Astonishing daily routine of tech mogul spending $2m a year to feel 18 again

What would you give to have the body of a teenager again?

Bryan Johnson, a 45-year-old Silicon Valley tech mogul, thinks it can be done for about $2 million a year.

Mr Johnson is at the forefront of a new war on ageing in which billionaires and celebrities are trying to turn back time.

However, he has taken it to another level, employing an army of 30 doctors and experts in what he calls “Operation Blueprint”.

The ultimate goal is to reverse biology and make each of his 78 organs – including his brain, heart, lungs and kidneys – medically 18-years-old.

Mr Johnson, who is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, detailed his rigorous – and some might say bizarre – regimen for Bloomberg Businessweek.

It includes putting on goggles to block out blue light for two hours before bed, which is at the same time every night.

He then wakes up at 5am and conducts an hour-long workout with 25 exercises, takes dozens of supplements including creatine, and rinses his teeth with tea tree oil.

Following a strict vegan diet, he eats 1,977 calories per day, including almond milk, walnuts, flaxseed, berries and lots of blended vegetables.

He recaptures his youthful skin with seven types of cream, along with acid peels and laser therapy, and has “fat scaffolding” injected into his face.

It all appears to be working according to his medical team, who say he now has the fitness level and lung capacity of an 18-year-old, and the skin of a man aged 28.

His gums have responded particularly well, and are equivalent to those of a 17-year-old.

His heart, although lagging a bit behind, is doing well and is currently aged 37.

On his website, where he chronicles his quest for eternal youth, Mr Johnson alleges that his overall pace of ageing has slowed by 24 per cent, and claims his “5.1 years epigenetic age reversal” is a world record.

He has also launched the Rejuvenation Olympics, which 1,750 youth-seekers have signed up for.

It measures by what percentage participants have managed to reduce their chronological age, according to medical tests. Mr Johnson is currently in first place.

Critics have compared his extreme approach to exercise and skincare to that of the narcissistic character Patrick Bateman in Bret Easton Ellis’s novel, American Psycho. The character was portrayed on screen by Christian Bale.

But Mr Johnson explained, on his website, that his mission began after he sold his payments processing company for $800 million.

Suddenly, he felt “helpless to stop myself from overeating to soothe the pains of life,” he wrote.

Despite his success, “when 7pm rolled around, there was nothing I could do to stop myself from engaging in this self-destructive behaviour.”

He added: “Now, I feel happier, more alive and fulfilled than any time of my life. I am nicer to those around me, no longer irritable and my mind is clear.”

Mr Johnson’s body fat is down to five per cent, and his jaw is now chiseled.

At his home in Venice, California he is subjected to a monthly round of blood tests, colonoscopies and other evaluations into his biofluids and physical fitness.

The medical team is led by Oliver Zolman, 29, a doctor researching ageing therapies in Cambridge, England.

On his website Dr Zolman said he wanted to prove that “patients have reached longevity escape velocity, by reversing ageing and age-related diseases in all 78 organs.”

He added: “By 2030 we aim to have strong evidence we have rejuvenated all 78 organs in healthy 80-year-olds to age 60.”

Mr Johnson’s quest comes as the number of people living beyond age 100 is set to continue rising swiftly.

There are currently 593,000 people over 100 in the world and that is expected to rise to 3.7 million by 2050, according to the United Nations.

According to experts some people “win the genetic lottery” at birth and those with long-lived parents are more likely to reach ripe old ages.

Offspring of centenarians are “about 10 years healthier,” according to the Institute for Aging Research in New York.

But scientists hope to use artificial intelligence to identify “longevity genes” and develop drugs that will help everyone to live longer.

In a study published this month researchers at Harvard Medical School said they had apparently reversed ageing in mice by finding and fixing “glitches” in their genes.

David Sinclair, professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, said: “Ageing may be more reversible than we ever thought.”

However, according to some researchers only 25 per cent of longevity is determined by genes, giving a person the ability to control the rest through their diet and lifestyle.

Mr Johnson is not the first Silicon Valley entrepreneur to seek the fountain of youth.

Peter Thiel, the billionaire, has funded anti-ageing research and declared himself opposed to death, once saying: “Basically, I’m against it.”