7 Nutrition Biohacks! Beginners Guide To Biohacking Your Diet
Discover > Biohacking > 7 Nutrition Biohacks! Beginners Guide To Biohacking Your Diet
What the Heck is Biohacking?
Many biohackers focus on optimizing their nutrition through specialized biohacking food lists aimed at promoting longevity, brain health, and physical performance. Pioneers in the field like Dave Asprey have popularized ingredient lists focused on grass-fed meats, wild-caught fish, organic fruits and vegetables, ancient grains and seeds, fermented foods (What wine goes well with fermented foods?) and select supplements. Adhering to one of these biohacking food lists is a common starting point for many interested in biohacking your body.
Some biohackers take things further by experimenting with biohacking implants such as microchips, magnets or sensors placed under the skin. Early adopters in this area include top biohackers like Amal Graafstra, who advocates for the benefits of voluntary human enhancement. While still controversial, the use of biohacking implants aims to directly measure biomarkers and monitor health metrics in real-time.
In addition to nutrition and biohacking implants, many biohackers leverage biohacking gadgets and wearable devices to gather more data about factors like sleep, movement, heart rate variability and stress levels. Pioneers in this quanitfied self-movement include Ben Greenfield, who has tested countless health monitors, fitness trackers and other biohacking gadgets. Greenfield also operates his own biohacking gym focused on performance optimization through cutting edge training methods, cryotherapy, float tanks and more. Additional methods for enhancing performance include targeted biohacking supplements and specialized biohacking workouts.
The Truth About Our Nutrition Today
It is no secret that in the past century, our diets have changed tremendously. And it’s not just the obvious things like added sugars and processed whole foods. Consider the variety of foods. 100 years back our diets included more than 100 different foods.
Today, three main crops feed 60% of the world's population. Where there is variety in food, it is either genetically altered, made in a lab, or devoid of nutrition. Plants are bred to be more palatable and digestible, Basically less bitterness from phytonutrients, more sugar (how long does sugar last?), and less fiber.
The Truth About Our Agriculture Today
Modern farming practices bring fertilizers to keep fields productive for years on end. There are no resting periods for the fields, no crop rotation, and no national spring irrigation. There is just not enough complex nutrient in the soil for the plants to absorb.
Take, for example, Magnesium and Selenium. This pair of vital minerals that are abundant in healthy soil is no longer present in plants. Estimatedly, 70 to 80% of the population does not get enough of these two minerals, the result of which is increased anxiety, sleeplessness, and nervous disorders. the list goes on.
So Where Does Biohacking Come in
Nutrition experts are aware of how our food impacts our bodies in so many ways and are trying to understand how we can hack what is available to benefit our health. Bio-hacking is the term used to describe the dissemination of applied physiology, exercise, nutrition, and lifestyle change to improve your health and overall well-being.
To clarify, Biohackers reject the idea that the only way to avoid disease and lead a healthier life is to eat less (improving eating habits) and exercise more.
What separates bio-hacking from the other self-improvement gurus is a system thinking approach to their biology.
It is not as simple as reducing the caloric intake; what you put into your body matters as much. Of course, this isn’t something new or unheard of, so that’s the thing.
Biohacking or a biohacker diet are just sci-fi names given to a common principle. Putting a biohacking meal plan into practice makes the difference and separates biohackers from the rest of the followers of ‘diets.’ So, how to start biohacking?
Biohacking and its Types
So, what is biohacking? And what are some biohacking examples? This is a diverse area, and there are types of biohacking, of which not all are related to nutrition. These include:
1: Biohacking your sleep pattern
2: Biohacking your movements
3: Biohacking your risk-taking levels
4: Biohacking your bone health
5: Biohacking your connection with the outdoors
6: Biohacking your brain and mindset
The possibilities are endless, but they all root from the idea that we can change our bodies and brains and that by doing so, we can ultimately become smarter, faster, and healthier versions of ourselves.
