Dave Asprey

Created Biohacking. Bulletproof Founder. 4-Times New York Times Bestselling Author. Host of The Human Upgrade Podcast.

[Dave Asprey @daveasprey]

If you’re a woman who trains regularly, you’re probably under-eating relative to what your body needs.

Sports science refers to this as low energy availability.

Recent systematic reviews in female dancers show a consistent pattern. When energy intake is too low for training demand, nutrient intake and status often fall short, especially for calcium, iron, magnesium, and protein. This is associated with reduced bone health markers and impaired recovery.

This pattern is not limited to dancers. It shows up in active women training hard while not consistently matching intake to output.

Over time, under-fueling changes how your body prioritizes resources. Recovery slows and your adaptation becomes less efficient. Bone maintenance is one of the first systems to feel it.

When you under-eat, your body has fewer resources for repair and recovery.

Your muscles need amino acids. Your nervous system depends on magnesium and B vitamins. Your bones depend on steady mineral availability.

Here’s the solution.
Eat enough total calories to match output. Get at least one gram of high-quality animal protein per pound of body weight. Include carbs around training. Support micronutrient intake consistently.

For higher-demand athletes, targeted support can help fill gaps in fat-soluble vitamin and mineral balance. This is the idea behind DAKE from Suppgrade Labs, which supports fat-soluble nutrient synergy, and Minerals 101, which focuses on foundational mineral intake for performance and recovery.

Your training load is only one side of the equation. The other side is whether your body has what it needs to recover from it.

[Dave Asprey @daveasprey]

New research suggests that how long you live may come down to a single gene.

Scientists at Leiden University identified a variant in the CGAS gene that runs consistently in families who live significantly longer than average.

The CGAS gene detects DNA fragments inside your cells and triggers an inflammatory response. People in these long-lived families had only one working copy of it, which means their baseline inflammatory response was lower. They lived longer and healthier lives.

I've been saying this for years: chronic low-grade inflammation is one of the primary drivers of aging. Most people have way too much.

Environmental toxins (especially mycotoxins), poor sleep, chronic stress, processed food, all of it creates the kind of cellular damage that keeps this pathway switched on.

The researchers are right that you wouldn't want to suppress inflammation completely. You need a little bit of inflammation for a proper immune response and for healing. There are interventions that help modulate your inflammatory response without shutting it down: NAD precursors, curcumin, omega-3s, fixing sleep, cutting out seed oils, reducing stress.

It probably isn't just one gene that influences lifespan. And this is a preprint that still needs peer review. But this research points clearly at a pathway that affects aging, and that pathway is something you can actually change. Better inputs, less stress, less inflammatory load.

[Dave Asprey @daveasprey]

Part 2: I joined NewsNation to talk about one of the biggest questions in health optimization right now: Are peptides safe?

I shared my thoughts on peptide safety, why quality standards matter, and how the U.S. is taking steps to create a safer path forward for people who want access to cutting edge therapies.

[Dave Asprey @daveasprey]

Longevity science moved faster in the last 3 years than the previous 20. Mouse studies dominated the field. Now we have human data that actually replicates.

Four levers show the strongest evidence in humans right now.

Fasting and time-restricted eating: Studies from multiple countries show fasting drives autophagy and improves metabolic markers. I've tested this extensively. The data is clean.

Resistance training: Muscle mass predicts longevity stronger than almost any biomarker. Sarcopenia kills more people than you realize. Build strength or lose it.

Sleep quality between 6.5-7.5 hours: The research on deep sleep cycles contradicts the 8-hour myth. Quality beats quantity. Get at least 1.5 hours each of REM and deep sleep.

Mitochondrial health through heat and cold: Sauna and cold exposure trigger adaptive stress that rebuilds your cellular power plants. The human studies show real improvements in energy production and resilience.

These four don't require supplements. They don't require a clinic. Just be consistent. I've invested millions testing this across Upgrade Labs and my own self-experimentation. The ones that make a difference are the ones people actually do.

[Dave Asprey @daveasprey]

If your doctor tells you that you have anemia, don’t assume you just need more iron.

Low hemoglobin doesn’t always mean low iron.

Anemia can come from different places. Sometimes iron is low. Sometimes iron is normal. And sometimes the issue is how well your body is using iron to support healthy red blood cells.

That’s why ferritin and a full iron panel are important. They reveal what’s happening with iron storage and inflammation, not just hemoglobin.

There’s also another layer researchers are exploring.

