Biohacking is described as attempting to influence the body's function to improve health, longevity, and well-being.

Popular nutritional approaches include intermittent fasting and time-restricted eating, ketogenic-style diets, and reducing inflammatory foods.

Enthusiasts often take many dietary supplements and sometimes prescription drugs such as metformin, and they may use NMN or rapamycin in anti‑ageing attempts.

Cold exposure, ice baths or cold-water therapy and sauna use are common biohacking practices.

Wearable devices and continuous glucose monitors are widely used and can improve self-monitoring but can also lead to obsessive behaviour or anxiety in some users.

Some biohackers pursue intense exercise regimens, frequent cold or heat exposures, and other hormetic stressors to boost performance and longevity.

Many practitioners rely on medical testing and biomarkers, including blood tests, oxidative stress measures, plethysmography, impedance body composition, and hydration assessment to tailor programs.

Mental-health and recovery practices in biohacking commonly include meditation, mindfulness, regulated sleep routines, and enforced downtime to prevent burnout.

Scientific evidence is mixed: some clinical studies support specific interventions such as time‑restricted feeding in selected conditions, while many supplement regimens lack conclusive clinical proof and can carry risks.

Anecdotal and investigational reports warn that excessive supplement stacks or unsupervised prescription use can cause side effects such as headaches, fatigue, and possibly long‑term risks.

Observers and experts caution that data tracking and perfectionist biohacking cultures can become obsessive, causing anxiety or disordered eating patterns for some people.

Biohacking is described as attempting to influence the body's function to improve health, longevity, and well-being.

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Content: Home » biohacking, reprogramming mind and body to live better

biohacking, reprogramming mind and body to live better

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It’s called “biohacking” and it comes from Silicon Valley. Listen: The long life diet: the longevity formula is calorie restriction …

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It’s called “biohacking” and comes from Silicon Valley.

A relatively new word that comes from the union of “biology” and “hacker” and indicates the attempt to positively influence the functioning of the organism, by hacking, ie trying to “force”, one’s genetic heritage. A strategy to live better and longer launched years ago by Californian top managers and which then spread throughout the world. How to upgrade the “operating system” of the human body? No manipulation, here we are talking about “reprogramming” and new lifestyles. “Our genetic heritage has enormous unexpressed potential that can be activated,” he explains Fabio Piccinidoctor and psychoanalyst, researcher of Food Sciences of theMarche Polytechnic University, author of the book “Biohacking Techniques: how to optimize metabolism to increase health and longevity”. “Biohacking aims to activate epigenetic modifications by awakening dormant genes to enhance the body’s resources.” While genetics studies the structure of DNA, epigenetics the way genes express themselves, i.e. how much they are turned on or off. “We’re talking about a set of strategies that aim to strengthen the body from a physical and mental point of view, first of all through nutrition, sleep quality, physical activity, cognitive stimulation”. One of the pillars of biohacking and the intermittent fasting, Piccini adds, which plans to concentrate the diet in a precise time span of the day (to be followed always under medical supervision). «But it is equally important to take care of sleep, we know very well that sleep debt accelerates aging and that 30-40 percent of people sleep too little. Just as it is essential to check thehydration. Physical training must also be intermittent, with recovery periods in place to allow the muscle layers to rebuild. And then, you have to keep learning something at any age, another pillar of biohacking: studying music or a new language, for example, to counteract cognitive degeneration”.

See also  The dashboard of Xbox Series X will have a higher resolution-

THE QUALITY OF LIFE

Sandra Milo is one of the supporters of this well-being and longevity strategy. «I’m lucky, at 90 I’m in full health and I still have a great desire to enjoy life. I don’t know if it’s a matter of genetics, nor do I think there is a “magic formula” of longevity, but I have certainly always been careful to lead a healthy life. There is nothing more beautiful than reaching old age with a smile and in full autonomy », says the actress who baptized the first Biohacking Suite in Rome. “Our mission is not so much to lengthen life but to improve its quality by lowering the rate of morbidity,” explains Dr. Claudio Urbani, specialist in regenerative medicine, neuroscience and stress therapy, head of the longevity center Umb. «Biohacking aims to modify dormant functional responses from non-use, from muscular or cardiovascular function to flexibility. It is about regaining possession of the body and the mind-body axis, starting with stress management». Diagnosing your own state of “aging” involves a series of tests. «The measurement of oxidative stress which measures the quantity of free radicals and indicates any inflammatory states, plethysmography to evaluate the functionality of the microcirculation of the legs, impedancemetry to study body composition, fat and lean mass, nutritional status and hydration level. And only after the check is a tailor-made program created for each person. Among the suggested therapies, there is also that of the cold which stimulates the metabolism and reduces inflammation ».

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Popular nutritional approaches include intermittent fasting and time-restricted eating, ketogenic-style diets, and reducing inflammatory foods.

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Content: I Was Experiencing Extreme Burnout Until I Practiced These 3 Things to Come Out Stronger

Learn how to fight mental burnout and become a better entrepreneur with these three simple practices that most already know but often forget about.

