I have reviewed his information and watched several of his interviews. Gary Brecka is a human biologist and biohacker (for the record I hate the term biohacker) and is most famous for turning UFC President Dana White’s health around. Dana has had excellent results with his advice and is an avid advocate of his system. Personally I think some of his advice is very good such as utilizing methylated B vitamins and TMG (Trimethylglycine) also referred to as Betaine to lower homocysteine levels. Homocysteine is an amino acid and when it is produced in high levels it can damage blood vessels and increase the likelihood of heart disease. Dana had super high levels of homocysteine and subsequently acutely elevated blood pressure as well. Gary determined that Dana had the MTHFR gene mutation via genetic testing which reveals why his homocysteine levels were so elevated as those with the MTHFR gene mutation have a difficult time breaking down homocysteine into the amino acid methionine. As a result, homocysteine levels keep building to excessive levels. Gary was able to help Dana reduce his exorbitant homocysteine levels significantly in ten weeks by having him supplement with methylated B vitamins and TMG. He also revamped Dana’s diet and had him on a low-carb diet with an elimination of all junk food to address his high glucose and cholesterol levels. After a few months on Gary’s program, Dana was able to get off his blood pressure and cholesterol medications, his sleep improved dramatically, he lost a ton of body fat, and he undeniably looked way better than he did before starting Gary’s program. 

While some of Gary’s information is beneficial and on the mark, some of it is highly questionable, to say the least. Especially when it comes to hormone optimization and in particular boosting testosterone. He recommends and sells Tongkat Ali as an effective testosterone booster. I have discussed Tongkat Ali before and to summarize it is definitely not an effective testosterone booster. If it were, it would be in ASTB. Gary also conveys that most men can get testosterone into the optimal range by supplementing with DHEA and Vitamin D. While both DHEA and Vitamin D are crucial for overall health and feeling your best, most men if not all men are not going to get testosterone into the optimal range by just improving DHEA and Vitamin D levels. You may get a boost in testosterone by addressing DHEA and Vitamin D deficiencies but I doubt doing so will have a significant impact on overall testosterone levels. Personally, I have been deficient before in Vitamin D and had excellent total and free testosterone levels. Improving my Vitamin D level from a deficient number of 27 ng/ml to the high end of the range of 94 ng/ml had no impact whatsoever on my testosterone levels.  Vitamin D is very important for the immune system, bone health, insulin sensitivity, and mood so having an ideal level is worth achieving but if you think it is going to improve your testosterone levels significantly then prepare to be disappointed. The same goes for DHEA which is important in and of itself and is the ultimate stress management hormone It certainly supports testosterone by protecting it from the ravages of cortisol but is not a strong testosterone booster. Here is a passage from an article I wrote on the benefits of DHEA a while back, 

Increasing DHEA naturally or taking supplemental DHEA should be utilized for increasing DHEA levels alone not for what it may or may not do for testosterone levels. DHEA is a few metabolic steps away from testosterone and thus DHEA supplements are not the ideal option for increasing testosterone in men.

Next, Gary as well as many other self-proclaimed experts on social media love to talk about the perils of seed oils. Gary claims that seed oils such as canola, corn, safflower, soy, and sunflower oils are all toxic and should be avoided like the second coming of the plague. The reality is there is no proof whatsoever to substantiate such claims and this is just fear-mongering to look like an expert and feed the algorithms for more views. Check out this informative Consumer Reports article, “Do seed oils make you sick?” to learn about the realities of seed oils. My take on seed oils is they come at an opportunity cost. This means you could have consumed something much healthier such as cold-pressed organic Olive oil instead of seed oils which are definitely not as nutritious. I prefer to use the healthiest oils possible so never use seed oils to cook my meals at home. However, I don’t worry about seed oils being used for meals at restaurants. The reality is that eating out is not as healthy as preparing your meals at home correctly but this is only a problem if you’re eating out all the time.

Gary’s views on depression and how to cure it are oversimplifications at best. He has stated that the definition of depression is being deficient in serotonin. No Gary, that is not the definition of depression and no legit mental health expert would make such a statement as mental health is far more complex than just raising serotonin. An article at Psychology Today, We Still Don’t Know How Antidepressants Work gets into this topic. No doubt improving nutrition, gut health, and exercising can improve mental health dramatically. I have dealt with lifelong depression and being committed to a healthy lifestyle and prioritizing hormone optimization has had profound benefits. However, doing so didn’t magically eradicate the depression, it just made it much easier to manage and stay on top of which is of course a big victory. Therapy, meditation, and the use of psychedelics such as psilocybin and low-dose ketamine can also be very helpful and something I will get into more in the future.

When it comes to supplements, while some of Gary’s recommendations are on the mark, he uses Magnesium oxide in his supplements which is incredibly low quality, has low bioavailability, and is the form of magnesium most likely to cause undesirable side effects such as diarrhea. Magnesium glycinate and threonate are vastly superior oral options. It makes zero sense to me that he uses such a low-quality form of magnesium and someone as well-researched as him should know better. 

Finally, a huge red flag on Gary’s credibility, or lack thereof is his claim that he can predict when someone will die with pinpoint accuracy predicated on reviewing lab work. This is an utterly absurd claim and one that is completely irresponsible and unethical to make. Anyone who comes at you with this Nostradamus approach should be taken with the utmost skepticism, to say the least. No one can predict exactly when you will die and from what no matter what information they have access to. Detailed lab work at best can predict what health complications you’re likely to have which is very useful information as it allows you to make changes immediately for the better. However, what we die from and when is very complex, healthy people die all the time for inexplicable reasons, and some unhealthy people who smoke and eat junk food their entire lives make it into their 80s and beyond. All we can do is stack the deck in our favor and hope for the best.

I think most of the benefits of Gary’s program come from improving nutrition, increasing activity, and personalized supplementation for precise issues. He is a big fan of red light therapy, cold plunges, oxygen therapy, and grounding mats. All of these things may have some benefit but for most, it is majoring in minor things. People just love spending money on the latest gadgets and tend to avoid what we all know actually works. Consume whole foods balanced diet loaded with options high in micronutrients, get 10,000 steps in daily (even more is better, I walk with my dogs for two hours every evening), do two strength training sessions per week as well as two interval high-intensity aerobic sessions, sleep seven to eight hours every night and you’re covering all the major bases. If you want to fine-tune things further, focus on optimizing hormones and addressing vitamin and mineral deficiencies with supplementation where needed.