Bryan Johnson – The World’s Most Expensive Eating Disorder

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2024-11-28 19:30:17

Disclaimer: I have never personally met Bryan. Reading this again, I realized that this article is quite harsh at times. Overall, I do like him and I am grateful that someone like Bryan exists as he is propelling the whole field forward. I also like the way he deals with criticism.

In my early twenties, I had a two-year-long period during which my body fat was ultra-low (4.8% on the only DEXA scan I had done during that time). I became very obsessive and tolerated an unbelievable amount of self-torture to reach my goals. I also developed very weird eating habits and was rigid about my meal timing – I could not stand breaking my fasts by even a few minutes.

My need for control was extreme and I meticulously tried to control my environment. In retrospect, I am sure that keeping my body fat that low was actually the single biggest contributor to my 90-degree personality turn (as compared to my adolescence) – in other words, I behaved like I behaved more because of my eating disorder than the other way around.

During this time, my blood pressure (roughly 105mmHg), resting heart rate (low 40s when sleeping), and body temperature (roughly 35.8-36.5) were all very low. I had a fixed caloric intake (2000-2100kcal/day) and whenever I overshot it I made sure to balance it out over the next couple of days. My face looked pale and gaunt. My vitality was non-existent.