What is Biohacking? Getting to know your body

Lately I've been using my body as a big science experiment. That's basically what biohacking your body is. Biohacking is when you make changes to your lifestyle and keep data as how the changes are affecting your body and wellbeing. You are trying to 'hack' your own biology to improve your health and know your body. In my case, I've been trying the keto diet. I've been eating high fat since January and keeping notes on my weight, blood tests, appetite, and more. 

"Biohacking is the process of using science, biology, and self-experimentation to take control of and upgrade your body, mind, and life," says Dave Asprey, founder and CEO of Bulletproof. (And yes, drinking bulletproof coffee is one example of a biohack.) "Simply put, biohacking is the art and science of changing the environment around you and inside you so you have more control over your own biology." 

The most common form of biohacking is by diet. Some people will try small dietary changes such as eliminating sugar or gluten. It could even be as simple as increasing your water intake. In my case with keto, I've eliminated sugar and almost all carbs completely. I've mentioned in previous posts the health improvements I've seen since starting keto: better sleep, weight loss, less inflammation. 

Keto is a strict diet for many people who are suffering from diabetes, insulin resistance, and other issues. Myself, I'm very healthy and found that I can get away with a lot more than unhealthy people. Because I have kept a simple log of my blood ketone measurements, I know that I can cheat and recover within 24 hours where other people can take days to. I've learned that my metabolism and ketone production is a lot more limber than others, allowing me to have an occasional piece of cake. Through biohacking, I've learned that I can easily jump back and forth between glucogeogenesis (sugar burning) and ketosis (fat burning) usually within 24 hours.     


Another hack I've tried is to change my eating habits time-wise. It turns out that fasting is a powerful mechanism for change. Intermittent fasting means I'm now fasting 18 hours and only eating during 6 hours. I don't do this every day, but several days a week. Although fasting can be done on any diet, it is easy to do with keto because the high fat diet makes you feel satiated and so you can go hours without eating and feeling hungry. See my post on fasting to learn about different time variables. 

Long term fasting, lasting over three days, turns out to be a metabolic game changer. Your body discards old, worn out cells and generates fresh new cells to replace them. This process, called autophagy, is being shown to be a powerful strategy in the fight against cancers and other diseases. 

Exercise is the second most common form of biohacking because we've been preached at for years about the importance of exercise. We expect it to make us stronger and help us to lose weight and that calories in must be offset by calories burned. Often people will try many different styles of exercise trying to find the one they enjoy the most and shows the most benefit to them. That in itself is biohacking. You try running for a while and discover you don't like that. Then you might try spin classes, yoga, or pilates. You keep hacking until you find the exercise that is the best fit for your needs.

Some people look for a more relaxing biohack, such as meditation or improved sleep. There are different forms of meditation as well as different times and durations to practice; whereas with sleep, one can simply try such tactics as different times, white noise machines, reading, etc. More contemporary biohacking relaxation techniques might include flotation tanks, oxygen therapy, and infrared saunas. 

Through my biohacking over the last four months I've learned a lot about how my body burns energy in regards to sugars and fats. Now that summer is here, I plan to do some more hacking by adding fruit to my diet. Fruit is sweet and filled with fructose, a form of sugar. Since I've eliminated sugar from my diet, it will be interesting to see how adding fruit back for the summer will effect my ketone production and weight. Stay tuned!