What is a biohacker, and why do I call myself one? For me, why I’m a biohacker is to optimise health and wellness, longevity and health-span. In other words, living long and strong! Like to give it a try?
Especially important is health-span – meaning the length of time I’m living a useful, happy and productive life. What’s the point of lingering on to 120 if you can’t dress yourself, scramble your own eggs or recognise your great-grandchildren?
Speaking of rugrats, daughter-in-law Carrie remarked this morning that things have come to a pretty pass when the kids have to wait in line to use the trampoline because the grandparents are hogging it.
Jokes aside, what is a biohacker? According to the online Cambridge Dictionary, a biohacker is someone who uses technology, drugs, or other chemical substances such as hormones in an attempt to improve the condition of their body and mind.
Dave Asprey (now 48 years old) coined the term biohacking, and is probably my favourite biohacker. Self-described as the father of biohacking, he’s been experimenting with tech innovations for the past two decades, i remains the leader in a growing field; he made his Bulletproof Coffee famous, and I dribble a tablespoon or two of his ketone-rich MCT Brain Octane Oil into our protein smoothies.
My morning routine
To be honest, I’m half-proud, half-embarrassed to reveal this stuff. My fellow or would-be biohackers out there will get it. To anyone else, it will reveal me as being at least a little obsessive, if not downright crazy. (But I’m not writing for them, am I?)
So, here goes with my morning routine. I wake up naturally, not with an alarm – the joys of not having an office to go to. The first thing I do is check my Oūra ring phone app to get my Sleep and Readiness scores. I’m wearing my blue-blocker glasses, of course, because I don’t want to get blue light in my eyes before they’ve had a dose of red light. (Ideally, I should have been up in time to watch the sunrise – but that’s not going to happen.)
To biohack the health-boosting effects of sunrise, I do at least half an hour of red light therapy in front of my PlatinumLED red- and near-infrared light panel – 15 minutes each side, front and back. (Twice as long as that this morning, actually, because I’m typing this at the same time as doing my back and didn’t want to stop in mid-paragraph.)
While the light therapy works its mitochondria-boosting magic, the Oūra ring is charging. Simultaneously, I’m oil-pulling with raw, organic sesame oil. And giving my face, neck and chest a light massage with almond oil. I might also start dry skin-brushing my arms, legs and torso to boost detox via lymphatic drainage. After spitting out the sesame oil, I’ll hydrate with NAC (N-acetyl cysteine) dissolved in spring water, together with my half-dozen morning supplements. I might have a jump on Mia and Holly’s trampoline outside – also great for lymph flow.
My favourite daily exercise is a morning run or walk, either on our coastal path or along Burns Beach north. Barefoot on the beach: I want the grounding effect of soles connecting with wet sand. No sunglasses, either: I want bright morning light on my retinas to reset circadian rhythm.
On other days, I’ll go to the fantastic Craigie Leisure Centre for a yoga or Body Pump class, followed by sauna or steam if I have time.
And that’s just my morning. Planning and shopping for meals, pressure-cooking bone broth, choosing and sourcing nutritional supplements – plus stacking them optimally, i.e. taking them at the right time in the best combinations – is a whole other kettle of fish oil. (Plus a spot of housework, just enough so we don’t die of filth.)
Come early evening, I’m hacking my sleep by turning the lights down low, maybe taking a hot Epsom salts bath, donning the afore-mentioned blue-blocking glasses and trying to close my laptop and/or put my iPhone away* a couple of hours before bedtime. (I have to admit that that’s a work in progress.)
Podcast pearls before swine
Roy complains intermittently that I’m obsessed with this health stuff. He has a point – though one might have expected more gratitude from one whose health has benefitted so directly.
It’s undeniable that I’m almost continuously either listening to or reading something health-related. Nowadays, I listen to podcasts far more than I read – I can listen while doing chores, driving, sunbathing, walking or running – and those mainly American voices have ibecome the soundtrack not only to my own life, but often to Roy’s, too.
