Dave Asprey: Why We Need To Be Super Human

In what might be his most inspirational and aspirational offering yet, Dave Asprey, the creator of Bulletproof coffee, Upgrade Labs and the bestselling author of “Head Strong” (Harper Wave, 2017) and “The Bulletproof Diet” (Rodale Books, Reprint edition 2018) brings you a revolutionary plan to bypass plateaus and “up” your game at every age.

In his new book “Super Human” (Harper Collins, 2019), Asprey elevates his mission from preventing aging to reversing it. He’s known for his world-famous coffee and for sharing his high-tech workout secrets with the public at Upgrade Labs in Los Angeles, but he was not always the shining beacon of health, and his prospects for living a long and healthy life were dim. As a young man, Asprey suffered from countless symptoms of chronic disease and premature aging, which led him to “hack” his health.

Asprey’s pursuit evolved into a desire to grow younger with each birthday. For more than 20 years, he has been on a quest to find innovative, science-backed methods to upgrade human biology and redefine the limits of the mind, body and spirit. The results speak for themselves. Now in his 40s, Asprey proudly shares that he not only feels but also is measurably smarter, happier,and more fit and successful than ever before.

In “Super Human,” Asprey shows how this level of health and performance is possible for all of us. While we assume we will peak in middle age and then decline, Asprey’s research reveals there is another way. According to his findings, he tools that work at a sub-cellular level to dramatically extend life span also deliver more energy and brain power right now. Asprey explores what he terms Seven Pillars of Aging in his book, as well as simple interventions in diet, sleep, light exposure and exercise, combined with less obvious but powerful hacks from ozone therapy to proper jaw alignment. He finds that health, fitness and well-being are one and the same and within our control.

When we recently caught up with Asprey at Upgrade Labs in Los Angeles, we asked if there were any other benefits to the secrets he reveals in his new book, and at the lab.

Lashaun Dale: What’s the one thing you wanted to accomplish in writing “Super Human”?

Dave Asprey: I want people who read it to realize that you have more control over your own biology than anyone ever told you. You don’t need anyone’s permission. You don’t need a note from a doctor. You can wake up tomorrow or today and say, “You know what? I own this. I’m going to do it. It is possible. People are already doing it. I am now one of them. I’m going to live as long as I possibly can and I’m going to feel good for longer than anyone expects.”

LD: Of course that changes your attitude toward your own health, but is that important for other reasons?

DA: When that is how you live your life, it changes the way you treat the world around you. You’re nicer to the people around you because you might meet them 50 years from now. You’re not going to throw the plastic in the trash. You’re going to recycle it because you don’t want to eat it in a fish 20 years from now. You actually have a long-term view of everything around you, and it makes you a better person.

LD: And why did you create Upgrade Labs?

DA: Upgrade Labs arose out of a vision that I had to hack the human body. I literally learned to upgrade myself. I started out weighing 300 pounds and having a brain that didn’t work very well, lots of joint pain, and just saying, “You know, I’m an entrepreneur. I’m a Silicon Valley guy. There’s got to be a way to hack this.” So, I started looking in different technologies used by Navy SEALs, astronauts, celebrities, even sometimes functional medicine clinics or sports trainers.

What I found was a bunch of things that cause you to recover better than you’re supposed to. By using this technology, I was able to reverse aging and actually make myself feel really good and get a bunch of time back every day. So, I can go work out really hard and then “recover hard,” too.

I had sacrificed recovery for working too hard at work and then I would go exercise as well. Now I can exercise the amount that I want. I can handle way more in the work that I do…. I’m a husband. I have two young kids and I see them and I play with them. I couldn’t do all that without recovering like – well, like a demon, which is what my book is about, and that’s what Upgrade Labs is all about, too.

Mother Nature wants you to basically have babies and then die. So, that’s how the species works. Well, I don’t want that. I don’t think my kids want that either. So, it’s my job to fix it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjp8gUCfMJg

Photo and video credit: Todd Cribari, inspirostudio.com