Texan Spending Fortune, Hours A Day Trying To Live To At Least 120 Years Old: 'I Am My Asset'
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Hundreds of pills, expensive machines and constant blood testing.
They are among the keys to immortality according the ultra-wealthy who are becoming devout followers of what's known as biohacking.
A rich Dallas and Austin developer is offering CBS 11 News a rare glimpse into the lifestyle.
Ari Rastegar goes to bed in special clothing on a temperature-regulated bed.
"It has this metallic mechanism inside of it that helps flush lactic acid and eliminate inflammation," says Rastegar.
He also wears a mask.
"Orange glasses that illuminate the the light so I don't disrupt the circadian rhythms," he says.
That's just Rastegar's nightly routine.
During the day, he takes nearly 150 vitamins customized to his current needs by his doctor.
Rastegar also gets his blood tested monthly.
The 37-year-old has a $15,000 vapor machine that's supposed to reduce stress and another $15,000 machine designed to calm his brain two hours before bedtime.
He says it's paying off and making him healthier than ever.
"I am my asset," he says.
Biohacking is all part of an effort to extend life beyond anything humans can imagine.
"The data will tell you the folks that are living this type of lifestyle are living well in excess of 120 years old," says Rastegar.
The goal of biohacking is to keep strands of DNA from aging.
Rastegar has already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars.
But the real estate developer can afford it with the money he makes as CEO of Rastegar Property.
He owns buildings in Austin and is planning a $100,000,000, 26-story residential tower in the uptown section of Dallas next year.
"I don't know if I'm trying to live forever. I'm trying to live as long as I can contribute," he says.
Rastegar's exhausting daily routine also includes a hyperbaric chamber, meditation and he employs a life coach.
Rastegar is one of a growing number of longevity devotees who also undergo hormone therapy.
Others, not Rastegar, have even resorted to blood transfusions and stem cell treatments stay young.
"My biological age is now that of about a 4-year-old," he says.
But medical doctors say not so fast when it comes to treatments that promise to slow down aging.
"We don't have any long-term evidence-based studies to correlate whatever biohacking techniques people are using to prolong or extend life, yet," says Dr. James Pinckney of Diamond Physicians.
While physicians are cautious, Rastegar says he's seen the proof by lowering his cholesterol and raising his testosterone.
Rastegar along with a number of other millionaires and billionaires are spending vast amounts of their fortunes in the search for immortality.
But he says that doesn't mean he fears death.
"I think we're all little bit apprehensive," he says. "I like to focus more on living, even with all this biohacking and all this stuff you don't know if you're going to make it to the next day."!