Bryan Johnson Profile picture
Aug 15, 2024 15 tweets 7 min read Read on X
I achieved the best recorded sleep score in history.

Eight months of perfect, 100% sleep.

Spent a year learning how to do it.

Here are 10 habits that fixed my terrible sleep... 🧵 Image
1/ If you sleep less than 7 hours a night, read this…

+ One 4-hour night reduces cancer-fighting immune cells by 70%
+ Chronic 6-hour nights make you 4.2x more likely to catch colds
+ 18-24 hours awake = 0.05-0.1% blood alcohol level equivalent (0.08% is legally drunk)

Sleep loss also impairs cognition, slows reflexes, and leads to poor decisions.

It's tied to heart disease, diabetes, obesity, anxiety, depression and a weak immune system.

Here're 10 habits that improved my sleep...

P.S. I've made a free sleep checklist too, so read till the end.Image
1/ Reframe Your Identity: You are a professional sleeper

Make sleep your #1 appointment in your calendar.

Nothing influences your conscious or subconscious existence more.

+ Plan your day around sleep.
+ Ignore those who say sleep is for the weak. They’re drunk.
+ Get support from others by explaining your priorities.

Most people are drunk from sleep deprivation. Sleep will make you a top performer.
2/ Have a Consistent Bedtime

Choose a non-negotiable bedtime for 7-9 hours in bed each night.

+ Be consistent, even on weekends.
+ Use a wearable or journal to track

You’re on time for work meetings. Be on time for your bedtime and respect yourself.
3/ Create a 60-Minute Wind-Down Routine

✅ screens off 60 min before bed
✅ calm: read, music, walk, bathe, breathe, meditate
✅ softly bring your focus back to sleep prep
✅ minimize light, red light ideal
✅ in bed within 30 min of bedtime

Sleep is your #1 priority. Everything else can wait.
4/ Eat Your Last Meal Early

For years I tested my eating times on sleep quality and landed at 11 am being the best for high quality sleep.

Not everyone can do this, but here are the general guidelines:

+ Avoid eating within 3-4 hours of bedtime
+ Have your largest meal in the middle of the day
+ When socializing late, choose light options like veggies
+ You can experiment extending to eating your final meal 4 and 6 hours before bed to assess how it effects your sleep quality.
+ By the time I go to bed at 8:30 pm, primary digestion is done and my resting heart rate is around 47-49 bpm.

Here’s why:

Eating close to bed creates large metabolic demands on your body, causes blood glucose fluctuations, reduces melatonin production, and disrupts your body’s natural process of lowering core body temperature.
5/ Discontinue Stimulants After Noon

Try to avoid caffeine and other stimulants well before sleep.

+ Skip alcohol near bedtime - it disrupts sleep
+ Each person has a unique tolerance to stimulants so find your right cut-off time
+ Avoid high arousal settings close to bedtime
6/ I don’t consume caffeine or alcohol.

They each disrupt my mood and negatively affect my sleep. But that’s me.

You can find what’s right for you. Image
7/ After Sun Down, Minimize Evening Light

Blue light suppresses melatonin secretion and can disrupt your circadian rhythm. Other types of light can also impact melatonin to varying degrees.

+ Install dimmer switches and use low, warm lighting
+ Wear blue light-blocking glasses 2-3 hours before bed
+ Enable night mode on all devices or install blue light filters
+ Red light is best (red bulb + lamp ftw)

And remember to limit screen time *at least* an hour before bed and blackout your bedroom.

Use this time for your 30-60 min wind down routine.
7/ Regulate Your Bedroom Temperature:

+ Explore your ideal bedroom temperature 60-77°F (15-25°C).
+ Consider a temperature controlled mattress to regulate bed surface temp
+ Use breathable cotton or linen sheets and lightweight sleepwear
+ Consider taking a warm bath before bed.

Experiment and track your sleep patterns with a journal or sleep tracker.
8/ Curate a Peaceful Sleep Environment

+ Keep your room cool, dark, and quiet
+ Avoid working from your bed
+ The bed is for sleep and sex

Consider a noise machine or earplugs to offset environmental sounds.
9/ Get Sunlight Within 15 Min of Waking

Get outside within the first 15-30 minutes of waking to set your circadian rhythm and boost mood.

If you’re up before the sunrise, use a 10,000 lux light
10/ Track Your Sleep Metrics

Metrics to follow: HRV, body temp, respiration rate, REM & deep sleep.

I use Whoop and EightSleep. Other sleep trackers are fine too.

