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The Human Upgrade: Biohacking for Longevity & Performance

The Human Upgrade: Biohacking for Longevity & Performance

By: Dave Asprey
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Summary

For more than a decade, Dave Asprey - the Father of Biohacking and creator of Bulletproof Coffee - has redefined what’s possible for the human mind and body. After more than a thousand episodes of Bulletproof Radio, he’s taking it to the next level with The Human Upgrade™ - a masterclass in biohacking, longevity, and performance optimization.

Each episode explores cutting-edge science, advanced technology, and proven biohacks to help you upgrade your energy, focus, metabolism, and resilience. You’ll learn from world-class scientists, doctors, innovators, and thinkers leading breakthroughs in mitochondrial health, peptides, hormones, fasting, sleep, neuroplasticity, and more.

This isn’t just self-improvement - it’s human enhancement backed by data.

Every guest, every idea, every protocol you discover here moves you toward a longer, stronger, smarter life.

Join The Human Upgrade™ with Dave Asprey - and learn how to live longer, think faster, and perform better.

© Copyright © Bulletproof Media 2023
Hygiene & Healthy Living Personal Development Personal Success Science
Episodes
  • The 4,000-Year-Old Asian Focus Drug That Is Not A Drug : 1468
    May 17 2026

    Most guys over 40 rely on coffee just to survive the day, completely unaware that they are pushing their brains into a frantic, high-stress state that actually destroys deep focus and accelerates cognitive decline. In this video, I reveal the science behind why caffeine is failing you and introduce you to a 4,000-year-old amino acid used by monks to achieve effortless, sustained attention. I'll walk you through the optimal 2:1 biohacking stack that flips your coffee from a nervous, jittery habit into a highly controlled focus weapon. You'll learn exactly how to dose it, when to take it, and how to stop the hidden lifestyle habits that are secretly sabotaging your nervous system, so you can reclaim the mental edge you had in your twenties and stay competitive.


    Thank you to our sponsors!

    -HeartMath | Go to https://www.heartmath.com/dave to save 15% off

    -The One Device | Use code DAVE for $10 off at theonedevice.com/dave

    -iRestore | Reverse hair loss at www.irestore.com/DAVE and get exclusive savings on the iRestore Elite, use code DAVE


    Timestamps:

    00:00 – Intro

    00:21 – Background & Credentials

    01:28 – How Caffeine Works

    03:01 – Alpha vs Beta Brainwaves

    04:06 – The Focus Amino Acid

    04:55 – What Is L-Theanine

    05:35 – Quality & Common Mistakes

    06:51 – Building the Stack

    08:37 – Lifestyle Foundations

    10:36 – Rules & Guidelines


    Connect with Dave Asprey!


    Website: https://daveasprey.com

    TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@daveaspreyofficial

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dave.asprey/

    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Daveaspreyofficial/

    X: https://x.com/daveasprey

    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/daveaspreybpr


    The Human Upgrade Podcast: https://www.instagram.com/TheHumanUpgradePodcast/ https://m.facebook.com/Thehumanupgrade/


    Danger Coffee: https://dangercoffee.com/DAVE15

    Dave Asprey’s BEYOND Conference: https://beyondconference.com/

    Dave Asprey’s New Book - Heavily Meditated: https://daveasprey.com/heavily-meditated/

