Interventions
Behavioral, dietary, and clinical practices with meaningful evidence for aging outcomes.
n=1 self-experiments or animal studies
Blood Donation
Regular blood donation's proposed cardiovascular benefit from iron reduction was not confirmed in the largest direct test, and much of its healthy-donor reputation reflects selection bias, not causation.
n=1 self-experiments or animal studies
Blue Zone Lifestyle
Lifestyle bundle drawn from regions claiming unusually high centenarian rates, now contested by a peer-reviewed demographic critique alleging record errors.
n=1 self-experiments or animal studies
Blueprint Micro-Experiments: A Catalogue of Bryan Johnson's Self-Trials
A dated, sourced inventory of the specific self-experiments inside Bryan Johnson's Blueprint protocol, including the ones he dropped.
n=1 self-experiments or animal studies
Blueprint Protocol
Bryan Johnson's self-directed, commercially sold aging-reduction regimen, combining diet, exercise, sleep discipline, prescription drugs, and instrumented biomarker tracking on a single subject.
Medium human RCTs or systematic reviews
Caloric Restriction
Sustained reduction in calorie intake without malnutrition, the most studied longevity intervention in animals and the best-tested one in humans.
n=1 self-experiments or animal studies
Cold Exposure
Cold water immersion and cold air exposure reliably activate brown fat and raise short-term energy expenditure, but no human trial links it to lifespan or mortality.
Medium human RCTs or systematic reviews
Compression Therapy
External pressure applied to limbs to improve venous return, reduce swelling, and accelerate recovery. Well-established for medical indications, growing interest for athletic recovery.
Medium human RCTs or systematic reviews
Fasting-Mimicking Diet
A five-day, low-calorie, plant-based meal plan designed to trigger fasting-like metabolic effects while still providing food, repeated periodically.
n=1 self-experiments or animal studies
Blood Donation
Regular blood donation's proposed cardiovascular benefit from iron reduction was not confirmed in the largest direct test, and much of its healthy-donor reputation reflects selection bias, not causation.
n=1 self-experiments or animal studies
Blue Zone Lifestyle
Lifestyle bundle drawn from regions claiming unusually high centenarian rates, now contested by a peer-reviewed demographic critique alleging record errors.
n=1 self-experiments or animal studies
Blueprint Micro-Experiments: A Catalogue of Bryan Johnson's Self-Trials
A dated, sourced inventory of the specific self-experiments inside Bryan Johnson's Blueprint protocol, including the ones he dropped.
n=1 self-experiments or animal studies
Blueprint Protocol
Bryan Johnson's self-directed, commercially sold aging-reduction regimen, combining diet, exercise, sleep discipline, prescription drugs, and instrumented biomarker tracking on a single subject.
Medium human RCTs or systematic reviews
Caloric Restriction
Sustained reduction in calorie intake without malnutrition, the most studied longevity intervention in animals and the best-tested one in humans.
n=1 self-experiments or animal studies
Cold Exposure
Cold water immersion and cold air exposure reliably activate brown fat and raise short-term energy expenditure, but no human trial links it to lifespan or mortality.
Medium human RCTs or systematic reviews
Compression Therapy
External pressure applied to limbs to improve venous return, reduce swelling, and accelerate recovery. Well-established for medical indications, growing interest for athletic recovery.
Medium human RCTs or systematic reviews
Fasting-Mimicking Diet
A five-day, low-calorie, plant-based meal plan designed to trigger fasting-like metabolic effects while still providing food, repeated periodically.
In vitro or mechanistic only
Gene Therapy for Longevity
Commercial follistatin and klotho gene therapies are offered outside regulated trials in low-oversight jurisdictions, and the provider's own preprint data shows a key aging marker moving in the wrong direction.
n=1 self-experiments or animal studies
Grounding (Earthing)
Direct skin contact with the earth's surface or conductive devices to transfer electrons. Proposed to reduce inflammation and improve sleep. Evidence base is small and mixed.
Medium human RCTs or systematic reviews
High-Intensity Interval Training
Short bursts of near-maximal effort alternated with recovery, offering fitness gains comparable to steady-state cardio in less training time.
Small human pilot studies or cohorts
Hydrogen Water
Water infused with dissolved molecular hydrogen (H2), consumed via electrolysis bottles, tablets, or pre-packaged bottles, proposed to reduce oxidative stress and inflammation through selective antioxidant mechanisms.
n=1 self-experiments or animal studies
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
HBOT triggers acute oxidative stress and DNA damage in early sessions, then upregulates antioxidant defenses after roughly 20 sessions. The flagship longevity trial reported telomere lengthening and senescent-cell clearance but lacked a control group and has not been independently replicated.