By Ron Lieback

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Mental burnout, unfortunately, compliments entrepreneurism. There's no denying this sentiment, but I've discovered three proven practices that continuously help bypass much of that mental exhaustion.

The practices — rooted in physical health maintenance, meditation practices and mandatory downtime — take minimum effort or time. These insights will help keep you energized in your entrepreneurial journey without burning out — something I experienced multiple times throughout my ongoing entrepreneurial journey and promised myself that burning out would never happen again.

Related: 3 Insights From the First Large-Scale Study on Burnout and Entrepreneurs

Identifying and checking for mental burnout

According to the nonprofit HelpGuide.org, mental burnout is a state of physical, emotional and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged stress. I've recognized the following multiple times while leading my agency and productivity consulting practice:

  • Feeling overwhelmed or emotionally drained
  • Lack of motivation
  • Irritability
  • Insomnia or excessive sleep
  • Loss of interest in once enjoyable activities
  • Decreased productivity at work or school
  • Increased anxiety or depression

These factors can quickly creep in without you noticing it. Author and lecturer Chris Bailey helps us better understand this. In his latest release, How to Calm Your Mind, the productivity hacker says understanding and being aware of the six burnout factors within our work life can help us overcome it.

The six factors are:

  • Workload (How demanding the workload is)
  • Lack of control (How much autonomy, resources and freedom over workload)
  • Insufficient rewards (Financial, social or intrinsic)
  • Community (Quality of work relationships and interactions)
  • Fairness (Treated respectfully)
  • Values (Does the work have a sense of purpose aligned with values?)

Bailey says to set reoccurring calendar events to check in on yourself to create awareness around the six factors. He says he checks every six months; I have bi-monthly calendar alerts set now to check on these six factors. It's shocking how much they pop up, although I'm aware of them.

With that said, it's essential to recognize when you are starting to feel burned out so that you can take steps to prevent it from getting worse. Mental burnout can be difficult to identify, but recognizing the signs early on is key in developing strategies for battling it.

For new entrepreneurs, the following tactics can be eye-opening, regardless of how simple each sound. And for seasoned entrepreneurs, it's always good to get back to these basics. For example, I recently acquired an entrepreneurial assessment software company and quickly lost myself, forgetting many of these basics.

Related: An Entrepreneur's Greatest Asset Is Wellness. Here Are 5 Ways to Protect Yours.

1. Prioritize energy

Although many slog through work and become successful, the efforts take more time and longer-term health suffers. This leads to mental burnout. Focus on creating sustainable energy through proper diet, exercise and sleep, and you'll be able to focus not only sharper but also longer.

After nearly two decades of biohacking and testing various diets, I mostly follow Dr. Gundry's diet laid out in Breaking the Keto Code. Still, I tend to rely on more supplements and longer periods of fasting. Exercises include only two strength-training resistance workouts weekly, along with much walking/hiking, stationary biking, off-road motorcycling and bouncing daily on a mini trampoline in my office.

As for sleep, I learned to regulate my sleeping patterns and use Circadian Optics lighting every morning when I wake up to start the day off through reading, writing or meditating. I hack my sleep in various ways, but my favorite includes a proper cocktail of magnesium, zinc, potassium, GABA, ashwagandha and Kava, along with no food or alcohol at least three hours before snooze time. So test, tune and find what works for you.

2. Practice meditation and mindfulness daily

Although the benefits are proven, and it's well-known across the world of entrepreneurism, many still don't meditate. It's a mindset that one must discover, and once discovered, the benefits of relaxed and focused thinking help you produce more quality work in less time.

I treat meditation like brushing my teeth; it's just part of life now. It helps clear the mind and provides some insight into any problems causing stress. I'm a huge fan of Vishen Lakhiani's 6-Phase Meditation Method, which works wonders in roughly 20 minutes per day and doesn't require traditional methods like sitting in the lotus position or clearing the mind of any thought. Want to make it even more rewarding? Compliment the meditation with a FAR Infrared sauna blanket. I typically do the 20-minute 6-Phase, followed by another 20 minutes of the sauna while listening to theta or delta wave sounds.

Meditation and mindfulness techniques can clear your mind from negative thoughts and allow you to focus on the present moment instead of worrying about what's ahead or what's happened in the past. The outcome is less stress and a fresh look at everything. Others are 5 a.m. Club workoutaholics, but I have more energy and focus on meditation.

This will help relieve stress levels significantly and enable you to approach work with more clarity and purposeful action steps.

Related: How Mindfulness Can Take Your Entrepreneurship to the Next Level

3. Enforce downtime for mental relaxation and productivity

Scheduling regular breaks throughout the day allows for some time away from work, giving your brain a chance to relax before returning to full focus. My threshold for deep, focused work is about 1.5 hours straight; then I can feel my mind slowing. That's when I take a break for an analog activity, sometimes a mere 10 minutes of reading something drastically different from what I'm working on or challenging myself for 20 minutes with jazz guitar lessons.

