What is Biohacking? Result of my experiments to biohack life.

Biohack Metabolism

Biohacking is everywhere these days. If you heard the term biohacking, you are not alone. But knowing what it is can transform you into a whole new, healthier person. So what does it mean, and how do I know it is meant for me? Let me start with giving my personal example.

True Story: When I Got to know?

When I first heard the term biohacking, I was intrigued by the concept and began reading up on it. I realized that biohacking, although it is a blend of hit and trial experiments around my lifestyle, it involved plenty of tweaks to suit my body. Over a period of time, it impacted how I exercised, what I consumed, the manner I slept, my daily movement, and even the music I listened to.

Soon, my days were filled with constructive movements and activities that were otherwise spent doing nothing or mundane events without much relevance. 

I first adopted biohacking in 2018 when I had to journey on a work trip for seven days with a friend and Bollywood star. We had numerous discussions surrounding various biohacking theories, from biology, engineering, and scientific principles. As I absorbed more knowledge and read on the various theories surrounding biohacking and micro-dosing, I was determined that these life-changing principles were meant for me. 

Incidentally, at around the same time, I was tasked to launch the latest wearable technology for Huami Amazfit and create a comprehensive marketing and communication strategy around it. In doing so, I began to test and review the product.

The Fantastic Changes Biohacking Made To My Life And Where I Am Today

The Huami Amazfit was a game-changer for me. I began a walking habit of 10 km a day in my quest of testing the smartwatch features. Simultaneously, I started testing out other sports features, and in turn, involved myself in various sporting activities. And while I continued exploring the smartwatch features, I began experimenting on hot and cold exposures to the body through multiple forms of steam, sauna and cold showers. This had a significant impact on me, and I began to feel a higher sense of energy and vigour as I kept at my new lifestyle. 

Before After BioHacking
Within two months, I lost almost 17 kg, and I began sporting fit and fab abs (of course not Six-packs but at least I don’t carry a tyre tube belly now)

This constant motivation of experimenting with various exercise features, lifestyle changes, dietary modifications and overall change in my outlook towards life made me realize that I discovered my own, unique bio-hack applicable to me. 

I then planned a trip to Vietnam that further cemented my biohacking lifestyle. In Vietnam, I explored unique and exciting forms of cooking that I adopted in my culinary lifestyle. From gluten-free food to having fresh, grain and natural produce, I learned over 30 unique recipes that I now apply in my daily life.

Is Bio-Hacking For You, And Will It Make You Healthier?

To understand how biohacking can work for you, you need to know what it stands for. As a brief and straightforward explanation, biohacking is an approach of scientific learning that involves transforming or altering things in our lives quickly and observing how these changes impact on the body. 

A number of biohacking researchers, like me, have applied it to our own bodies in dramatic ways. Some have gone so far so as to alter their own DNA in precise ways through CRISPR. CRISPR is an advanced form of technology that can be used to edit genes and is looked upon as a revolutionary system that will change the world. It is also considered as a way to live forever! But that is still some time away. 

However, the mention of CRISPR is an inkling of the exciting world of biohacking and where it can lead you. What you could do now is to start at the basics and watch how you can transform yourself through simple, and effortless ways that I can show you. 

To get you started on biohacking, here are valuable tips.

What You Need To Know About Biohacking

When people talk about biohacking in overall wellness, it is usually not what they are referring to. Actually speaking, the principal thing that separates biohacking such as me — from the others who are simply looking to make small changes in their self-improvement — is actually a systems-thinking approach to my own understanding of biology.

By this I mean, that if my body is a system, it has areas of inputs such as food and exercise. What I consume shows outside. That means my health, shape, and size, energies and mood are all a direct result of what I have put inside my body. 

By making constant tweaks to what goes inside my body, such as really fine-tuning them, it led to instant and measurable changes in my outputs. And the same can go for you. I have tried to see what happened after making real and positive changes in my life and thus made decisions from there. And, you could follow my example too! 

In the advanced biohacking world, there are several practices that people follow and swear by. EMS training, adaptogen supplements, cryotherapy and others are advanced techniques that show health benefits but have not been confirmed by scientific research.

What Should Be Your Take On Biohacking   

If you are someone like me who loves information, statistics, data and numbers, with an individualistic streak to taking charge of your health and life, now is the time to incorporate the basics of biohacking and transform your current lifestyle into a healthy one. 

Since I have an adventurous streak, and I have successfully tried biohacking with positive effects, you can take a cue from my examples and see how you feel.

Need A Template? Here’s My Personal Case In Point

Biohack Food

Start brief changes such as introducing intermittent in fasting into your lifestyle. A few hours of fasting can result in prolonged phases over a period of time, and you will be able to master what the ancients learned of long life and good health. 
Do you always crave the need to eat unhealthy during periods of gnawing hunger?

  • Try healthy alternatives such as walnuts, almonds, peanuts or dried seeds and fruit at hand so that you do not binge on unhealthy snacks.
  • Make the shift from aerated beverages and colas to warm water, green tea or green coffee, each time you feel the need to drink.

These habits can help you stave off hunger, while also ensuring you develop good eating habits in the long run. Some book examples that kept me motivated about having a healthy diet, Eat To Beat Disease – William Li, Super Attractor – Gabrielle Bernstein, Mindful Work – David Gelles.

Biohack Sleep

Are you getting less than seven hours of quality sleep each night? If yes, it can be a crucial key in determining your metabolism. There are many ways of improving your sleep patterns; such as darkening your room with blackout curtains, going to sleep at a particular time every night, wearing a smartwatch or a tracking app that monitors the number of hours you sleep and its quality.  Make sure good sleep is part of your new lifestyle.
What is Circadian Rhythm? You might have heard these things. Let’s put in simple words. Circadian Rhythm is a body clock or sleep cycle. We wrote a dedicate guide to biohack sleep, you can learn these tips to Re-Tuning sleep:

Biohack Music

Have you tried binaural beats? If not, now is the time. This form of music is highly well-known among scientific circles in improving one’s brainwave frequency. Different types of binaural beats can motivate your brain cells to work during specific stages during the day, depending on what you want. 
So, if you’re looking to be highly energized and activated, listen to high-frequency Beta waves. If at the end of the day, you need a soothing sound to lull you into sleep, theta waves can work magic. These are some of the playlists that I follow on YouTube, Spotify and Amazon music.

Remember to continually be on the move throughout the day, especially if your job or career calls for a sedentary lifestyle. Various helpful apps and tools have reminders and simple exercises that can charge your body and ensure your metabolism stays at its peak.
And as you move about improving your lifestyle, look at ways to enhance your net worth. What it means is to find new ways of building your self-esteem through wealth and financial freedom.

Biohack Metabolism

Metabolism is responsible for the total energy consumption of body (TEE), it is a crucial factor that decides your health, weight and activeness. We wrote a dedicate guide on how to bio-hack your metabolism, you can go through it below:

Biohack Mind with Nootropics

What is Nootropics? The term “nootropic” is derived from Ancient Greek words, νόος (nóos) = “mind” & τροπή (tropḗ) = “a turning”. Nootropics are supplements for boosting the cognitive function of mind and body. Some popular nootropics:

Conclusion

Do remember that if you make just one tiny change in your life, without focusing on the larger picture, it will not make any noticeable difference. For example, if you do not consume fresh produce such as sprouts and green vegetables at every meal, having bulletproof coffee merely is not going to make a difference. Similarly, if your lifestyle means that you are sedentary 24 x 7, you will not get the cardio benefits of exercise just by using EMS therapy.

Look at the larger picture and the finer ways of taking it further.