Ramdev Races Horse: Bryan Johnson Says Yoga Guru Blocked Him

Yoga guru and Patanjali founder Ramdev blocked US millionaire Bryan Johnson on X after Johnson had criticized his anti-ageing claims. The row started when Ramdev posted a video of himself running alongside a horse, saying that eating certain Patanjali products would boost immunity and give anti-ageing benefits.

Bryan Johnson’s Response

Johnson, whose rigorous anti-ageing regime has made the news in recent years, took up the slack by mentioning India’s air quality problem, the state of air at Haridwar in particular. He added, “Air quality in Haridwar presently is PM 2.5 36 µg/m³ equivalent to a smoking 1.6 cigarettes a day. It increases chances of heart disease by 40–50%, lung cancer by 3 fold, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, and premature death (5–7 years of lost life).

Minutes later, Johnson tweeted that Ramdev had blocked him. This incident follows a similar controversy where Johnson left Nikhil Kamath’s podcast midway last year, citing concerns over India’s air pollution.

The Controversial Post

Ramdev’s initial post was: “Ghode ki tarah tez daudne ki taakat, strong immunity, anti-aging aur power chahiye toh Swarna Shilajit avam Immunogrit Gold khaaiye (If you want to run like a horse, want strong immunity, anti-aging, and power then consume Swarna Shilajit and Immunogrit Gold).”

Swarna Shilajit and Immunogrit Gold are both products of Patanjali, a firm co-founded by Ramdev and Balkrishna in 2006.

Johnson, who spends millions on his longevity-oriented lifestyle, has raised India’s air pollution concerns repeatedly. Recalling his experience, he described why he cut short Kamath’s podcast, stating, “The issue was that the room we were in had outside air circulating which rendered the air purifier I’d brought with me useless.

His most recent criticism of Haridwar’s air quality seems to have gotten Ramdev to block him, another chapter in their back-and-forth fight over health and wellness claims.