Biohacking Your Diet
Today, we are talking about biohacking your diet. Nutrigenomics is the science that focuses on how food interacts with your genes. The idea behind this diet biohacking is that our body's complete genetic expression can be mapped out by understanding how different nutrients affect our health.
This mapping can then draw out an optimal diet plan for ourselves. It also gives us a glimpse into how different nutrients alter our feelings, thoughts, and behavior. Several bio hack examples verge on the bizarre (Neurohacking technologies, genetic implants, and the like), some require you to incorporate more realistic and natural changes to your diets.
Nutrition Biohack # 1 Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting is probably the oldest biohack diet used by humans. While fasting may seem like an extreme step towards better health, intermittent fasting works wonderfully by giving your gut a break and allowing it to process toxins from the system without being overloaded by incoming food every few hours.
There are many variations of intermittent fasting diet you can choose from, but the way it works is basically the same. Under fasting circumstances, the human body undergoes ketosis, a process where fat is utilized to create energy rather than glucose, which is the case when we eat foods. Read more about Intermittent fasting here.
Nutrition Biohack # 2 Try Elimination Diet
Identifying food intolerances and sensitivities is especially important in reducing inflammation. Chronic inflammation is one of the leading causes of brain fog, decrease performance, depression and reduced mental agility.
To biohack your mental wellbeing, you need to figure out what is causing inflammation in your body composition and the elimination diet is best for this purpose. Through this diet, you basically eliminate unprocessed foods that may be causing uncomfortable symptoms and replace them with healthy foods. When you do your own research and opt for the right diet, it can also help you burn fat.
These foods are later re-introduced slowly, while looking for any reactions your body may exhibit.
Elimination diet used as a biohack may alleviate symptoms like diarrhea, constipation, bloating, and leaky gut syndrome. More importantly, your improved health will result directly in better moods, lose weight, improve blood pressure, mental agility and performance. Always consult a physician before reintroducing suspicious foods back in your diet as they may trigger a more serious reaction.
Nutrition Biohack # 3 Cut Out Sugar
Sugar consumption has increased ridiculously over the past century. This rise can be linked directly to the availability of boxed and canned foods. Cutting out sugar will primarily mean you cut out most processed foods that carry not just sugar, but a whole cocktail of unhealthy additives.
But be aware, going cold turkey on sugar can give you some serious cravings and withdrawal symptoms, as sugar really is addictive! Biohacking sugar from your system will lead to longevity, reduced inflammation, and better liver health.
Nutrition Biohack # 4 Add More Fiber
The presence of processed foods in our diet has resulted in one more thing. Low bacterial diversity, associated with the Standard American Diet (SAD), has been linked to inflammation that causes autoimmune disease, cancer, dementia, and more. It all boils down to inadequate fiber.
Fiber feeds the good bacteria in the gut. Biohacking your fiber would mean you get at least 25 grams of fiber a day. There is no way you can reach this goal if your diet consists of processed inflammatory foods.
Whole food high in sugar can greatly affect gut flora, feeding bad bacteria and forming dysbiosis. Aim for high quality fibrous fruits, leafy greens, and healthy fats. Include a portion of high-quality protein. Instead of counting calories, count nutrients.
Nutrition Biohack # 5 Include Superfoods Like Medicinal Mushrooms
If you think we are going to ask you to drink mushroom tea, you are about right. Medicinal mushrooms have been adopted by eastern medicine for millennia and have finally come back full circle to heal us.
Medicinal mushrooms cannot be eaten raw or whole and so you will find them easily at health stores in powdered form. This can be added to your morning smoothie, to a hot drink and even into some vegetable stir fry.
Medicinal mushrooms have been studied to have positive affects on brain health, immunity, nerve health, prevents oxidative stress, eases depression and anxiety. Want to know which mushrooms to take for which ailment? Read more about them here.
Nutrition Biohack # 6 Optimizing Vitamin D Absorption And Vitamin D Supplementation
Yes! Vitamin D is the one that you get from the sun. So, vitamin D is a fat-soluble steroid hormone that controls the expression of over 1000 genes in our body, and bone formation.
