Uncovering biohacking: What you need to know about the hip health trend espoused by Brooke Burke, Tom Brady, and others
A practice known as “bihacking” is gaining popularity among celebrities like Brock Burke, Tom Brady and Jeff Bezos – it’s a way to improve Health, fitness and vitality By making small, gradual lifestyle changes.
But is this “DIY biology” really all that it’s cracked up to be?
Weighing experts are in for a crash course on the subject.
What is biohacking?
Biohacking is a broad concept that can be applied to many aspects of physical and mental health, from eating and exercise to sleep and stress management.
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Proponents say people can hack their biology to achieve different goals, whether it’s losing weight, boosting memory, living longer, sleeping better, or even relieving chronic pain.
David Asprey, author and founder of a health and wellness company called Bulletproof 360 in SeattleHe calls himself the “Father of Biohacking”.
He told Fox News Digital via email that he started the biohacking movement in 2011.
Brooke Burke told Fox News Digital that people can “start small” when it comes to taking care of their bodies and their overall health — and that the “worst thing” to do would be absolutely nothing in terms of workouts or exercises. (Getty Images)
“Biohacking is the science of altering the environment around you so that you have complete control over your own biology,” Asprey said.
“It allows you to get more results in less time. Instead of pushing and trying, you can change things around you so that your body easily gives you what you want, like more energy, less fat, or a better mind.”
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He believes that people who adopt biohacking will likely live a better life with more energy, peace, calm, and control over how they look and feel.
Asprey runs an online community of biohackers called The Upgrade Collective.
He said hundreds of members have received profound help by taking control of their own biology.
Tom Brady has taken great care of his body, general health, and conditioning for many years. (Gilbert Flores / Variety)
“some I learned how to sleep For the first time in years, others have lost 100 pounds, and some are feeling more energy than they ever thought possible.”
Biohacking is not a one-size-fits-all practice. Individuals can pick and choose which items they choose to focus on – and how long they will take.
Hot and cold therapy explained
Cold therapy, or cryotherapy, is one of the most popular methods of biohacking.
It has long been used by athletes to reduce inflammation and ease muscle soreness after hard training sessions, but it has also gained widespread popularity for its purported mental and physical health benefits.
Cold therapy, or cryotherapy, is one of the most popular biohacking strategies. Athletes have long used it to reduce inflammation and relieve muscle soreness after training sessions. (iStock)
Melanie Avalon, Actress, Writer, and Biohacker is passionate about Los Angeles CaliforniaHe does daily cryotherapy sessions.
“It helps reduce inflammation and ‘regulate’ neurotransmitters, such as dopamine and epinephrine,” she said.
Cold therapy can be as simple as applying an ice pack to a specific area or taking a cool shower.
Others may do full-body ice baths, “polar plunges” or whole-body cryotherapy in a cold chamber, which is cooled to frigid temperatures with liquid nitrogen.
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For those who can’t stand the cold, another form of biohacking involves heat therapy.
Avalon said she does sessions in an infrared sauna as a way to reduce muscle soreness, sweat toxins, boost the immune system by stimulating artificial fevers, and activate longevity-promoting heat shock proteins.
(Always consult a physician or healthcare provider before starting any cold or hot therapy.)
Intermittent fasting came down
While biohackers focus heavily on what do they eatAnd when They eat probably no less important.
For example, Brooke Burke has long been an advocate of intermittent fasting, which limits meals to a certain period of time.
Intermittent fasting has been shown to produce many benefits, including improved heart health, weight loss, improved memory and cognitive function, higher athletic performance, and management of type 2 diabetes. (iStock)
One such example is the 16/8 method, where a person fasts for 16 hours and then only eats within eight hours, between the hours of 10 am and 6 pm.
Others may choose to fast for a full 24 hours once or twice a week, or to limit calories on fasting days.
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Intermittent fasting has been shown to have many benefits, including improved heart health, weight loss, improved memory and cognitive functions, higher athletic performance, and Managing type 2 diabetesAccording to the Johns Hopkins Medicine website.
More advanced biohackers may get into nutritional genetics, which involves studying how different foods interact with the body’s genes as a way to prevent disease.