Working nonstop without any breaks will eventually lead to feeling overwhelmed with everything that needs to be done within a certain period. On my deepest workdays, such as writing or creating client strategies, I break for an hour, typically around noon, to take a bath. This supercharges like no other.

My office is a rented lake house, which makes day baths simple. If you work in a traditional office building, try working from home on the days you need the most focus and spend some time soaking. All my greatest client strategies and business/investment ideas manifested while soaking.

It is vital not only to take short breaks daily, but also to schedule mandatory downtime away from work. For example, I totally shut off every Wednesday after 5 p.m. and one entire day on the weekend. That means zero emails, computers, answering calls or anything related. This helps avoid burnout.

Mental burnout can be a difficult obstacle to overcome, but with the optimal tactics, such as the simple ones above, you can learn how to battle it. By taking time for sustaining energy through physical health, meditation and mandatory downtime, You can become a better you and have time to focus not just on the day-to-day work duties but on ideas that will change the world — a mission that should be the sharpest focus for every entrepreneur.

Ron Lieback

Entrepreneur Leadership Network Contributor

ContentMender Founder, Author

Ron Lieback is the founder and CEO of ContentMender, an SEO-driven content marketing agency, and a productivity hacker. He is also the author of 365 to Vision: Modern Writer's Guide (How to Produce More Quality Writing in Less Time).

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Enthusiasts often take many dietary supplements and sometimes prescription drugs such as metformin, and they may use NMN or rapamycin in anti‑ageing attempts.

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Content: 18 +
• Health
• Health
Health care
Naive biohacking: why is it dangerous to take vitamins “just in case ” and is it true that hacking the body is the way to nowhere (and not to eternal life)
To live longer (for herself and her family), to avoid cancer and heart disease, biohacking enthusiast (now in the past!) and lifestyle podcaster Teresa Skrobanek conducted an experiment and plunged into the world of a thousand and one supplements for longevity.
Whose infectious example was she inspired by?
What was the danger of taking her medicine for diabetes and vitamin B capsules (it is recommended for everyone to calm down!)?
After what biohacking did Teresa really feel better?
Let ’ s share her story.
Master1305
Biohacking experiment
At the end of 2022, Teresa Skrobanek, a responsible mother and grandmother, decided to try to include “longevity ” supplements in her diet.
The general goal is to live as long as possible (for yourself and your family) and avoid breast cancer and heart disease, the risk of which is higher in women over fifty (and Teresa was 57 at the time).
Anti-age drugs were prescribed by a doctor, but, apparently, the specialist was free to relate to the ratio of anamnesis and goals of taking drugs.
In April 2023, Teresa discovered that the capsules in her medicine cabinet were metformin, which is usually prescribed to patients with type II diabetes.
Although the woman did not suffer from this disease, the doctor prescribed the drug due to the fact that the results of the studies were encouraging (but not guaranteed!) - it helps to fight aging
Teresa has also tried over-the-counter drugs, such as nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) supplements, which supposedly, but not proven, speed up metabolism and reduce signs of growing up.
According to the experimentalist, she followed the example of the brightest biohacker – IT billionaire Brian Johnson, who takes about two dozen supplements a day, uses at least 7 skin creams and annually spends $2 million on unusual procedures to restore youth (for example, bowel photos, blood transfusions, weekly acid peels and laser therapy).
20 supplements a day and no rejuvenation
The more and longer Teresa took the drugs, the more she doubted.
Feeling worse, and Skrobanek plunged headlong into the study of dietary supplements - the results were contradictory.
For example, studies have shown that the widely advertised low-age supplements of nicotinamide riboside (a form of vitamin B3) increase the risk of brain cancer.
And the unpleasant consequences of the use of metformin (remember, Teresa took the medicine for diabetes, not being a diabetic!) were headaches, drowsiness and anxiety.
“I started to have a headache.
I felt very tired, although the pills were supposed to give me strength, ” Skrobanek told The New York Post, with whom she shared her entire story.
How do I know that taking these substances will not harm my kidneys or liver and will not cause cancer in 5-10 years? ”
beast01
Errors made by Teresa, which can not be made by biohackers novice
At TikTok, where the hashtag # BioHacking has garnered more than half a billion views, proponents of the biohacking movement boast of swallowing 70 to 150 different rejuvenating dietary supplements every day.
For example, to slow down the aging process, businessman Joe Cohen takes rapamycin, an FDA-approved drug that a 2014 study found could help increase life expectancy.
However, Cohen told The Post that he does not recommend a strict regime to his followers: mindlessly copying from and to the anti-age program of trendsetters is dangerous!
Instead, an experienced biohacker (Joe says he ’ s been studying this phenomenon for 20 years!) encourages newcomers to take blood tests first to determine the body ’ s biological needs and deficiencies, carefully examine the benefits and side effects of any supplements, and take only what seems right.
Cohen clarifies: “By understanding your physiology, you can take certain medications that will boost your energy, mood, and chances of avoiding age-related illnesses.
Preserving health is much more important than simply prolonging existence. ”
According to the businessman, his goal is to live as long and healthy a life as possible (and not necessarily up to 150 years)!
Roman Samborskyi
If not biohacking, then what (spoiler: food)
New York City Nutrition nutritionist Diana Rodriguez agrees with Cohen.
But to start your way to longevity offers still not with tablets, but with a healthy diet: “It is recommended to use food as the first method of preventing dangerous diseases.
Fruits, vegetables, low-fat proteins, nuts and legumes, in which "tons" of vitamins and minerals, can be very useful. "
Increasing nutrient intake through organic whole foods is something Teresa Scrobanek started doing in June 2023, when she gave up the supplement diet once and for all.
And she never felt better:
“If a long life meant that I got it with terrible side effects due to taking supplements, then I would prefer a shorter, but better life, which is based on proper nutrition and training, ” concluded Teresa.
The editors remind that drugs, vitamins, dietary supplements and food products have contraindications.
A specialist consultation is required.
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Cold exposure, ice baths or cold-water therapy and sauna use are common biohacking practices.

