Dave Asprey is an American entrepreneur and author. He founded Bulletproof 360, Inc. in 2013, and in 2017, founded Bulletproof Nutrition Inc. He has written five books. Men's Health described Asprey as a "lifestyle guru." Asprey is a "biohacker," creator of 'Bulletproof Coffee' and the 'Bulletproof diet', and author of a book describing the diet. Asprey is also known for being early to exploit the Internet for commerce and selling caffeine-molecule t-shirts via the alt.drugs.caffeinenewsgroup in 1994. Previously, Asprey held executive and director positions for technology companies including Trend Micro, Blue Coat Systems, and Citrix Systems.
Career
Asprey earned his undergraduate degree in computer information systems from California State University and later earned an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. After graduation from college, Asprey worked in the IT industry for companies that included Bradshaw and 3Com. He also ran the Internet and Web Engineering program at University of California, Santa Cruz, in which Asprey created one of the first working instances of cloud computing. Later, he joined Exodus Communications as director of strategic planning, where he co-founded the company's professional services group. Asprey was the director of product management for a Silicon Valley startup called NetScaler which was later acquired by Citrix Systems. After working at Citrix, Asprey served as the vice president of marketing for Zeus Technology and later, vice president of technology and corporate development at Blue Coat Systems. He then became an entrepreneur in residence at Trinity Ventures before co-founding a company called Basis. Asprey was the vice president of cloud security for Trend Micro before he left to run his own business full-time. Asprey founded Bulletproof 360, Inc. in 2013 and founded Bulletproof Nutrition Inc. in 2014. Asprey initially started the Bulletproof brand after developing Bulletproof Coffee. He posted the recipe for the beverage and details on the health benefits he experienced on his website while still working for Trend Micro. Asprey also developed "low-mold coffee beans", oils, and supplements and started selling them on his website in 2011. The following year, Asprey was a panelist at the “Hack Your Brain” event at South by Southwest. By 2013, Asprey had left his position at Trend Micro to run the Bulletproof companies. Asprey also runs a podcast, "Bulletproof Radio," which had been downloaded more than 75 million times as of January 2019. The stated goal of Bulletproof Nutrition is to enhance human performance. It supports the Quantified Self movement as a way to empower individuals to understand and 'hack' their own health. In 2014, Asprey authored The Bulletproof Diet published by Rodale Books. On July 25, 2015, Asprey opened a cafe in Santa Monica selling Bulletproof Coffee and high fat foods. In July 2015, Asprey raised $9 million from Trinity Ventures to expand the company. In June 2017, Asprey partnered with Ross Franklin, CEO and Founder of Pure Green, to launch Bulletproof Coffee in New York City.
Bulletproof diet
The Bulletproof diet developed and marketed by Asprey recommends eating foods high in fat, moderate in protein, and low in carbohydrates; the foundation is "Bulletproof Coffee", made with grass-fed unsalted butter and either coconut oil or medium-chain triglycerides . Asprey developed his Bulletproof Coffee recipe after traveling to Tibet and tasting yak-butter tea drinks. He returned to the United States and experimented with buttered drink recipes and published the preparation for his buttered coffee drink on his blog in 2009. The Bulletproof diet also recommends incorporating intermittent fasting. Asprey has claimed that when used in combination with other "health hacks", the coffee helped to boost his IQ score by more than 20 points. His company claims that Bulletproof Coffee can aid cognition and trigger weight loss through ketosis. Asprey warns coffee drinkers to avoid mold toxins such as ochratoxin in coffee, which he claims "steals your mental edge and actually makes you weak." He sells a brand of "upgraded" beans that are advertised as having undergone a secret, proprietary process to reduce mycotoxin levels. However, physician David Bach has observed that coffee producers already are good at removing mycotoxins from their product, and that there is no evidence to support Asprey's claim that mycotoxins make people "sluggish".
Reception
Critics have described the Bulletproof diet as unscientific. Asprey has no medical degree or nutritional training. Vox contributor Julia Belluz criticized the Bulletproof diet referring to it as "like a caricature of a bad fad-diet book". Belluz wrote particularly against claims that changing diet can reduce inflammation and lead to weight loss, saying Asprey ignored contradictory studies about the health benefits of certain foods, and inappropriately extrapolated studies on animals, very small groups of people, and people with specific diseases to the general human population. Dietitian Lynn Weaver criticized the diet as being hard to follow and supported by only small studies that are "not generally part of the scientific literature used by medical and nutritional professionals". Dietitians also point out there is no scientific basis for claims of an IQ boost, and that any sense of alertness from Bulletproof Coffee is "just a caffeine buzz". Some celebrity doctors, such as Dr. Frank Lipman and Dr. Andrew Weil believe that, when combined with a balanced diet, drinking buttered coffee could be healthy and "might give you a bit more energy than your everyday cup."
Personal life
Asprey has said that he expects to live to age 180. As of 2019, Asprey said he had spent at least $1 million "hacking his own biology," including having his own stem cells injected into him, taking 100 daily supplements, following a strict diet, bathing in infrared light, using a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, and wearing special lenses when flying or using a computer. Asprey met his wife, a physician, at an anti-aging conference. They live in Canada. Asprey has also spoken about how biohacking has positively impacted his sexual health.