+ Experiment with bedtimes, routines, room temps & find what works
+ Track data across seasons and when traveling to troubleshoot
+ Use a sleep journal, tracker, or checklist.

You’ll improve what you measure.
11/ Improving sleep is a journey. Take it one step at a time and start by focusing on reshaping your relationship with sleep.

You've got this.

Sleep well.

If you want my free sleep checklist to track your progress: Image
12/ Many of our social activities currently take place late at night, usually after most people's bedtimes.

It's within our power to reset norms so that we can do fun things together, like music festivals, dinners and dance parties, and still get great sleep.

I stayed out late one night for a music festival and paid the price...

Image

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More from @bryan_johnson

May 20
First, I shocked my Johnson and performance improved.
Then I shocked my sprained ankle and recovered faster.
Now, I’m shocking my entire body…
🧵
0/ This technology (@SoftwaveTRT) delivers unfocused electro-hydraulic shock waves dispersed over a broad tissue volume. The acoustic pulse passes non-invasively through skin, generating shear forces and micro-cavitation that set off mechanotransduction. Cells release ATP, open stretch-activated ion channels and trigger ERK/Akt signaling.

Within 30 minutes to 24 hours, endothelial-NO synthase and VEGF rise, micro-perfusion improves, and mesenchymal stem cells migrate to the site over subsequent days. End result: increased blood flow, pro-healing growth-factor signaling and activated resident stem-cell repair machinery.

Clinical trials show strong pain relief and faster healing for plantar-fasciitis heels, calcified shoulder tendons and improved blood flow for erectile dysfunction; decent evidence for tennis elbow,Achilles issues and chronic wounds; early data for nerve pain and chronic wounds.
1/ My team and I found this technology when we were working on Rejuvenating Johnson’s Johnson. We all want youthful brains and hearts and sexual function.

There are multiple randomized controlled trials showing shockwave therapy improves erectile dysfunction. Given that my sexual function was normal, we wanted to test whether it could further enhance it as measured by total time nighttime erections, subjective sexual performance, sexual satisfaction, and medical imaging-based penile markers.

x.com/bryan_johnson/…
Read 5 tweets
May 7
Is sauna worth the hype?

There's evidence that sauna is a potential detox and longevity intervention with benefits to heart, metabolism, brain health, and skin. We’re going to put it to the test.

Here’s what you need to know…🧵 Image
0/ How it works…

Heat exposure in a sauna puts your body under mild stress, triggering natural repair processes that improve overall health. Finnish dry saunas specifically use controlled heat to stimulate these beneficial responses, including:

+ Repairing and maintaining proteins (heat shock proteins)
+ Improving blood flow and relaxing blood vessels
+ Boosting antioxidant activity
+ Optimizing metabolism
+ Enhancing fitness
+ Reducing inflammation
+ Strengthening immunity
+ Recycling and repairing cells (autophagy)

All these processes combine to give whole-body health benefits.Image
1/ It protects your heart…

Regular sauna use (4–7 times a week, sessions lasting at least 19 minutes) can significantly improve heart health and lower blood pressure. Research shows the more often you sauna, the greater your protection from heart disease:

Heart disease risk:
2–3 times/week → 23% lower risk
4–7 times/week → 48% lower risk

High blood pressure risk (in healthy men aged 42–60):
2–3 times/week → 17% lower risk
4–7 times/week → 47% lower risk

In patients with existing heart failure, using a sauna 5 times a week for 3 weeks improved heart function by nearly 7%, lowered stress hormones by 25%, and reduced heart failure markers by over 20%. Longer and more frequent sauna sessions offer the strongest protection.Image
Read 11 tweets
Apr 30
This marker reveals how fast you’re aging.

+ New science just emerged to support it
+ It’s based on DNA methylation
+ It allows me to know what is and isn’t working

Here’s an overview of how:
+ it works
+ you can find out your result
+ you can compare your results to others Image
0/ Speed of aging (PACE) is one of the most clinically validated aging markers.

My team and I use it extensively to measure the efficacy of health protocols.

This thread explains how biological aging clocks gained a bad reputation and how two new pre-prints take a new approach to restore confidence to the field.
1/ Addressing Skepticism:

There's been some skepticism surrounding biological age clocks. I'm going to address the arguments around epigenetic age measurements, explain why these concerns don't apply to PACE (the clock my team and I use), and discuss the new standards emerging in the field to ensure the reliable validation of these tools.

Key Takeaways:

+ Early studies often lacked rigorous methodologies in their application of biological aging clocks.

