What's the Deal With Methylene Blue?

Miracle supplement? Dangerous poison? Or just another marketing fad?

One of the recent hot health trends on the Internet is a drug called methylthioninium chloride, more commonly known as methylene blue.

It’s being pimped as a cognition-enhancing nootropic with antidepressant properties, an energy-boosting supplement that will turbocharge your mitochondria, and even as an anti-aging therapy.

Methylene blue (MB) was first extracted in 1876 by German chemist Heinrich Caro. For a drug that was discovered almost 150 years ago, you’d think by now there would be a mountain of clinical trial evidence with human subjects.

You’d be mistaken.

The first thing that struck me when I began looking into this compound was the dearth of meaningful human research.

My skepticism shifted up yet another gear when I observed some of the characters linked to MB, and the lavish claims they were making. For example, ‘biohacker’ Dave Asprey, whose books and websites are a compendium of untenable pseudoscience, is promoting methylene blue.

In February, the suckernet was “buzzing” after the hopelessly hypocritical Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was filmed adding “mysterious blue droplets” to his glass mid-flight. Curiously, he wasn’t seen drinking it, but the clip quickly went viral, garnering over 21 million views.

Bobby Jr wouldn’t respond to media queries, but Gary Brecka, another spruiker belonging to the ‘biohacker’ fraternity (i.e. a bunch of marketing entrepreneurs claiming to know the ‘secrets’ to longevity), wrote on X:

“Looks like RFK Jr. is in on one of the best-kept secrets in biohacking—Methylene Blue.”

Brecka is perhaps best known for appearing in a video alongside bombastic UFC promoter Dana White, making some especially ridiculous claims for the former’s “10x Health System”.

When I witnessed the quality of evidence these shills were using to support their gushing appraisals of MB, my skepticism didn’t just shift up another gear - it went into overdrive.