Title:

Content: TV legend Davinia Taylor has revealed how well she is feeling after undertaking a new lifestyle that involves biohacking.

Biohacking occurs when someone changes their nutrition and lifestyle in order to make themselves healthier. Each person who biohacks does so in a different way whether it’s cutting out alcohol, taking supplements, or engaging in anti-ageing procedures.

Davinia – who starred in Hollyoaks – has explained that her biohacking involves cold-water therapy and removing inflammatory foods from her diet.

As a result of her new lifestyle, which also includes the use of saunas and supplements, Davinia has said that she now feels healthier than she ever has before.

Speaking to Hello! Davinia said that she entered a difficult period of poor mental health after the death of her mother when she was 35.

She added: “Boredom drove me to drink and then to eat unhealthily. I don’t want to go into my 50s feeling bored, so I had to find another way to get the dopamine I crave.”

On the techniques she uses for her biohacking, Davinia reveals that one of her routine acts is taking supplements from a company she founded. Known as WillPowders which contain collagen, protein, bone broth, and MCT (a healthy form of saturated fat) they have become an essential part of her routine.

Davinia explained: “If I don’t have my morning keto creamer and collagen, I’m going to end up binging on croissants or brownies. It’s how I’m wired after my 1980s upbringing.”

This isn’t the first time Davinia has spoken about biohacking. Earlier this year she told the Evening Standard that it wasn’t a case of taking big measures to improve one’s health.

She said: “There's so much doom and gloom… There's so much doom and gloom…There are so many little hacks you can do just to make yourself feel mentally better.”

Davinia highlighted the benefits of cold-water therapy, a method she said can be cheap to access: “The water’s freezing in this country two-thirds of the time. And on the few months a year when it’s not, just go to the supermarket, buy some ice bags and empty them into the bath.”

Wearable devices and continuous glucose monitors are widely used and can improve self-monitoring but can also lead to obsessive behaviour or anxiety in some users.

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When wearable technology leads to obsessive behaviour

Yes, data could help us meet or maintain our fitness goals. But it may also have a negative impact on mental health

While trackers can be fantastic tools to kick ourselves into gear and achieve our goals, they do have a dark side to them (Pexels)

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I have this friend; let's call her Priya. She is a high-powered executive, and her world revolves around analyzing data. Her love affair with numbers transcends her work and follows her home at night via her smartwatch, which records (to some degree of accuracy) her daily movements and food intake. She loves her data so much that when her smart watch dings an alert to move, she will dutifully get up and move around. When her smartwatch reminds her to be calm and breathe, she takes a deep breath. If she absentmindedly checks on her step count and sees that she is behind, she will pace up and down her driveway to rack up her daily 10,000 steps. It's only a matter of time before I walk into her house and find her walking on a treadmill desk. Recently, her love of data expanded into a wearable continuous glucose monitoring device, which pokes out of her dress shirts like the dressing of a battle wound. Now, to my utter dismay, lies an email from her waiting patiently in my inbox requesting my take on the benefits of a wearable fitness tracking ring.

Also read: Why being neutral about your body is the best form of self-love

I wish I were joking, but alas, I am not. Not only am I confused by the desire to wear technology that looks like you escaped from the hospital, but I also don't see why one needs so many forms of data collection to determine if they are on the right track with their health and wellness goals. Optimizing your health is one thing; obsession is quite another.

Let me first say that fitness and nutrition trackers can be fantastic tools to kick ourselves into gear and achieve our goals. Fitness trackers can help determine if we are moving enough, and nutrition trackers can help monitor your calorie and macronutrient intake. We can monitor our sleep, which impacts our health, and now, according to an article in Fortune, there may even be wearable technology that registers our emotions. All these gadgets and wellness devices provide fascinating data that may impact our future decision-making.