    Dave's favorite supplements: https://www.shopsuppgradelabs.com/discount/DAVE15

    Upgrade Labs: https://upgradelabs.com

    40 Years of Zen: https://40yearsofzen.com

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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    14 mins
  • Semen Switch, Chewing Gum, Creatine Cheat, Cancer Plants, and Bedtime Risk : 1467
    May 15 2026
    One Creatine Dose Kept Sleep-Deprived Brains 12% Sharper A randomized, double-blind crossover trial kept 29 healthy adults awake for 21 hours straight ... half the time on a single moderate dose of creatine (~14g), half the time on placebo ... and found the creatine group held on to up to 12% more cognitive performance across logic, reaction time, and language processing. Host Dave Asprey breaks down why sleep deprivation is just another form of brain energy stress, how creatine's phosphate-buffering mechanism stabilizes ATP in the prefrontal cortex under pressure, and why this changes how he thinks about red-eye flights and all-nighters. Vegetarians and women showed the largest effects ... your baseline diet sets your ceiling. Sources: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42075005/ https://www.nutraingredients.com/Article/2026/04/21/single-dose-creatine-may-support-cognition-in-sleep-deprivation-study/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10902318/ https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-04-creatine-cognitive-deprivation.html Your Gum Is Dosing You With Thousands of Microplastics A pilot study tested 10 commercial gums ... five synthetic, five marketed as natural or plastic-free ... and found every single one shed hundreds to roughly 3,000 microplastic fragments per stick into saliva, with no meaningful difference between synthetic and "natural" varieties. Host Dave Asprey connects this to total toxic load management, explains why "natural" label claims mean nothing without polymer-free verification, and makes the case that even innocent daily habits contribute to the cumulative plastic burden most people aren't tracking. The takeaway isn't panic ... it's precision. Sources: https://www.acs.org/pressroom/presspacs/2025/march/chewing-gum-can-shed-microplastics-into-saliva-pilot-study-finds.html https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666911025000243 https://samueli.ucla.edu/bursting-your-bubble-chewing-gum-releases-microplastics-into-your-saliva-ucla-research-shows/ https://www.food-safety.com/articles/10285-study-shows-chewing-gum-releases-thousands-of-microplastics-whether-gum-is-synthetic-or-natural Irregular Bedtimes in Your 40s May Double Heart Attack Risk Finnish researchers followed 3,231 people from age 46 using objective accelerometer data and tracked cardiovascular outcomes for a decade ... finding that people with highly irregular bedtimes, especially combined with short sleep, had roughly double the risk of major cardiovascular events compared to those with consistent sleep timing. Host Dave Asprey explains why your vascular biology runs on a precise circadian schedule, why ambitious, otherwise-healthy people are most at risk of ignoring this lever, and why a 90-minute bedtime window ... protected even on weekends ... may be one of the cheapest cardiovascular interventions available. It'snot just how much you sleep. It's when. Sources: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/05/260504154026.htm https://hsph.harvard.edu/topic/aging/ Scientists Decode the Plant Molecule That Kills Cancer Cells in the Lab UBC researchers published a chromosome-level genome map of Mitragyna parvifolia ... a kratom relative ... and used it to decode the full biosynthetic pathway for mitraphylline, a rare alkaloid that has shown real anti-tumor activity in cell and animal models but has never been producible at clinical scale. Host Dave Asprey explains why this is the same early chapter that vincristine and paclitaxel were in before becoming mainstream chemotherapy, draws a hard line between this pipeline story and influencer narratives about kratom as a cancer treatment, and breaks down what it actually means when researchers crack a plant's genetic recipe for a bioactive compound. Nature has been solving cancer for millions of years... we're finally learning to read it. Sources: https://academic.oup.com/plcell/article/37/9/koaf207/8237526 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/05/260512213836.htm https://news.ok.ubc.ca/2025/10/14/researchers-reveal-how-plants-make-anti-tumour-drugs/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12217235/ Scientists Built an On/Off Switch for Sperm Production — No Hormones Cornell researchers used a small-molecule inhibitor called JQ1 to pharmacologically shut down sperm production in male mice for the duration of treatment, then stopped the drug and watched full fertility restore... with healthy offspring and no detectable genomic damage. Host Dave Asprey breaks down the BRDT mechanism that makes this work without touching testosterone or hormones, explains why this is a proof-of-concept rather than a near-market drug, and outlines the questions that need answering before this moves to humans: long-term testicular health, epigenetic marks in recovered sperm, and mood and testosterone interaction over time. The era of precision male reproductive biology is just beginning. Sources: https://...
