#5: Steve Aoki, Extreme Veganism, and Carcinogens

In this week’s edition of The Morning Dose:

? Bryan Johnson’s Extreme Anti-Aging Diet with Steve Aoki

? Vegan Influencer Dies After All-Fruit Diet

? Is Aspartame a Carcinogen?

Let’s inject this.

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? Bryan Johnson’s Extreme Anti-Aging Diet with Steve Aoki

If you’ve never heard of Bryan Johnson, he’s the creator of Blueprint, an algorithm designed to optimize every part of human health.

He spent millions developing this algorithm and claims to be the most measured man alive, regularly testing and scanning nearly every part of his body.

In other words, this dude is obsessed with his health, and wants to live as long as possible. If anyone will solve the problem of aging, Bryan is the guy.

Anyway, he recently filmed a video with Steve Aoki, the legendary cake-throwing DJ, and broke down his “extreme anti-aging diet.”

We have no idea how the two met, but the video is fascinating, and honestly, it’s almost hard to believe that Bryan really follows this plan every single day.

In the video, you’ll watch Bryan and Steve take shots of Green Giant, swallow 40 capsules of assorted supplements, visit a health clinic, discuss the best super-veggies, and more.

This protocol is far too complicated for the average person to follow, but if you’re interested in seeing what someone with way too much free time lots of money does for their health, this is a fascinating watch.

? Vegan Influencer Dies After All-Fruit Diet

Zhanna Samsonova, a 39-year-old influencer who followed an extreme diet, to say the least, recently passed away from starvation and exhaustion.

Now, this is a very tragic situation. We aren’t trying to make light of her struggles or make fun of vegans.

But this is a perfect example of just how confused people are when it comes to nutrition, and the dangers of following influencers.

Zhanna claims to have experience as a “raw chef” and wants to inspire people to eat healthy, but there’s simply no way around the fact that her diet was anything but healthy.

In her words:

“For the last four years, my diet has been only fruits, sunflower seed sprouts, fruit smoothies, and juices.”

A follower of hers claimed that Zhanna only ate durian and jackfruit… for seven years straight.

In other words, she ate the exact opposite of the carnivore diet, the other strange and unusual nutrition trend that’s been taking over social media.

It’s hard to imagine anyone being able to stick to such a restrictive diet for so long, especially as her health was rapidly deteriorating, and friends and family urged her to seek medical health.

So, the next time you hear someone talk about any kind of extreme diet (looking at you, Liver King), or make an unusual claim, do your own research before blindly following their advice.

? Is Aspartame a Carcinogen?

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) recently claimed that aspartame may increase the risk of cancer. You’ve probably seen the headlines all over the news, about artificial sweeteners and cancer.

So should we go back to avoiding artificial sweeteners, or are they safe in moderation?

Let’s take a closer look, and learn a valuable lesson in the power of media headlines.

First, the IARC grouped aspartame into a category that includes “possible” carcinogens – a category that also includes aloe vera extract, ginkgo balboa, and caffeic acid, which is found in coffee, apple sauce, prunes, and yerba mate.

This is a level below the “probable” carcinogens list, which are more likely to cause cancer–a list that includes red meat, working the night shift, and drinking hot beverages above 149 degrees.

We didn’t make that last one up, and yes, that’s low–an average cup of coffee is between 160-180 degrees.

In other words, the dangers of aspartame are still extremely low, if there’s any danger at all in humans.

According to the IARC, you have a greater risk of cancer if you drink warm beverages.

Now, this story wouldn’t be a big deal… except most people only read headlines.

I guarantee that people everywhere saw the headline about aspartame being a carcinogen, and promptly ran to share the news with their friends, family, social media, and anyone else who will listen.

So if you’ve seen that headline floating around, and started to second-guess your diet soda intake… don’t worry about it.

The media wants to create headlines that cause panic and fear, and in this case, they won.