However, I say "may" because I have found that people can take three actions when using a fitness or nutrition tracker. One, you can analyze the data and decide on a new course of action the following day. For example, let's say that by eating a bagel, your blood glucose levels catapult within an hour of eating it. Instead of choosing a bagel from the canteen tomorrow, you opt for some fruit and a small portion of nuts. You review the data and see that your blood glucose didn't elevate as much, so you pat yourself on the back for playing nutrition detective, and you continue with the change in your snacking patterns. Alternatively, you can view the data and do nothing with it. You might look at that same piece of data regarding your bagel intake and muse to yourself that the spike in insulin is an interesting phenomenon, and you go on your merry way, changing nothing. And finally, you can be someone whose heart races as they look at their data, feeling stressed or anxious that you have fallen short. You may even start beating yourself over the bagel but feel powerless to change your ways. Feeling powerless can be a terrible, limiting feeling for some people, and they will stop using the data to make informed decisions to better their lives.

I informally interviewed a large audience on their attitudes toward fitness trackers. I found there was an even spread between the three types of people, enough to take notice of the ones who felt paralyzed by the data. There is a great quote by French cultural theorist Paul Virilio that says, "the inventor of the ship is also the inventor of the shipwreck." Not all ships sink, but some do. And it's safe to say that not all people suffer from the stress and anxiety of tracking their habits, but some do.

Science is starting to back this finding up. An article published in Digital Trends titled The Hidden Psychological Drawback of Fitness Trackers tells us of a study conducted by the University of Copenhagen, showing that data could be interpreted as calming or alarming, depending on the experience of the users. What they found in the study was that the participants who slept and ate well felt calm when looking back at their data. If they hadn't done those things, they reported a heightened level of anxiety, although reviewing the data confirmed what they already knew. An article published by the website of the Sports Psychotherapy Academy, which provides psychological well-being courses in the UK, also notes that the downside of trackers may also come from people feeling as if their routines are dictated by their devices. Some users will even go as far as to skip a workout if they forget to wear their device.

Also read: Is collagen the fountain of youth or simply another fad?

The excitement of wearable technology is understandable: it can be the key between the person you are now and the person you want to become. However, just like orthorexia, a clinical condition regarding the obsession with clean eating rules, causing anxiety and depression, pursuing perfection through data can also imprison us. The idea that everyone can use data to make dispassionate and objective decisions is fundamentally flawed; it disregards that everyone's attitudes on food, exercise, skills, abilities, and self-worth are different. Instead of data being a positive force in your life, you may start embodying unhelpful, negative self-talk (I'll never be good at this, I'll always fail, this isn't working for me), and that kind of thinking will sabotage your efforts to change. Sometimes the data needs to be paired with human-to-human coaching to help someone develop the mental and emotional tools to change.

The purpose of having this data is to become more motivated to move better and eat well, which can substantially improve our moods and elevates our quality of life. Second, there is nothing you can do about data that has been recorded. Mentally shackling yourself to past poor decisions doesn't allow you room to learn and grow. To be successful with our decision-making supported by data, we have to decide early on what we want to track and analyze and to what degree that data will be helpful for us. Will it help change our decisions, or is it just the fashion to wear a sports watch? The key is to own the relationship with your data and results, not let it own you.

If you notice that you're becoming affected by the data and want a data detox, here are some ways to see other data points in your life.

 Frequency: Are you being consistent with your exercise? Try and get at least 150 minutes of purposeful activity a week.

Intensity: When you exercise, are you doing something vigorous enough to at least feel your heart beating harder and breathing a little heavier?

How do you feel once you've completed your exercise? Happy and satisfied or down and lethargic? Exercise should boost your mood, not leave you feeling low.

Food: Follow the 80/20 rule. Are you eating fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, lean cuts of meat, and small amounts of essential fats throughout the day/week? And are your treats (junk food, alcohol, highly processed, sugary foods) kept in moderation?

Jen Thomas is a Chennai-based weight-loss coach

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Some biohackers pursue intense exercise regimens, frequent cold or heat exposures, and other hormetic stressors to boost performance and longevity.

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Biohacking & Toxic Masculinity: How Women Dismantled The Boys Club

Author: Medical reviewer:
Beauty & Health Editor
By Jamie Schneider
Beauty & Health Editor
Jamie Schneider is the Beauty Editor at mindbodygreen. She has a B.A. in Organizational Studies and English from the University of Michigan, and her work has appeared in Coveteur, The Chill Times, and Wyld Skincare.
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Dr. Bindiya Gandhi is an American Board Family Medicine–certified physician who completed her family medicine training at Georgia Regents University/Medical College of Georgia.
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Take a quick search for “biohacker” on TikTok (a tag with over 137 million views), and you’ll discover a slew of men discussing their muscle gains, testosterone levels, and cold plunge routines. You’ll see some women on the page, but the space is undoubtedly dominated by male energy. And think of the outspoken biohackers you may listen to on podcasts—chances are most of them are men, too.

This gendered approach to biohacking, while pervasive, is simply misguided. But now, women are asserting their authority in health optimization, and we expect their emphasis to soar in the year ahead.

Meet the experts

Molly Maloof. M.D.

