Biohacking
What in the world is biohacking? Have you heard this term? I have been familiar with it for a few years now since I have been following Dave Asprey’s blogs and podcast called Bulletproof Radio. It’s always difficult to know where the word originated, but Dave Asprey has been called the father of biohacking. According to Dr. Axe, the definition for biohacking is “the process of making changes to your lifestyle in order to “hack” your body’s biology and feel your best.
I just learned while doing research for my blog that there are different types of biohacking. The categories as described by Dr. Axe are: nutrigenomics, do-it-yourself biology and grinder biohacking.
Nutrigenomics: nutritionally manipulating the activity of your body. This can include sleep manipulation, exercise, attention hacking, changing environmental triggers like sound and light and stress management. This is the type I have been most aware of.
Do-it-yourself: this is a subculture of people who conduct biological experiments and study life sciences outside of conventional means.
Grinder biohacking: a subset of DIYBio. They attempt to push the limits of technology and the human body. (sometimes risky techniques)
Definitions are from Dr. Axe: https://draxe.com
The reason I decided to write about biohacking this time, taking a break from Alzheimer’s disease, is that last weekend I attended the Virtual Biohacking Conference organized by Dave Asprey and his team. It is usually an in person conference but because of the pandemic, this year it was virtual. There were many great speakers, break out sessions and a super interesting vendor hall. I am a sucker for new gadgets so this is always a fun part for me.
Here are some take aways:
Dave Asprey has a new book coming out called “Fast This Way”- discusses the latest thinking on fasting so you can make the most of your fasts.
Jay Shetty: “ Service is the ultimate hack.”
Wim Hof- cold exposure and breathing guru- he has an app and a book out soon. I personally have not tried this, mostly because I am not a fan of cold, but I know done right it has real benefits!
Panel discussion about boosting immunity with Dr. Harry Adelson, Dr. Frank Schallenberger, Mansoor Mohammed, PhD, and Ally Perlina. Fifty percent of humans are Vitamin D deficient. Doing interval training increases mitochondrial function. Most common cause of mitochondrial dysfunction is stress.
Patrick K. Porter,Ph.D. presented information about the Brain Tap device. This device is a headset that uses light and sound to create a relaxation response and “helps restore your brain’s natural balance so you can feel relaxed, rebooted and revitalized.” https://braintap.com Some people have found it is especially helpful for better quality sleep.
Maria Shriver spoke about resilience. She is the founder of the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement. She also has a newsletter called The Sunday Paper that is a digital newspaper that informs and inspires Hearts and Minds. Words of wisdom from her talk: “check your intentions, calm down, and listen.”
There were so many speakers, I have not had a chance to listen to them all, but fortunately I purchased the upgraded ticket so I can listen to the recordings on my own time.
There were a least 77 companies represented in the vendor hall or as sponsors! I still haven’t explored all that they offer but they are all super interesting. I purchased something called Hypoair, that is a high performance air purifier that is plugged into an electric outlet in whichever room you want to clean the air. https://hypoair.com. Who doesn’t need clean air with all the smoke, viruses and mold many of us are exposed to.
Another company called Levels, https://app.levelshealth.com offers a device that continuously measures your blood glucose. They have a patch that is applied to your arm and the patch has tiny sensors that penetrate your skin in order to measure your blood glucose. I haven’t seen one in person so it is hard to describe accurately. It allows you to monitor in real time how different food affects your personal biology. One person may be able to eat a banana for example and only see a small rise in their blood sugar, while someone else may have a huge glucose swing after eating the same banana. I have been dealing with borderline fasting blood sugar for a while now and it seems like it would be really helpful to know which foods are contributing to my glucose intolerance and insulin resistance. I’ll let you know if I try one out!
One thing I have learned from my own limited amount of biohacking is that what works for one person, doesn’t always work for everyone else. Sleep is a good example. I have more supplements in my supplement graveyard than I can even list! I read about a sleep aid, non-pharmaceutical, and either nutritional or herbal, so I buy it and try it only to stop taking it in a couple weeks because it didn’t help. Sometimes I probably don’t give it enough time. Then I try different gadgets that calm my brain waves, or meditation or breath work, and sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn’t. What I have concluded is, we are each one big biologic experiment. And our biology can be complicated! There are definitely times that you need an expert to monitor and guide you in the process, especially if you are dealing with a more chronic issue.
So there you have it. This was a very limited view of the conference and hopefully it sparks an interest in biohacking areas in your life that could use an upgrade. (diet, sleep, exercise?)
Wouldn’t it be fun to have a vendor hall that was always available? That has always been one of the best things about any conference I have been to. Sounds like a good idea to me!
As always, this blog is only intended to be for educational purposes and is not intended to be medical advice. Please consult with your medical provider for any specific medical questions.