Brian Johnson, known by his online alias Liver King, is an American fitness social media influencer and businessman.^[2][3] He is known for promoting what he calls an "ancestral lifestyle", which includes eating large amounts of raw unprocessed organs and meat focusing on a daily intake of liver.^[4] His dietary advice has been criticized by nutritionists for promoting potentially dangerous misinformation.^[2][5][4]

Johnson's lifestyle is based around nine "ancestral tenets".^[6] He had denied having used steroids to achieve his physique until 2022, after which a leak of private e-mails revealed that he had spent over $11,000 a month on anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing drugs. He then apologized for his conduct on a YouTube video.^[7][8]

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Brian Johnson was born in 1976 or 1977.^[1] The Johnsons were originally from Oklahoma, but Brian was born in Ceiba, Puerto Rico due to his father's job in the US Air Force, and soon after relocated to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. When Brian's father, Philip D. Johnson, died suddenly while Brian was still an infant, he and his brother stayed in San Antonio due to a military-assisted living situation and were raised by a single mother.^[9]

Johnson claims that he was active in sports growing up, particularly BMX, but was undersized for his age, and had a bad speech impediment that required extensive vocal therapy. He stated that he was bullied frequently, and claims that he was knocked unconscious after a bully punched him in the back of the head on the first day of middle school.^[9]

Johnson attended John Marshall High School in Leon Valley, Texas, where he lettered in football.^{[10][11][unreliable source?]} He was a very poor student and was "laughed out of the admission office" when he tried applying to the University of Texas.^{[citation needed]} He instead attended San Antonio Community College,^{[citation needed]} flunking out once, before turning his grades around and enrolling at Texas Tech University, where he majored in biochemistry studies and graduated with honors.^[12] He later relocated to Houston to pursue a job as a pharmaceutical rep.^[13]

Johnson studied biochemistry and attended medical school, before dropping out to become a pharmacist.^[14]

Johnson co-owns the supplement company Heart & Soil with fad diet proponent Paul Saladino.^[15]

Johnson's dietary recommendation of eating raw meat has been criticized as dangerous, due to the associated risk of bacterial infection from its consumption.^[2] The meat-rich diet Johnson recommends is high in saturated fat, which is associated with an increased risk of heart disease and high cholesterol levels, and may also result in digestive issues.^[2][5]

Despite repeatedly denying having ever used anabolic steroids to attain his physique, it was revealed in late 2022 that Johnson regularly used multiple steroids, including synthetic IGF1 and testosterone, and spent $11,000 on pharmaceuticals a month.^[16] After emails showing his use of steroids and hormones came to light, Johnson made a video in which he admitted to taking around 120 mg of testosterone per week and apologized for misleading his viewers about his "pharmacological intervention", while also adding that there is "a time and place" for such interventions to be made.^[17]

In the aftermath of the revelations, some of Johnson's followers filed a lawsuit, accusing Johnson of deception and demanding $25 million in compensation.^[18] The lawsuit was later discontinued.^[19]

• Paleolithic diet