Molly Maloof. M.D. provides health optimization and personalized medicine to high-achieving entrepreneurs, investors, and technology executives. Since 2012, she has worked as an advisor or consultant to more than 50 companies in the digital health, consumer health, and biotechnology industries. Her company, Adamo Bioscience, is working on sexual health optimization.

Gabrielle Lyon, D.O.

Gabrielle Lyon, D.O. is a board-certified family physician leading a disruption in modern medicine that focuses on the largest organ in the body: skeletal muscle. With a background that includes a combined research and clinical fellowship in geriatrics and nutritional sciences at Washington University and undergraduate training in nutritional sciences at the University of Illinois, she is a subject-matter expert on protein for health, performance, aging, and disease prevention.

Stacy Salvi

Stacy Salvi is the vice president of product and strategy at the medical device company Movano Health—the creator of the Evie Ring, the first medical-grade health wearable designed for women.

Mona Vand, PharmD

Mona Vand, PharmD studied pharmacy at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences before developing her platform that shares holistic wellness advice.

Why biohacking isn’t just for “bros”

“Women are the original biohackers,” declares family physician, Molly Maloof, M.D. “Our hormones change throughout our lives, and this requires us to adapt accordingly.” Our biology means that women often need to constantly edit their health routines and experiment with lifestyle habits as time goes on. Isn’t that the very definition of biohacking?

Let's back up: Here at mindbodygreen, we think of “biohacking” as the practice of making lifestyle tweaks to optimize health and promote longevity. Not shortcuts—contrary to popular belief—but low-lift, everyday habits that complement and enhance an existing well-being routine. Think: optimizing your exercise regimen using tools and techniques (the “biohacks”) to enhance muscle growth. It’s essentially all about advancing health with “do it yourself” biology—a topic that can pique anyone’s interest, regardless of gender.

“[Women] have a most complex physiological lifecycle that requires us to track and manage fertility, pregnancy, breastfeeding, sexuality, perimenopause, and menopause. So we should be looking at biohacking as a path to even greater health and owning the opportunity to improve our lives,” says Maloof.

Yet many women feel intimidated to enter the biohacking scene as it exists today, turned off by the male-dominated energy in the room.

Women are the original biohackers

Molly Maloof, M.D

“Biohacking has always grabbed my attention, and I want to learn, but it sometimes makes me really stressed out, because I go into this state of perfectionism where I have to do all the things,” says doctor of pharmacy and wellness practitioner Mona Vand, PharmD. “The few biohackers that I followed were all males… it just doesn't really resonate with my energy.”

This male energy is not only frustrating but can potentially harm women’s health in the long run. After all, building muscle, prioritizing protein, and keeping an eye on various health metrics are crucial for longevity—in some cases, these proactive measures can save lives. When women don’t get involved, it can totally impact their well-being.

“Physical strength is nonnegotiable,” says functional medicine doctor Gabrielle Lyon, D.O. “I've been a physician since 2006, and I've never heard someone say, ‘I regret being physically strong.’” And the muscle-building space impacts more than just physiological changes, she says. “You optimize fertility, you make healthier babies, you help the epigenetics of your child,” Lyon adds. “You age better, your skin is better, you're less likely to fall and break a hip… There's nothing that doesn't get better the stronger you are.”

So let’s be clear: Dismantling the biohacking boy’s club is not just about helping women feel included; there are real health implications at stake here.

Why the biohacker space actually really needs a dose of feminine energy

I’d be remiss not to mention how biohacking culture can easily become synonymous with hustle culture (some experts don’t even like to use the term, as it implies you can achieve optimal health with quick fixes). But as more women enter the biohacking space, we expect it to become more intuitive and less about hitting every single benchmark. From there, we predict women will focus more on sustainable changes long-term instead of a gazillion quick hacks.

“I used to think it was a flex to do a million things at the same time and habit stack,” Vand recounts. “I now carve out time for doing things that have no efficiency to them, that are strictly for joy or rest and relaxation, versus benefiting my longevity or health. It can be a little bit obsessive when you get into this thought pattern, and I just don't resonate with it.”

This doesn’t mean biohacking will become “softer” as it embraces feminine energy. But there’s an opportunity here for women to introduce some much-needed flexibility into a space that has long felt needlessly rigid.

How the biohacker game is changing — and where it’s headed next

Thanks to a growing awareness that healthcare protocols should not be gendered, more women are now starting to pay attention to markers of performance like lean muscle, hormetic stressors, VO2 max, HRV, zone 2 training, etc. “Cold plunging, saunas, and harder, more physical activities are not just for the boys anymore,” adds Lyon—and we expect an even bigger shift to come in 2024.

“I think it’s super exciting to see biohacking become more mainstream and more women joining the conversation,” adds Maloof. She praises apps like Wild.AI, for women who aim to make lifestyle adjustments based on their menstrual cycle, and Zero, for women who want to dabble in time-restricted eating, both of which have helped to herald the shift.

