plans for our next attempt. One thing is to make a product and another very different is to be the product," Johnson remarked, according to El País Uruguay.
Johnson's Project Baby Face is part of his larger Project Blueprint, an anti-aging program overseen by a team of more than 30 doctors and health experts. He is spending approximately $20 million on the endeavor, which combines technology, intensive exercise, vitamins, and strict medical supervision.
His daily routine includes consuming a precise diet of nutrient-rich vegetables totaling 1,977 calories per day to maintain an extremely low body fat percentage. He takes over 100 daily supplements, such as metformin, turmeric, zinc, and lithium for brain health, along with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and herbal extracts like resveratrol and NAD+.
Johnson follows sleep protocols, including wearing blue light-blocking goggles two hours before bed to optimize recovery and regeneration. He wakes up at 5 a.m., exercises for an hour to 90 minutes, and avoids excesses like alcohol and sugar in his diet.
His methods have drawn both intrigue and criticism from medical experts. Some label his techniques as pseudoscience, questioning the scientific basis and potential risks of such experimental treatments. Others see him as a living test case for potential anti-aging breakthroughs.
Johnson's journey is documented in the film Don't Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever, directed by Chris Smith. The documentary explores his health protocol and his relationships with his father and teenage son. "We may walk into a future where all of us live healthier and longer. I want to live with everything that I am," Johnson says in the film.
Despite setbacks like the recent allergic reaction, Johnson remains resolute. "I'm genuinely trying to map the future of being human. This is not a lackadaisical 'I want to be healthy.' This is, 'I want to evolve with superintelligence into the next evolution of human, and I'm willing to do anything along that path,'" he told The Independent.
Johnson's mission includes experimental practices such as blood transfusions from his teenage son and father in an attempt to slow aging, though he admitted to Futurism that these procedures had essentially "no benefits."
His approach raises ethical concerns over financial barriers and potential risks of such treatments. He insists, however, that his goal is to spark a global shift in how we approach health and wellness. "The problem is not that we don't know what to do. The problem is we are not doing what we know we should do," he stated, according to Variety.
"I genuinely would rather be respected by people in the 25th century than I would be respected right now. Because by definition, the majority of everyone who lives right now is living in the past," he is cited by The Independent.
This article was written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq