When Bryan Johnson, the self-proclaimed ‘longevity king,’ announced his diagnosis with autoimmune gastritis (AIG) on June 30th, the wellness community was quick to pounce on the opportunity to preach about the dangers of biohacking and the pursuit of immortality. While it’s easy to mock Johnson’s extreme health routines and his apparent obsession with living forever, the real issue at hand is the underlying reason why people like Johnson and countless others turn to health optimization and biohacking in the first place.

Source: platform.theverge.com

Johnson’s story is a common one. He noticed something was off with his health, and his doctors initially dismissed his concerns. It wasn’t until he turned to a team of over 30 doctors and invested in a regimen of wearables and supplements that he finally received a diagnosis. For many people, this journey is all too familiar.

As someone who has also navigated the complex world of health optimization, I understand the existential dread that drives people to seek answers. The data from wearables can be overwhelming, and the promise of health perfection can be alluring. But the truth is, health is not a race with a finish line. Getting amazing sleep scores, cardio scores, or longevity scores is not proof that you will live a long life.

The Human Reason Behind Health Optimization

So, why do people turn to health optimization and biohacking? It’s not just about living forever or achieving perfect health. It’s about regaining balance and finding a sustainable, satisfying life. It’s about developing discernment and understanding when to ignore versus heavily interrogate wellness trends and marketing.

As Johnson himself notes, his journey toward diagnosis felt eerily similar to the journey I went on trying to handle my polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. And I suspect it’s a journey that many people have or will embark on as health and wearable tech adoption widens.

For many of us, the journey starts small. We notice something is off, or maybe our doctor asks us to lose some weight because something in our annual physical isn’t optimal. Whatever the reason, a basic fitness tracker is bought. But for a ton of other people, the data doesn’t paint an obvious picture or the body doesn’t react in an expected way.

In the rush to turn Johnson’s diagnosis into content, I think wellness influencers at large are missing the big reason why anyone starts optimizing their health. It’s not about being perfect or achieving health perfection. It’s about regaining balance and finding a sustainable, satisfying life.

The Dark Side of Health Optimization

Now, some of the criticisms toward Johnson’s brand of biohacking are reasonable. You can’t fully mitigate your genetics through lifestyle changes. You can try to optimize to a point where you’re reducing your quality of life. Not to get too philosophical, but at the heart of optimization culture is the very human fear of dying.

Ironically, the thing that science and data give us is a sense that there is an answer. That any health problem, provided you can measure it, can be identified and then fixed or at least improved. Sadly, this isn’t always true.

Wearables introduce health scores to help make data digestible, but getting amazing sleep scores, cardio scores, or longevity scores is not proof that you will live a long life. We’ve all heard an anecdotal story about that friend of a friend who did everything right and still developed cancer or dropped dead in a freak accident.

So, what can we learn from Johnson’s diagnosis? It’s not about being a biohacking guru or a wellness influencer. It’s about being human and acknowledging the complexities of health and the limitations of science.

As a society, we need to be more empathetic and understanding of the human reason behind health optimization. We need to recognize that health is not a one-size-fits-all solution and that everyone’s journey is unique. By doing so, we can create a more balanced and sustainable approach to health that prioritizes our well-being over our ego.