"I'm gonna live forever"...but at what cost?
- Roni Riley
- Jun 13
- 3 min read
Irene Cara sang it in the theme song of the movie “Fame”. My own (somewhat) sarcastic motto is “live to 100 or die trying”.
I think what most of us really want is to live as long as realistically possible in good health.
But there are some people out there on a quest to add years – even decades – to their lives. Some think they can reverse the aging process, and maybe never die at all. These “biohackers” go to extreme measures to reach their goals, options that may not be easily available or achievable for the average human. (Spoiler alert: cost is not an obstacle for these guys.)
Let’s meet a couple of the major players in the extreme longevity sweepstakes.
Peter Thiel is a co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, a data analytics software company, and an early investor in Facebook. He has been outspoken about his interest in life extension and defeating death, often describing aging as a “problem to be solved”. He is a supporter of cryonics, where bodies and/or brains are preserved after death in hopes of future revival. He has shown interest in parabiosis, where plasma from young donors is transfused into older recipients. He has also invested in biotech companies that focus on anti-aging and regenerative therapies.
Bryan Johnson is a tech entrepreneur who sold his company, Braintree Venmo, to PayPal for $800 million. (I’m sensing a theme here…) Johnson is taking the DYI approach to the extreme with a project call Blueprint, in which he’s attempting to reverse his biological age. In an exercise that will put your fitness tracker to shame, he monitors nearly 100 biomarkers daily – including blood tests, MRIs and sleep data – and has a team of doctors adjusting protocols in real time. He lives a rigorous, regimented lifestyle: 5AM wake-up; ~2,000 calories per day diet of strictly controlled vegan meals, highly supplemented; multiple hours of exercise; meticulous oral hygiene and skin care. He has also dabbled in young plasma transfusions (from his own teenage son) but felt the results were underwhelming and discontinued it. As a result of these efforts, he says he has reduced his “biological age” by about 5 years.
Some longevity hacks don’t require a ton of cash or your own personal medical lab. Extremely low-calorie diets have been lab-tested on mice, and have shown potential to increase longevity. While some people do OK with calorie restriction, some people feel exhausted and crabby, and those people probably do not want to spend extra years of their lives in that condition. Plus, these diets can lead to long-term health problems, such as nutrient deficiencies, and loss of muscle mass and bone density, which can negatively impact both lifespan and healthspan.
In one sense, these biohackers aren’t that different from the rest of us: they aren’t just trying to live longer, but to stay youthful and high-functioning for as long as possible. But in one important way, they are much different: they have nearly limitless disposable income and free time, and they seem to be in a race to deplete the former for an increase in the latter. Their regimens cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, well out of reach for the average person. And then there’s the question of their motivation: why are they doing this? Just because they can? It could be a selfish pursuit, for their own longevity or financial gain; or it could be selfless, acting as their own “lab rats” in the hope that their research yields scientific advances that can improve longevity for all of us.
We may not have the resources to “optimize” our physical health, but we can do pretty good by focusing on the same fundamentals as the biohackers: good nutrition, physical activity and adequate sleep. And the other aspects of our lives don’t have to suffer for it: our relationships, our mental and emotional states, our sense of purpose – our overall quality of life. This is what’s known as Deep Health, which is the approach I use with my clients: enhancing one’s physical capabilities in service of a life worth living.
What do you think? Would extreme longevity be worth it to you? Or would you choose quality over quantity?
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