Other existing health optimization companies are now inviting women into the conversation by introducing specific features informed by their unique physiology. WHOOP, for example, is currently working on upgrades to their popular health-tracking band: “We did a study recently where we learned a lot about how a woman's body changes during pregnancy and how her heart rate variability (HRV) will evolve. It'll decrease, and then about seven weeks before she gives birth, it will increase sharply,” explains Will Ahmed, WHOOP founder and CEO, on the mindbodygreen podcast

If a woman didn’t know that this was supposed to happen, she might look at this stark increase with a critical (or anxious) eye. “We've been able to take population-level data on pregnant women and now have a feature in the app, where a woman can see how her body is evolving alongside what other pregnant women are experiencing,” he adds.

Similarly, creatine supplements—from the ingredients to the packaging—are no longer marketed toward dudes looking to bulk up, and we are certainly here for it. After all, muscle mass is a predictor of longevity and healthspan, so supplements that promote it can help all of us “hack” our health in a big way.

And as Lyon notes, women have lower endogenous creatine stores compared to men (meaning, they have less available). And the amino acid has been associated with significantly increased muscle mass1 in both men and women, without increasing the risk of adverse outcomes2, like weight gain. “Most of the women in my practice will go on creatine, and they find anecdotally that it really improves both anaerobic and aerobic exercise performance,” Lyon shares.

Not to mention the supplement’s brain health perks: Taking creatine has been shown to benefit both working memory and processing speed3 as well as cognitive longevity4. “It is above and beyond simply sport performance,” adds Lyon, who has certainly seen an uptick in women curious about creatine.

As women feel intimidated (or even restricted) by biohacking spaces, some experts have taken it upon themselves to create new ones that center the feminine. For example, neuropsychophysiologist Kayla Osterhoff, MPH, offers a Women's Biohacking Mini Course, consisting of lifestyle routines and tips aligned with female physiology.

Osterhoff also recently presented at the 2023 Dragonfly Live Conference—among other female biohackers—to discuss the latest advancements in women's well-being and the “health revolution” that’s sweeping the mainstream. This conference aims to gather the “who's-who” in the health space to discuss cutting-edge strategies and innovations that optimize well-being—by having women biohackers at the forefront of the conversation, we can expect them to hit the main stage in a broader sense.

Or take the brand new Evie Ring, the first medical-grade health wearable designed for women, created by medical device company Movano Health. The technology ties hormonal information to a woman’s sleep, activity, and heart health data (among other metrics).

For instance, “If we notice a more restless night of sleep in the luteal phase, we'll point it out and also give some strategies for how somebody may attack their day, despite having not gotten as good of a night of sleep,” says Stacy Salvi, vice president of product and strategy at Movano Health. Similarly, “We know that there are cardiovascular implications when your estrogen drops, so they would want to keep a better look on the function of their heart,” she adds. “This would be something that they would be able to do from our app.”

Even the design itself was made with women in mind: The ring features an open band meant to accommodate how women’s fingers change in size throughout the day, so it can stay comfortable.

To avoid needless stress, Evie also limits the amount of goals you can set on the app. “You can only set three at a time, because we do not want to overwhelm [users] with a bunch of different things,” says Salvi. “I mean, I'm an overachiever. I probably would set every single goal and then fail at them.” And heaven knows we don’t need yet another way for busy, overwhelmed women to feel like they’re failing in a society with unsurmountable standards.

Forecasting the future

A woman walks up to the weight rack in 2024. She sees the usual suspects—bros pounding protein shakes and grunting through their bicep curls—but now she also sees a fair amount of women on the scene. They’ve got creatine supplements! Fitness trackers! Kettlebells! (And no, they aren’t pink.)

Granted, we still have a ways to go before women feel totally embraced by the biohacking space (we’d first have to close the centuries-long gender gap in science and medicine), but it’s clear that the arena is becoming way less of a boy’s club. “And the world is ready, my friend,” says Lyon. “The world is absolutely ready for this.”

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Many practitioners rely on medical testing and biomarkers, including blood tests, oxidative stress measures, plethysmography, impedance body composition, and hydration assessment to tailor programs.

Mental-health and recovery practices in biohacking commonly include meditation, mindfulness, regulated sleep routines, and enforced downtime to prevent burnout.

Scientific evidence is mixed: some clinical studies support specific interventions such as time‑restricted feeding in selected conditions, while many supplement regimens lack conclusive clinical proof and can carry risks.

Title:

Content: Overthinking

Is intermittent fasting just another form of disordered eating?

The latest diet fad to pick up steam among Brits involves periods of prolonged abstinence from food. Men in particular are becoming loyal followers of the trend, and it’s why Oliver Keens suspects more people aren’t approaching it with necessary cynicism

Sunday 18 February 2024 06:00
Comments

What if, and I’m just floating it here, intermittent fasting turns out to be… a fad? Something on a par with the long-forgotten “baby food diet” of the early 2010s, let’s say. In the current clamour to acclaim fasting as a way to treat cancer, boost brain power, repair cells and shred fat, I feel like it’s worth recalling the faddy food regiment rumoured to have been taken up by Lady Gaga, Cheryl Cole, Jennifer Aniston and many other female celebrities a decade ago.