+ The field is now developing new, robust benchmarks for validating and utilizing biological aging clocks effectively.

+ Strong clinical evidence shows that PACE meets the stringent criteria for accuracy, reliability, and sensitivity.
Read 10 tweets
Apr 21
My Vit D levels spiked 235% post HBOT.

My Vit D has been stable for years ~40 ng/mL and then spiked to 134 ng/mL after 60 sessions of HBOT.

For context: I’ve been taking ~5000 IU/day of Vit D for the past few years. My serum levels have consistently hovered around ~40 ng/mL.

Sep 2024 (pre-HBOT): 40 ng/mL
Jan 15, 2025: 67.8 ng/mL
Mar 26, 2025: 110 ng/mL
Apr 1, 2025: 134 ng/mL

Levels approaching 100 ng/mL can carry potential benefits. Beyond that is not ideal.

The threshold of toxicity sits around 150 ng/mL, and while I’m still comfortably below it, I’ve chosen to pause my 5000 IU/day dose to try and normalize levels.

I’m not concerned. Bone health is excellent (top 99.8 percentile via DEXA) and my serum calcium (9.4 mg/dL) is within the upper normal range.

So why did Vit D levels spike? We have a hypothesis.
🧵Image
1/ Improved intestinal bile acids

Through reversal of dysbiosis and increased growth of healthy gut bacteria.

How does it affect vitamin D?

Bile acid metabolites (especially LCA) promoted by a healthy microbiome promote vitamin D absorption into circulation.
2/ Improved intestinal barrier integrity and reduced inflammation

Increases in Akkermansia and butyrate support mucin production and maintain healthy gut lining.

How does it affect vitamin D?

A strong mucus layer prevents nutrient loss through inflammation-induced “leaks” and promotes efficient absorption into the bloodstream.

Reduced intestinal leakage also means less systemic inflammation, which decreases immune-cell consumption of vitamin D. More circulating vitamin D, less wasted in fighting fires.

That creates a positive feedback loop:
Less inflammation → More available vitamin D → Even less inflammation → Repeat.
Read 6 tweets
Mar 25
I take 2.5 mg of Cialis daily.
Not for erections, but for longevity.

Here’s what the science says about Cialis and lifespan extension…

And why it’s not the reason behind my 3 hour long titanic nighttime erections.
🧵
0/ It sounds wild, but low-dose Cialis (tadalafil) and Viagra (sildenafil) are both drawing attention for longevity benefits.

Recent clinical evidence indicates the use of either correlates to longer survival in men, in addition to their potential for heart health, metabolism, and even brain function.

A new retrospective study evaluated the longevity potential of 407 prescription drugs in over 200,000 participants, with both Cialis and Viagra being among the surprising promising hits in men (yet to be evaluated in women, since the retrospective studies only cover existing drug use for established indications).

Sildenafil will soon be tested in the NIA’s ITP, the most credible pre-clinical longevity drug testing program in mice.Image
1/ My nighttime erections are better than the average 18 year old, but Cialis is unlikely to play a meaningful role in them or even my sexual function.

While it’s true that daily low-dose Cialis (2.5–5 mg) can help men with erectile dysfunction (ED) or benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) by maintaining steady blood levels of the drug, the primary benefit is in restoring minimal normal erectile function, not enhancing already healthy sexual performance.

In one study, men with ED taking 5 mg/day of tadalafil showed an average increase of 17.75 minutes in nightly Duration of Erectile Episodes (DOEE). This threshold was considered predictive of a successful response.

My dose is half that, 2.5 mg.

However, this effect is likely limited to individuals with existing ED, as the drug appears to normalize function, not boost it. Even then, the increase is relatively modest, less than 10% compared to my typical nighttime erections lasting over 3 hours.

Another study found that 12 weeks of 5 mg/day tadalafil had no significant effect on the duration of nighttime erections, though participants reported increased confidence and improved spontaneous morning erections.Image
Read 9 tweets
Mar 19
Study uses MRI ad machine learning to estimate brain age, and identifies 64 “druggable” genes that drive brain agingImage
0/ Published last week in @ScienceAdvances a study reported the use of brain scans with multiple deep learning models combined with gene expression analysis in blood samples and brain tissues from to identify genes that drive brain aging.
Background and details

1/ The study used brain scans and gene expression analysis data from 38,961 subjects from the UK Biobank, 6637 of which with a diagnosed brain disorders with “healthy” brains.
Read 11 tweets

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