Small human pilot studies or cohorts
Infrared Sauna
Lower-temperature sauna using infrared radiation to heat the body directly, combining mild heat stress with photobiomodulation for cardiovascular and mitochondrial benefits.
Medium human RCTs or systematic reviews
Intermittent Fasting
Cycling between eating periods and extended fasts of a day or more, most commonly alternate-day fasting, tested against continuous caloric restriction.
Large human RCTs or meta-analyses
Mediterranean Diet
Olive-oil-centered, plant-forward, fish-and-legume dietary pattern with the largest cardiovascular RCT base of any whole-diet intervention.
Medium human RCTs or systematic reviews
Mind-Body Practices
Tai Chi and Qigong have strong RCT-backed evidence for physical function and cognition, while meditation's link to slower biological aging via telomeres remains correlational, not causal.
n=1 self-experiments or animal studies
Ozone Therapy
Medical and alternative therapy using ozone gas (O3) for proposed anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and oxygenation benefits. Evidence base is mixed and safety concerns exist.
Medium human RCTs or systematic reviews
PEMF Therapy
Non-invasive therapy using pulsed electromagnetic fields to stimulate cellular repair, reduce pain, and interact with mitochondrial function. FDA-cleared for specific bone healing indications.
n=1 self-experiments or animal studies
Plasma Exchange (Therapeutic Plasma Exchange)
A single industry-funded RCT found biweekly plasma exchange reduced epigenetic biological age by 1.3-2.6 years, but the trial is commercially entangled and not yet independently replicated.
Small human pilot studies or cohorts
Polyphenol-Rich Diet
Diet high in plant polyphenols from berries, tea, coffee, olive oil, and wine, linked to lower all-cause mortality across large cohort studies.
Small human pilot studies or cohorts
Red Light Therapy
Non-thermal light exposure using specific red (600-700nm) and near-infrared (700-1000nm) wavelengths to stimulate mitochondrial function and reduce inflammation.
Medium human RCTs or systematic reviews
Resistance Training
Weight-bearing or resistance exercise shown to reduce all-cause mortality, with a U-shaped dose-response that favors moderate weekly volume over maximal volume.
Small human pilot studies or cohorts
Sauna and Heat Exposure
Frequent dry-sauna use linked to lower cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in a large Finnish male cohort, with no significant effect shown in the same study's small female subgroup.
Small human pilot studies or cohorts
Senolytic Cocktails (Dasatinib + Quercetin)
D+Q reliably clears senescent cells and extends mouse lifespan, but human trials on cognition, mobility, and metabolic outcomes remain mixed and inconsistent.
Medium human RCTs or systematic reviews
Sleep Optimization
Sleep duration follows a U-shaped mortality curve, with lowest risk around 7 hours per night and both short and long sleep linked to higher death rates.
Medium human RCTs or systematic reviews
Social Connection
Loneliness and social isolation carry large mortality hazard ratios in meta-analyses, though a well-controlled cohort found much of the raw association weakens after adjusting for baseline health.
Small human pilot studies or cohorts
Stem Cell Therapy (Mesenchymal Stem Cells)
Regulated MSC trials show modest safety and functional benefits in frail older adults, but unregulated commercial stem cell clinics have a documented record of serious adverse events.
Small human pilot studies or cohorts
Time-Restricted Eating
Confining all daily calories to a fixed daily window, typically 16:8, without necessarily reducing total intake.
Small human pilot studies or cohorts
Whole Body Cryotherapy
Brief exposure to extremely cold air (-110C to -140C) in a specialized chamber, proposed to reduce inflammation, accelerate recovery, and activate cold-shock proteins.
Small human pilot studies or cohorts
Whole Body Vibration
Standing on a vibrating platform to stimulate muscle contractions and bone formation. Some evidence for bone density, balance, and muscle strength in older adults.
Small human pilot studies or cohorts
Zone 2 Cardio
Sustained conversational-pace aerobic training aimed at raising VO2max, popularized by Peter Attia, though the specific protocol lacks a dedicated RCT.
Medium human RCTs or systematic reviews
Zone 2 Training
Low-intensity steady-state aerobic exercise just below the lactate threshold, used to build mitochondrial capacity and metabolic efficiency with minimal fatigue cost.