A Note on Dave Asprey and Bulletproof
I want to acknowledge Dave Asprey upfront. He's intelligent, driven, and a skilled businessman. I hold no personal animosity toward him, and if this article doesn't prevent him from buying my company or collaborating on a legitimate health project in the future, I'm open to that conversation.
But I also have a responsibility to say what I see.
Asprey has built a massive brand around what I'd call bio-quacking. His flagship philosophy revolves around one central idea: overstimulation is optimization. Coffee. Butter. High protein. High meat. Excessive caffeine. All of it designed to make your body feel like it's working harder, running faster, thinking sharper. And for two decades, I've watched this pattern repeat. The branding is polished. The website is beautiful. The financial success is real. But the science underneath doesn't hold up.
Here's what concerns me. Individuals with diabetes, inflammatory illnesses, or degenerative diseases would suffer significantly if they followed Asprey's protocols. His products don't provide genuine energy or clean healing. They provide stimulation. And stimulation feels like energy until your body crashes.
Asprey's entire paradigm is built on disruption, not nutrition. He dismisses foods like nutritional yeast, which have anchored simple, effective dietary practices for over a century. He ignores the science of inflammation. He completely absent animal compassion from his conversation. He's simply repackaged overstimulation as biohacking and sold it to people desperate for an edge.
The marketing is brilliant. He talks about gaining twenty IQ points through supplements. He speaks to people's desires to optimize and enhance. He's tapped into a real appetite for self-improvement. But desire and results are different things.
Over the past twenty years, I've encountered many people like Asprey. Charismatic. Well-branded. Financially successful. But their theories don't stand the test of time because they lack a scientific foundation. They pick up abstract ideas, expand them however necessary to sell products, and move on.
Asprey spent most of his life overweight and unhealthy. He's relatively new to living in a fit body. I've lived in a healthy body my entire life. That difference in perspective matters. He's trying to justify his personal lifestyle through science. I'm trying to promote practices that actually work.
I do respect certain aspects of his work. His content is extensive. His business model is sophisticated. His success is undeniable. But success in marketing and success in health are not the same thing.
The human body wasn't designed to run on constant stimulation. It was designed to rest, digest, and heal. Everything Asprey sells disrupts that natural rhythm. And while many people are drawn to stimulation because it feels good, that doesn't make it health.
Here's what needs to be said clearly: vitamins in a package, no matter who sells them, including me, are mostly marketing plays, not nutritional hacks. While some supplements can deliver real results, most don't. Buyer beware of everything out there claiming things that only the scientifically illiterate fall for. The wellness industry is built on exploiting desperation, not solving problems.
P.S. I'm happy to debate this publicly with Mr. Asprey on any forum he chooses. I have profound respect for him as a person and genuine well wishes for his health. But I'm confident that armed with my support team, Dr. Jeffrey Mechanick from Mount Sinai, Fred Bisci at ninety-seven years old, and myself, we can dismantle the mountain of nonsense that comes from this section of our wellness industry. Real health stands up to scrutiny. Let's test it.
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Correspondence with My Attorney on This Article
Dear Mr. Morty,
I'm planning to write an article critiquing Dave Asprey's wellness philosophy and business practices. I want to be respectful and fair, not unnecessarily harsh or scathing. What's your recommendation for how to approach this thoughtfully while still being direct about where I think his work falls short?
Gratefully,
Marcus
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Morty's Response
Dear Marcus,
Legally, yes, this is fair game. Here's why:
Asprey is a public figure. As a public figure, he has less legal protection against criticism than a private person would. Courts recognize that public figures must tolerate strong criticism, especially about their public business and products.
Your article is primarily opinion, which is protected speech. Phrases like "bio-quacking," "his entire paradigm," and "doesn't hold up" are clearly your perspective, not false statements of fact.
You're critiquing his products and marketing claims on matters of public interest, which gets even broader protection.
You've been careful with factual claims (his business success, his products, their ingredients). If those are accurate, you're safe. If you say something false as a fact, that's where problems arise.
Your opening and closing are respectful and acknowledge his strengths, which actually weakens any defamation claim by showing you're not being reckless or malicious.
The tone is sharp but not targeting him personally as a bad human, just critiquing his business practices and health philosophy.
That said, you should verify any specific factual claims you make (like his weight history, product ingredients, etc.) are accurate and defensible. But the general framework of this piece is solid legally. You're allowed to say you think someone's wellness philosophy is wrong.
CONCRETE FACTS YOU CAN USE:
1. Personal Weight History Asprey weighed 300 pounds in his twenties with a 46-inch waist. He claims to have lost 100 pounds. Wikepedia
2. FTC Warning Letter (Documented) In 2020, the Federal Trade Commission sent Asprey a warning letter about making false health claims regarding supplements' ability to prevent and treat COVID-19. The FTC stated his "coronavirus-related prevention claims regarding such products are not supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence. You must immediately cease making all such claims." The actual FTC warning letter is publicly available. Letter from FTC
3. Specific COVID Claims He Made Asprey published a blog post titled "What I Do to Protect Myself From Coronavirus, and How I Plan to Kick It if I Get It," promoting andrographis, black cumin seed oil, omega-3s, COQ10, and PQQ as ways to prevent or treat COVID by reducing IL-6 inflammation.
4. FDA Warning Letter (2021) In 2021, the FDA sent a warning letter to Bulletproof 360, stating that its products were "not generally recognized as safe and effective" for the uses advertised.
5. Spotify Deletion Three Joe Rogan Experience episodes featuring Asprey were deleted from Spotify. Joe Rogan later said about testing Asprey's claims: "It seems to be bullshit and I feel bad. He doesn't have a formal education in nutrition."
6. Dietitian Criticism A registered dietitian nutritionist stated: "This diet can help people lose weight initially, but with most of the food coming from fat, it can be challenging to sustain long-term." Vox called it "like a caricature of a bad fad-diet book."
7. Academic Criticism Reviewing the Bulletproof Diet book, Stephan Guyenet commented that "much of the dietary advice presented in the book seems either based on a superficial understanding of nutritional science or a complete rejection of it."
8. Asprey's Wildest Claims Asprey has stated he expects to live to 180 years of age, and as of 2021 claims to have spent at least two million dollars on "hacking his own biology," including stem cell injections, 100+ daily supplements, and hyperbaric oxygen chambers.
9. No Medical Credentials Asprey has no medical degree or nutritional training.
All of this is legally defensible because it's either direct quotes from official sources (FTC, FDA), peer-reviewed criticism from credentialed professionals, or public statements Asprey made himself. You're on solid ground.
Respectfully,
Morty Xxxxxx, Esq.