(Sorry, Roy. But he gets me back by turning on the telly to watch Wheeler Dealers – that’s generally while I’m cooking the evening meal and can’t escape.)
The podcast thing began about 18 months ago when daughter-in-law Carrie recommended The Cabral Concept, put out daily by endearingly enthusiastic naturopath Dr Stephen Cabral.
The naturopathy and functional medicine communities tend to interview and be interviewed, so one leads to another – and you can easily end up subscribed to dozens of them.
That’s how I found Dr Joseph Mercola’s Take Control of Your Health; gut expert Dr Mike Ruscio’s Dr Ruscio Radio, Dr Mark Hyman’s Doctor’s Farmacy, Chris Kresser’s Revolution Health Radio, Ari Whitten’s The Energy Blueprint, Drs Evan Brand and Justin Marchegiani’s Beyond Wellness Radio, The Dhru Purohit Podcast and Amy Myer’s Detox Podcast. Not to mention Living La Vida Low-Carb (how I wish I’d thought of that name first!) and the bubbly Biohacker Babes.
Podcasts I subscribe to
That was just for starters. To demonstrate my point, here are the current first four pages of podcasts I’m subscribed to:
(Not sure how Inner French snuck in there; but if you’re keen on improving your basic French, I highly recommend it!)
More esoteric podcasts
One of the more esoteric podcasts I’ve found along the way is Ryan Holiday’s The Daily Stoic. It seems that Silicon Valley has picked up the Ancient Greek philosophy of Stoicism, based on the four cornerstones of wisdom, morality, courage and temperance. Unexpectedly, I love it.
Also strangely appealing is the Fundamental Health podcast by Dr Paul Saladino; his book The Carnivore Code espouses the nose-to-tail, grass-fed, 100-percent carnivorous diet that turned his own health around; for a time, anyway. Refreshingly, after a year or more of strict carnivorousness, he broke the hearts of his more fundamentalist carnivore fans by adding raw honey and fruit into his diet – and reported feeling much better for it.
I admire someone who can be so sure of something and then be big enough to change his or her mind. Dr Joe Mercola has the same quality – not of humility (that would be a huge overstatement), but something like it.
Speaking of esoteric, there’s neurosurgeon and optimal health educator Dr Jack Kruse and his startling insights based on quantum biology. And don’t forget Living 4D with Paul Chek: frankly outrageous, at least until you get this complex Renaissance man’s drift; but be prepared for two-to-three hour interviews, unless you can find someone else who’s interviewed Paul Chek in a shorter time-frame.
Some health titles on my Kindle:
The Disease Delusion, by Dr Jeffrey S. Bland
Healthy Gut, Healthy You, by Dr Michael Ruscio
The Hormone Reset Diet, by Dr Sara Gottfried
The Thyroid Connection, by Dr Amy Myers
How to Change Your Mind, by Michael Pollan
Metabolic Autophagy, by Siim Land
Head Strong, by David Asprey
The Longevity Diet, by Valter Longo, PhD
Hashimoto’s Protocol, by Izabella Wentz, PharmaD.
Regenerate, by Sayer Ji
The Wim Hof Method, by Wim Hof
Super Human, by Dave Asprey
Red Light Therapy, by Ari Whitten
The Case for Keto, by Gary Taubes
Fast This Way, by Dave Asprey
The Wedge, by Scott Carney
The Pegan Diet, by Dr Mark Hyman
Lifespan: Why We Age – and Why We Don’t Have To, by David A Sinclair, PhD
Why We Get Fat: and what to do about it, by Gary Taubes
Adrenaline Dominance, by Michael E. Platt, MD
Understanding the Heart, by Dr Stephen Hussey
Boundless, by Ben Greenfield
Glow 15, by Naomi Whitten
10 Simple Principles of a Healthy Diet, by Sergey Young
Metabolic Autophagy, by Siim Land
What Doesn’t Kill Us, by Scott Carney
Regenerate, by Sayer Ji
Super Human, by Dave Asprey
Next up? More about my experience with the Oūra ring – one wearable to rule them all!