It involved eating around 14 portions of pureed baby food every day, with the occasional actual meal thrown in. Papers chuckled as sales of wet baby food soared, and jars of Ella’s Kitchen organic chicken and sweetcorn mash were snapped up before they could be aeroplaned into their intended infant mouths. Despite the hilarity, this diet was simply a form of prolonged abstinence, much like intermittent fasting (IF). So it’s curious why one diet gave people the giggles and the other is being treated as a miracle. I think the answer is simple: because it is men who are suddenly all over IF, nobody’s calling BS on it the way they did when Cole was allegedly eating tiny jars of creamed porridge.

I was conflicted to hear earlier this month that our prime minister Rishi Sunak practices an extreme fasting ritual for 36 hours every week. After all, we’ve only just diagnosed “hanger” as a full-on societal ill – only to learn that the most powerful man in the land is voluntarily parachuting himself into the hanger zone every Monday. Yet the press around Sunak’s adoption of fasting had an unexpected side effect: it brought two very distinct fasting tribes to the fore.

The first camp includes people who have come to IF because they’re suffering from an illness or a medical issue. For example, there have been studies that show a link between a pared-back diet and chemotherapy being more effective, which has naturally brought those with cancer to IF. It has found proponents in people with polycystic ovary syndrome, which can cause irregular menstrual cycles or infertility – ditto people combating severe inflammation like arthritis or reducing type 2 diabetes. Some in my life came to it this way, via their medical needs. Coincidentally, they’ve all been women.

Now let’s look at the other camp. For shorthand, let’s call them the men who have absolutely nothing wrong with them. Before Sunak, a familiar kind of male ecosystem had been evangelising the diet. Elon Musk and Jordan Peterson have sung its praises, while it’s also been covered several times on the alpha podcast Diary of a CEO. Episodes on the topic of fasting are subtitled with terms like “Get your sex life back”, while its YouTube version deploys crude graphics that explosively tell you of a “1,300 per cent increase in testosterone!”

IF has also been the topic du jour of many a Silicon Valley exec, who as a group commonly stress a perceived increase in “longevity”, while that same desire to live a lot longer than mere mortals has interlaced with self-help gurus such as Tony Robbins who promote the concept of “biohacking”.

It’s no surprise that IF has been promoted by a certain demographic of men who think a lot about their own manliness. IF is often explained as a way for us – the overfed, over-pampered, useless modern man – to return to the purposeful days of the hunter-gatherer or caveman, where men were supposed to be able to survive just fine on a drastically scaled-back regiment of food. Bizarrely, one of this group’s biggest enemies seems to be breakfast. Ahh, poor breakfast – once feted as the most important meal of the day, now the subject of endless angry videos titled “Why breakfast is a scam”.

I will never begrudge someone for doing something that makes them feel good, but if it sounds like I have an axe to grind, it’s true, I do. My main suspicion of IF comes from the fact that – without exception – all the men I personally know who are practising it are very healthy and very thin.

I care because we live in an era in which male eating disorders are both rife and yet totally under-discussed. An estimated 10 million men and boys suffer from an eating disorder in America. One in three sufferers are men. In the UK, men like former cricketer Freddie Flintoff or actor Christopher Eccleston have tried to shift public opinions on male eating disorders by very openly discussing their experiences with bulimia and anorexia, respectively. Yet I think there’s still a sense of total denial in most of us that men can manifest these kinds of diseases.

How can they not though, when it’s becoming increasingly rare to see men in the public eye who are anything other than completely slim – something that is simply unachievable for a lot of us. As you browse online today, keep an eye out for all the slim men you see, and think of all the averagely sized or plus-sized men you don’t see. A recent Israeli study even went as far as to suggest that a hegemony of male body shapes in porn was leading men to have eating disorders. Intermittent fasting feels like just the latest thing making totally healthy men in my life do slightly barmy and extreme things.

I’ve seen it in myself since I joined a gym. I’ve hurtled into a totally new self-doubt around my own weight and physique, just by being in the same environment as men. I’ve seen it in many male friends too, after just a few scratches of the surface. I worry that when a male pal takes up extreme cycling, starts devoting themselves to gym life, begins training for an Ironman or Tough Mudder event, or starts intermittent fasting, that there’s more going on than just a basic desire for health.

As algorithmic male messaging gets more and more primal, and this bizarre evocation of the caveman continues, it’s worth checking in with your male friends more about this. Perhaps over breakfast?

For anyone struggling with the issues raised in this article, eating disorder charity Beat’s helpline is available 365 days a year on 0808 801 0677. NCFED offers information, resources and counselling for those suffering from eating disorders, as well as their support networks. Visit eating-disorders.org.uk or call 0845 838 2040

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Anecdotal and investigational reports warn that excessive supplement stacks or unsupervised prescription use can cause side effects such as headaches, fatigue, and possibly long‑term risks.

Observers and experts caution that data tracking and perfectionist biohacking cultures can become obsessive, causing anxiety or disordered eating patterns for some people.