About 1 in 10 people with blood sugar problems like prediabetes or type 2 diabetes have metabolic hyperferritinemia, where ferritin is elevated alongside metabolic dysfunction like insulin resistance or fatty liver. This reflects changes in how your body regulates iron.

Scientists studying cell membrane health have identified C15:0 as a fatty acid of interest. Dr. Stephanie Venn-Watson first observed a link between low C15:0 levels and chronic anemia patterns in Navy dolphins. When C15:0 intake increased, red blood cell markers improved.

Researchers are now exploring whether cell membrane stability, inflammation, and nutrient status, including fatty acids like C15:0, may play a role in how red blood cells function in different metabolic states.

The takeaway: iron status is only part of the story. Support red blood cell health at the root.

C15:0 is the essential fatty acid found in Fatty15.

Hit the link and use code DAVE15 to save on your next Fatty15 order.
🔗 https://t.co/Wuw5RKP87z

[Dave Asprey @daveasprey]

Part 1: Peptides are changing the future of human performance.

I joined NewsNation to break down what they are, how they work, and why they're becoming one of the most powerful tools for optimizing health, recovery, and longevity.

Check out my interview and tune in tomorrow for Part 2 on peptide safety.

[Dave Asprey @daveasprey]

For 11 years, the FDA warned against testosterone therapy for age-related low T.

Now they've reversed course.

Low testosterone isn't just about aging. It affects energy, motivation, muscle, cognition, and long-term health. The real risk may not be testosterone therapy. It may be staying deficient.

Waiting a decade for permission to optimize your biology is a reminder that no one will care about your health more than you do.

You're your own health daddy.

[Dave Asprey @daveasprey]

There's a new weight loss compound coming. It's called eloralintide.

It is not a GLP-1 drug. It works through amylin receptors, which are part of a completely different hormonal system. Your pancreas releases amylin alongside insulin after every meal to signal satiety, slow gastric emptying, and help reduce blood sugar spikes.

People with obesity and type 2 diabetes often develop impaired amylin signaling, and that's part of why hunger and blood sugar become so hard to control.

Most people are going for GLP-1 drugs for hunger and glucose. They do work....but there’s a cost.

Studies show up to 40% of the weight you lose on GLP-1 drugs is lean mass, not fat. Losing muscle that fast ages you. But there's a second problem that a lot of people don’t think about. When you lose weight, your metabolism compensates by slowing down. So when you stop the drug, you usually gain the weight back, plus more. Early research suggests amylin may blunt some of that metabolic slowdown. Early data also suggests eloralintide preserves lean mass better than GLP-1-based therapies. For anyone focused on longevity, those two things together are a big deal.

Amylin receptor agonists aren't new. Pramlintide has been around since 2005. But eloralintide is a more selective amylin receptor agonist than older drugs and studies show better tolerability.

Phase 2 data published in the Lancet last year showed up to 20% weight loss at 48 weeks. Lilly has combination trials underway with tirzepatide. Stacking two completely different metabolic pathways will likely outperform either alone. A really interesting question is what happens when you combine eloralintide with something like retatrutide, which would mean hitting four metabolic pathways at once.

There is probably a case for microdosing amylin receptor agonists for longevity, like we're seeing with GLP-1 drugs. Early adopters are already experimenting with it. It's too soon for me to want to try it. Would you?

[Dave Asprey @daveasprey]

Most people are looking for a magic pill. The biggest upgrades come from mastering the basics.

I recently shared some of my favorite health hacks with Dear Media. They are simple, measurable, and designed to give you more energy, better performance, and a longer lifespan.

You do not need more willpower. You need better inputs.

Featured in Dear Media's "Simple Health Hacks" feature.

https://t.co/fPMM8XkyY9

[Dave Asprey @daveasprey]

For years doctors had no answers for me. I was spending six days a week in the gym and doing everything "right". But I still weighed 300 lbs, my testosterone was lower than my mom's, and I brain fog so bad I could barely function. Nobody thought to ask what was hiding behind my walls.

Research published in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity found that breathing mold triggers brain inflammation, impairs memory, and shifts mood and anxiety levels.

Mold exposure causes a wide range of symptoms and most people never get the right diagnosis. You might feel exhausted no matter how much you sleep, or maybe your moods swing for no apparent reason. Perhaps you wake up every morning feeling hungover without drinking. Maybe it's daily nose bleeds and chronic sinus infections. Or all of the above. Most people spend years dealing with those symptoms without ever testing the one thing they breathe 20,000 times a day.

