Why is a Tech Bro Sniffing Burgers?
Because he wants to live forever
Seriously.
Bryan Johnson is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who wants to be immortal.
He’s doing weird stuff to reduce his biological age, and he also watches what he eats.
He was raised a Mormon. But now, being a vegan his mission is to tell the public what ultra processed foods do to the body.
He’s got a YouTube channel where he dishes dirt on fast food brands, and his most watched video is about McDonald’s.
You see him, in a car, heading for a drive-thru.
A producer asks him what’s on his mind.
‘Complicated emotions’ he says.
‘I feel like I’ve played this so many times…
[cue shot of crew members on the McJob serving up burgers]
I can… I can smell it before we do it,
[producer laughs]
I know what it looks like, what it smells like, what it tastes like - feels like...’
He’s psyched up. But see how he mentions smell before taste?
When he gets to the food, he reacts like an animal — or a perfumer :
He sniffs it…
but he doesn’t eat it. Instead he looks at the science.
Eating a Big Mac, he says, will give you an insulin and sugar spike (nine grams of added sugar) and then, ninety minutes later, once the processed carbs and sugars are absorbed, your mood plunges and you feel hungry again.
I won’t go through the whole video - you can watch it for yourself.
But I’ll leave you with one take away…
With the zeal of a convert, Johnson uses his nose like a weapon against what he calls “the fast food epidemic”. Something he says is “shortening your life spans and wrecking your health”.
I agree with eating healthy. But raising awareness is not enough; action is needed.
Bryan’s a venture capitalist, maybe he could put some money where his nose is - and start an organic burger chain.
That would be good, I’d try a Bryan’s Burger.
Thanks for reading. Please like, restack, and if you haven’t already
Here’s the video — it’s gross !
(Images © Bryan Johnson / McDonalds / CBS)
Theres something disgusting in that clip, and its not the burger.
Life extension nonsense is deeply elitist. The best way to extend the human lifespan is to give children enough good food to eat, prevent communicable diseases and provide basic healthcare for everyone.
When I was a teenager, I had a part time job at KFC. We all wore cheap trainers to slide around on the greasy, and sometimes soapy, floors. My shoes were uncleanable and stunk so much of rancid chicken fat and fryer grease that they were banished to the back verandah between shifts. I have not set foot in a KFC since the 80s, such is my stomach-churning reaction to that smell!