Beginner guide to Bio-hacking

For type-A personalities, business people and ambitious sport practitioners

What is Bio-hacking?

The word Bio is frequently used in our everyday lives, biology, biography, biopsy, biohazard and so on, and all of them have something to do with life. Bio-hacking is pretty much what it is about, and nowadays it is one of the most discussed topics in the health and wellness communities.

Bio-hacking is generally a form of viewing the body as a system and then tweaking that whole system with a mindset of a hacker to achieve optimum wellness. Bio-hacking is a term closely related to human enhancement as described by Rathenau Institute “The human body has become a quantifiable object; a collection of ones and zeros that can be measured, mapped out, manipulated, monitored and enhanced, and which you can intervene in, make more efficient, influence and have control over”.

Entrepreneurs and people with type-A personalities, many of them sports enthusiasts, business people and the likes can benefit have a lot from Bio-hacking. In a world of hyper competition, the ability to optimize one’s performance is crucial in determining success, and this demographic is highly ambitious in whatever they do.

Types of Bio-hacking

There are several types of Bio-hacking approaches:

1. Grinder — These are individuals who seek to become somewhat “cyborgs” by optimizing their bodies with combinations of gadgets, chemical injections, implants, and anything else they can put into their body to make it work the way they want it to.
2. Nutrigenomics — Mainly focus on how the food you eat interacts with your genes, this also includes how different nutrients affect the way you feel, think, and behave.
3. DIY biology — Scientific professionals share tips and techniques on how to help non-experts conduct structured experiments on themselves outside of a controlled experimental environment, like labs or medical offices with the purpose of improvement to their lives and standard of health.
4. Quantified Self — Usage of technology to analyze different data drawn from a person’s daily life, such as in nutrition, sports, sleep and mood, usually done with wearable sensors and smartphone apps for monitoring.

How to be a successful Bio-hacker?

The approach of Bio-hacking is to target what we input into our bodies as it has a tremendous effect on Dopamine, aka the feel-good neurotransmitter. The Dopamine is responsible for boosting mood, motivation, attention, and it helps regulate movement, learning, and emotional responses. Dopamine level decreases and increases depending on what we put into our bodies.

1. Eat the right nutrition as you are what you eat

How to boost of energy and feel better? Eat vegetables, healthy fats, high quality protein, reduce sugar, avoid fast food and processed foods. All of these can bring tremendous effects to our daily life — the key is to start with small steps and slowly adjust your diet. By doing this, your immune system gets boosted, obesity is should no longer haunt you, your energy levels will become exceptional, your mental health will improve, and finally, your performance at work will dramatically improve.

It is also recommended to add supplements for a balanced nutrient-intake combined with your healthy food. Always talk to your doctor before taking any supplements.

2. Sleep properly

We live in a culture that is in a constant state of stimulation and hustle, with a “rise and grind” attitude towards our competitive daily work, especially entrepreneurs who are striving to develop the next big thing. There is an exponential increase in diseases like Alzheimer’s, obesity, and autoimmune disorders. A good night’s sleep, as simple as it sounds, makes a good prevention to all of these later problems. Try to go to bed early, limit water and alcohol intake, avoid blue light and fluorescent light for several hours before bed or better, just keep the phone away from where you sleep. Sticking to these good habits before bedtime provides health benefits such as:

• Balanced hormones
• Better brain function
• Improves heart health
• Easier to lose weight
• Better mood

3. Get fit and stay healthy

Start with something simple, go to saunas, swim in the pool, or yoga — these are some easy ways to regain control of the environment around you and inside you so that you have full control of your biology. If it is possible, start and maintain a daily exercise routine. Working out is great, not only to keep your body in shape, but it also helps to improve mental toughness, focus and mood. To wind down, meditate and practice breath work. Breathing correctly is important for your overall wellbeing.

Last but not least, a healthy dose of sunlight daily gives you enough Vitamin D for your immune system. It also keeps the bones and teeth healthy and strong. So whatever exercise or intensity you choose to do, try to do it outside for extra health benefits.

If you want to have more energy and focus to perform well in anything, learn to manage what you input into your body and treat it well. According to W.H.O. 1980’s study, 10% of our health depends on genetics, while 70% depends on lifestyle choices. This is particularly important for type-A personalities, who are more prone to stress. With so much new technology available to quantify our wellbeing and new methods to Bio-hack, there is for sure a way for anyone to achieve better health — so open your mind, and start living a better life today.