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    11 mins
  • Stop Wasting Your Gym Sweat (40 Minutes of This Wins Every Time) | Will Harlow : 1466
    May 14 2026
    If you're over 50 and still doing cardio to stay healthy, you're wasting your time and may actually be making things worse. This episode breaks down the exact movements, supplements, and anti-aging strategies that build real strength, protect your bones, and extend your longevity without spending hours in the gym. Watch this episode on YouTube for the full video experience: https://www.youtube.com/@DaveAspreyBPR Host Dave Asprey sits down with Will Harlow, a master's-level physiotherapist and founder of HT Physio, whose YouTube channel has amassed over 1.5 million subscribers by teaching people over 50 how to stay mobile, active, and independent without painkillers or surgery. Will graduated with a first-class degree from Brunel University, trained in both the NHS and professional sport, and has spent his career proving that what most doctors call "just aging" is actually optional. Together, Dave and Will dismantle the myths keeping older adults weak, injured, and overtrained. They get into why resistance training beats cardio for human performance and metabolism at every age, how anabolic resistance changes your protein needs after 50, which three compound movements deliver the biggest functional gains, and why your grip strength may be the most underrated biomarker you're ignoring. Dave also shares how he used biohacking, targeted supplements, and functional medicine principles to grow bones so dense his surgeon couldn't cut through them. They also dig into vestibular training, hydration, magnesium, Vitamin DAKE, and how tools like AI are now helping people identify movement problems before they become joint replacements. This is essential listening for anyone serious about longevity, anti-aging, biohacking, sleep optimization, supplements, smarter not harder training, human performance, and building a body that performs decades past its expiration date. You'll Learn: Why chronic cardio decreases bone density and muscle mass in people over 50 The 3-2-1 resistance training method that delivers 80% of results in 40 minutes a week How anabolic resistance changes protein requirements as you age and what to do about it The three compound movements every person over 50 should master first Why grip strength predicts overall health and how to train it How vestibular disorders silently destroy balance and confidence, and how to reverse them The supplement stack (Vitamin DAKE, magnesium glycinate, digestive enzymes) that supports bone, muscle, and metabolism Why 7,000 steps beats 10,000, and where that number actually came from How Dave used biohacking and functional medicine to grow bones that broke a surgeon's saw Why AI tools can now spot gait problems that lead to hip replacements years later Thank you to our sponsors! - Active Skin Repair | Get 25% off your order until May 21, after that, it drops back to 20%, visit ActiveSkinRepair.com and use code DAVE. You can also find Active Skin Repair on Amazon and at your local CVS - Danger Coffee | Grab yours at DangerCoffee.com and use code DAVEPOD at checkout for 15% off. - Neuronic | Go to www.neuronic.online Code DAVE for $100 off - Quantum Upgrade | Go to QuantumUpgrade.io/DAVE to claim your 15-day free trial - fatty15 | Go to https://fatty15.com/dave and save an extra $15 when you subscribe with code DAVE. Dave Asprey is a four-time New York Times bestselling author, founder of Bulletproof Coffee, and the father of biohacking. With over 1,000 interviews and 1 million monthly listeners, The Human Upgrade brings you the knowledge to take control of your biology, extend your longevity, and optimize every system in your body and mind. Each episode delivers cutting-edge insights inhealth, performance, neuroscience, supplements, nutrition, biohacking, emotional intelligence, and conscious living. New episodes are released every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday (BONUS). Dave asks the questions no one else will and gives you real tools to become stronger, smarter, and more resilient. Keywords: Will Harlow, HT Physio, Independence for Life, physiotherapy, physical therapy, over 50 fitness, resistance training, strength training, muscle mass, bone density, osteoporosis, goblet squat, Romanian deadlift, farmer's carry, compound movements, progressive overload, 3-2-1 method, exercise snacks, balance training, vestibular health, vestibular disorders, fall prevention, hip fracture, anabolic resistance, protein intake, muscle protein synthesis, grip strength, zone 2 cardio, overtraining, sarcopenia, frailty, mobility, functional movement, gait analysis, fascia, inflammaging, NLRP3, EGCG, green tea extract, luteolin, shockwave therapy, digestive enzymes, betaine HCL, stomach acid, magnesium glycinate, Vitamin K2, Vitamin DAKE, zinc, calcium, electrolytes, cortisol, testosterone, anti-aging, longevity, biohacking, supplements, human performance, metabolism, AI...
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    1 hr and 5 mins
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