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To promote healthy sleep, biohackers focus on regulating the circadian rhythm, which is similar to the body’s 24-hour biological clock.
Exposure to light sources causes the body to go into a “wake-up” cycle in the morning — and when it gets dark, the body starts producing melatonin to get ready for sleep. When the circadian rhythm gets out of control, it can upset the sleep cycle.
To promote healthy sleep, many biohackers focus on regulating the circadian rhythm, which is similar to the body’s 24-hour biological clock. (iStock)
On his website, biohacker Dr. Greg Wells, based within TorontoOffers some tips for regulating the circadian rhythm.
These include Expose the eyes To light first thing in the morning, even if it requires artificial sunlight, and to avoid exposure to light before bed.
He also recommends keeping the bedroom temperature at 66 degrees Fahrenheit to promote optimal sleeping conditions.
“Biohacking is the science of altering the environment around you so that you have complete control over your own biology.”
Avalon supports her healthy sleep habits by using a cooling mattress, blackout curtains and blue light blocking glasses to filter blue-violet light from digital screens.
Red light therapy: what is it?
An increasing number of biohackers are touting the health benefits of red light therapy.
This involves exposure to red light of certain wavelengths to cause changes in the body’s cells. People can lie on full-body beds or use a handheld device to apply the red light.
Biohackers tout the health benefits of red light therapy, which involves exposure to red light of certain wavelengths to cause changes in the body’s cells. However, more research is needed on this, says the Cleveland Clinic, to determine effectiveness. (iStock)
Red light therapy is said to relieve pain, heal wounds, reduce side effects from cancer treatments, reduce inflammation, and improve skin—although the Cleveland Clinic states on its website that more research is needed to determine its effectiveness.
Track health and how to do it
A big part of the biohacking is what Avalon calls “self-assessment,” which involves practices that measure different states of the body.
Today, wearables can track nearly every metric imaginable—heart rate, physical activity, calories burned, sleep cycles, glucose (blood sugar) levels, reproductive cycles, and even the amount of fat your body is burning.
Through intensive monitoring of vital signs, such as: heart rate variablesbody temperature, sleep rhythms, blood glucose and blood markers, biohackers receive feedback on what’s working and what’s not, so they can improve how you approach any given day,” Avalon said.
“In a way, whether they know it or not, everyone is a biohacker.”
Asprey describes the sleep tracking system as the most important piece of technology that will tell you if you’re moving in the right direction.
“If you improve your health indicators and biometrics, your score will increase,” he said. “When you’re overtraining or emotionally stressed, your score is lower. There’s no fooling yourself.”
Prescribe a blood test
Many biohackers watch their blood work Track things like cholesteroland vitamin and mineral levels, organ health, inflammation, cellular function, immune system health, and thyroid function.
Blood tests can also determine whether dietary changes or supplements are having the desired effect.
Biohaker Dave Asprey is a big proponent of the blood test. “If you wait until you’re sick to get a blood test, you won’t know where you were when you were healthy,” he said. (iStock)
Asprey said he has always been an advocate of the blood test.
“How can you try to fix something if you don’t know where it is or where it’s going?” He said. “It’s something healthy people have to do, because if you wait until you’re sick to get a blood test, you won’t know where you were when you were healthy.”
For safe biohacking, start slowly
As with any lifestyle decision, pushing biohacking to the extreme comes with a certain degree of risk.
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The risks could come from the body being pushed out of a hormonal situation [beneficial] stresses, to exhaustion and harmful physical stress,” Avalon said.
“Broad recovery is important. Biohacking technologies should not be seen as salvation, but rather as a tool enhance our well-being and being.”
Anyone considering starting a new biohacking practice should first consult a physician or health practitioner. (iStock)
For those just starting out, Asprey recommends choosing just one thing to focus on, rather than setting an overall goal of “getting healthy.”
This may be incorporating better sleeping habits, eating a healthy diet, or taking daily exercise.
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“In a way, whether they know it or not, everyone is a biohacker,” he said.
“The environment around you, the food you eat, the space you live in and the things you do always influence you. Each of us is responsible for our environment, consciously or unconsciously.”
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All those considering starting any new biohacking practices should consult their physician first.