Around 100 million buildings in the US have a meaningful mold problem, and yours might be the variable nobody has thought to look for yet. Doing a dust test in your home is the fastest way to find out and the sooner you catch it, the less damage you have to deal with.

[Dave Asprey @daveasprey]

Hell yes. Ovarian tissue banking works insanely well. You take a very small sample of ovarian tissue in the early 20s when it’s healthy. Then when para menopause starts, you re-implant it and menopause is pushed out another 20 years. It just requires planning ahead of time. And biologically identical hormone replacement works very well.

[Dave Asprey @daveasprey]

Semaglutide may slow biological aging, but so do the fundamentals. Before you reach for the injection, build muscle, optimize hormones, eat real protein, and fix the inputs that drive longevity. The goal isn't just losing weight—it's staying strong while you live longer.

[Dave Asprey @daveasprey]

A recent Psychology Today article on biohacking your brain points in the right direction.

Your brain is not something you are stuck with. It is something you can upgrade through better inputs like sleep, stress control, and metabolic health.

This is not mindset. It is biology.

🔗 https://t.co/A3My3LRTcH

[Dave Asprey @daveasprey]

Flashback to an incredible day at Harvard University with Dr. Jeffrey Bland, whose work helped lay the foundation for Functional Medicine.

Grateful for the opportunity to share ideas with innovators, researchers, and thought leaders who are helping redefine what's possible in longevity, performance, and human potential.

[Dave Asprey @daveasprey]

Over 100 are approved by FDA, and saying peptides aren’t safe is like saying eating isn’t safe. Depends on what you’re eating doesn’t it! You have the right to choose what we want to eat based on what works for us. We can hire a nutritionist if we want to. But your government is not your nutritionist and is not qualified to be. That’s why I work with my doctors (and my own research) to choose what I put into my body.

Ultimately, I am the decider.

Not my government.
Not my insurance company.
Not my boss.
Not my doctor.

Be your own health daddy. 🤷‍♂️

That said, injecting untested random white powder from China is probably not a good idea for most people. But if I was very low on funds and had a life-threatening or debilitating illness that could dramatically change with a peptide, I might choose the random white powder.

Wouldn’t it be cool if we built a system that didn’t artificially make supplements, peptides, drugs, and healthy foods more expensive than they need to be?

[Dave Asprey @daveasprey]

I've spent years telling people that carbs aren't the problem. Poor metabolic health is.

I eat plenty of carbs with very few rules—and I don't gain weight, crash my energy, or wreck my blood sugar. The secret isn't avoiding carbs. It's training your body to use them efficiently.

When you become metabolically flexible, carbs go from being a liability to a tool for performance, recovery, and longevity.

Check out my latest feature in the New York Post to learn how to eat carbs like a biohacker without paying the price.

https://t.co/rjz2vL3frJ

[Dave Asprey @daveasprey]

First SNL parodies me. Now I’m on the front of The Drudge Report!

Why the costume? Because we do it every year for the Beyond Biohacking Conference. It’s fun and the community really gets in to it.

The theme this year was “Your spirit animal”. Since there are no good naked mole rat or axolotl costumes, improvisation was the best option.

The Red Dragon is the final stage of Ancient European Alchemy before enlightenment. So I was a red dragon. Nothing demonic - we have enough of them in both political parties and most Big Pharma boardrooms for it to not be my scene. 🤷‍♂️

See you next May in Austin. What should the costume theme be? I'm open to ideas.

[Dave Asprey @daveasprey]

For years, I've said aging is a software problem, not just a hardware problem.

Now, for the first time, scientists are testing cellular reprogramming in humans to reset the body's biological instructions and potentially reverse aspects of aging.

The question isn't whether this technology will change medicine.

It's how far we'll take it.

[Dave Asprey @daveasprey]

Eric, biohackers are your biggest cheerleaders. The definition of it ai literally wrote to make epigenetics cool and accessible. It’s inherently scientific, applying the scientific and SPC methods to figure out which things that work for a large population actually also work for you. Many MDs count themselves as biohackers, Nobel laureates and heads of medical schools have been on my biohacking podcast. We are on the same team.

[Dave Asprey @daveasprey]

One of my favorite moments from my trip to Harvard: spending time with my daughter Anna.

I can talk about longevity science for hours, but moments like this are the real reason the work matters. More energy. More presence. More time with the people who make life meaningful.