Dr. Peter Attia, the longevity guru behind bestselling book 'Outlive' and a seven-year-old health optimization podcast, has stepped down as Chief Science Officer of David Protein, the New York-based nutrition startup announced Monday. The departure comes days after Attia's name surfaced in over 1,700 pages of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, released Friday as part of a massive file dump. His other startup, Biograph, is quietly scrubbing his name from its website.
The longevity industry just hit a major speed bump. Dr. Peter Attia, one of the most recognizable voices in preventive health and human optimization, stepped down from his Chief Science Officer role at David Protein on Monday, according to a post on X by the company's founder. The timing isn't coincidental.
Days earlier, Attia's name appeared in more than 1,700 documents tied to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, released as part of a massive Friday file dump. The New York Times reported the contents included email correspondence that Attia later called "crude" in a lengthy response on X. While Attia denied criminal involvement and said he never visited Epstein's island or traveled on his plane, he acknowledged feeling "ashamed" of some exchanges and explained why he maintained contact even after Epstein's 2008 conviction.
For David Protein, a three-year-old startup that launched its flagship protein bar in September 2024, the loss of Attia removes a key credibility anchor. The Canadian-American physician wasn't just a science advisor - he was an early investor and executive team member at a company that bills its product as having 28 grams of protein, zero sugar, and 150 calories. Attia's bestselling book "Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity" and his popular podcast made him the perfect spokesperson for a brand positioning itself at the intersection of nutrition science and performance optimization. He'd even recently been hired as a contributor to CBS.
