‘I’m super fit and healthy but use weight-loss jabs so I can party’

A party-mad entrepreneur says using skinny jabs and IV drips are a ‘biohack’ for balancing wild Ibiza trips and hard work – despite NHS warnings. Brandon Banach says he goes out partying once or twice a week and enjoys tequila club sodas.

But after boozing and dancing into the early hours, the 26-year-old says he uses ‘biohacking‘ methods to help him deal with his late-night fun and keep working – including using GLP-1s and IV drips that have been branded ‘potentially deadly’.

Although GLP-1s can help people with diabetes and assist in weight loss, health chiefs warn of the increased risk of severe acute pancreatitis, which can be fatal. And the NHS warn that the medicines have not been assessed for their ‘safety and effectiveness when used outside of their licensed use’, such as when used for weight loss in people ‘who are not obese or overweight’.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency specifically warns against those who are not obese or diabetic using the drugs to ‘lose weight for aesthetic or cosmetic purposes’. However the influencer has amassed more than 320,000 followers on Instagram alone through sharing his bodybuilding journey, health tips and experiments in ‘biohacking’.

Biohacking is a term used to describe changes people make in the belief it will help improve their health, lifestyle and wellbeing – and perhaps prolong their life. Despite being a buff bodybuilder, in the run-up to a big trip Brandon takes GLP1s and follow a strict high-protein ‘clean’ meal plan while working out up to four times a week.

Brandon also aims for 10 hours of sleep a night on weekdays, has fast food once a meal and champions post-meal walks to aid digestion. In a bid to curb hangovers and bloating, Brandon uses glutathione IV drips, which deliver a dose of the naturally occurring peptide.

A Channel 4 investigation revealed consumers reported suffering serious side effects from using the unregulated drips including anaphylaxis requiring hospitalisation, kidney strain and infections. The entrepreneur, who also runs a sunglasses company, credits his ‘non-traditional’ biohacking methods for allowing him to live a party lifestyle and also ‘prolong his youth’.

However he also admits that he would not necessarily recommend his extreme tactics to others and confesses he tries not to resort to them ‘too often’. Brandon said: “I think it’s easy to get carried away with the nightlife and partying. If we want to live healthy lives, we should take care of our health and do these things for longevity.

“Biohacking to me is using pharmacology in a non-traditional way. We can actually change the way that our body reacts to certain things and prolong our lives, regardless of if you’re partying or not. I use these methods to prolong my youth.

“I live in Miami so the night life scene is pretty strong out here, on a normal week I’m out once or twice a week. I don’t know if I’d recommend it to people, but there are certain things like GLP-1s that can lower your food noise. If I need the extra help I will take them but I try not to do this too often as you can get reliant on them.

“It depends on my schedule but if I have a trip planned and I’m going to Ibiza, I’m going to want to line it up so I can look my best in Ibiza. This is a biohack I use to keep me youthful.”

Brandon says another thing he does is getting the naturally occurring peptide glutathione pumped into his body through an IV drip after a night out. He gets the $500 treatment done twice a week, as he believes natural levels can be significantly reduced by drinking alcohol.

The entrepreneur owns the sunglasses company BVLDFRAMES, which sells frames for the nightlife and festival scene and well as everyday use, as well as launching a World Cup series online this year.

Brandon said: “There is one peptide that I really like called glutathione and it’s something that is already produced in your liver. I do this once or twice a week through an IV and I do this to combat the ageing effects of partying and keep me young.”

The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) have spoken out about the dangers of unregulated intravenous glutathione drips and said consumers have reported serious side effects including anaphylaxis requiring hospitalisation, kidney strain and infections.

The CTSI called on the Government to implement a licensing scheme to clamp down on the fad. They also called for the ‘removal of unsafe products sold online, especially injectable substances like glutathione that can be purchased with no checks’.

But the content creator, whose social media presence used to only focus on body building but now prefers sharing broader lifestyle content, believes the so-called ‘bio-hacking’ allows him to party and maintain his trim figure. He is also interested in exploring new sciences and technology being released to slow down aging.

Brandon said: “We’re using these methods in a way that normal people wouldn’t be doing. I’m using biohacking to party.”

The NHS warns GLP-1s are not approved for the methods employed by the likes of Brandon and many others.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) warned in February: “GLP-1s are medicines licensed to treat specific medical disorders and should only be used if you are overweight or diabetic, and not if you want to lose weight for aesthetic or cosmetic purposes.”