The UV B radiation from the sun helps synthesize vitamin D and the presence of healthy fats encourages optimal absorption of the vitamin. While you may be exposed to ample sunshine every day, several factors may inhibit the amount of vitamin D our body produces.
Sunscreen blocks the radiation needed for Vitamin D synthesis.
As we age, our body becomes less efficient at producing vitamin D.
Excess body fat stores the vitamin D, reducing your body’s ability to use it.
The melanin content of your skin acts as a natural sunscreen.
Clothing bars UV-B radiation from reaching your skin
Vitamin D tracker apps help understand when there is sufficient UV B radiation given out by the Sun where you live. Using these apps, you can make the most off your time spent in the sun. Incase you are on the more deficient side, a Vitamin D supplement is a good option to improve your levels.
While advanced biohacking can cost your thousands and can feel right out of a sci-fi movie, basic Biohacks are common and necessary health facts that we tend to ignore till our bodies begin to bear the brunt.
By following these biohacks along with good, restful sleep, improve digestive health, low stress levels, and regular exercise, we can all stay youthful, energetic and focused for years to come.
What Is Biohacking Your Body?
Increasing your level of energy, getting weight loss and vitality by biohacking your body implies changing your body's chemistry and physiology through scientific research and personal experiments.
The notion is always developing, necessitating a wide-ranging definition; nevertheless, this also explains why the definition is so broad. The question "what is biohacking?" may be answered in a variety of ways, including the following:
Lifestyle and Diet Changes
These include the more conventional practices you probably wouldn't even consider biohacking, such as practicing yoga and meditation, eating healthily (improving eating habits), spending time in nature, finding a workout you love, sleeping well, and using biohacking products. Before moving on to more advanced biohacking techniques, you must become proficient in these routines.
Wearable Technology
Have you ever considered your apple watch or smartphone app for weight loss to be biohacking? Using all the wearable equipment that prompts you to increase the number of steps you take each day, drink more water, or get up and stretch a kind of biohacking may be of great assistance to those who are just getting started with the practice.
Technology Implant
In biohacking, many believe implanted technology is the next step. Nevertheless, it has not yet reached the public. Despite this, the ability to create things like microchips, bionic eyes, mind-controlled drones, and gene editing already exists, and these things may be in our future.
Genetic Engineering
This is the kind of biohacking that gets reported in the mainstream media. Crispr, which stands for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats, is the name of the technology that underpins it.
This technique enables anyone to change their genetic information. It is very contentious and uncontrolled, and for the time being, it is only practiced on the outskirts of the field of biohacking.
There is an infinite number of options, but they are all based on the concept that we can transform our bodies and minds and that by doing so, we might eventually improve as humans in terms of our intelligence, speed, and quality of life.
Difference Between Biohacking And Biotechnology
The primary distinction between biohacking and biotechnology is that the former refers to more of an "underground" practice, while the latter is a highly controlled sector. The term "biotechnology" refers to any branch of study that examines the intersection of biology and technology. There are many kinds of biohacking, some of which include biotechnology, while others do not. For example, you may hack your thinking by engaging in activities such as priming or visualization, or you can biohack what you eat by going on a diet.
How To Biohack?
Diet, exercise, and practices, including mindfulness, are excellent places to begin when you're looking to biohack your body. After that, begin tracking your activity with wearable devices like the apple watch or the Fitbit to see how you're doing. You may also try incorporating the healing power of music into your daily life and switching to a more environmentally friendly diet.
Once you have a firm grasp of these fundamental biohacks, you will be prepared to go on to more advanced techniques. Think about using one of these approaches that won't hurt you and see what results you get.
Final Thoughts
In the end, what exactly is biohacking?
Doing one's own biological research and experimentation is known as "biohacking." it requires individuals to make subtle adjustments to their bodies, diets, and ways of living to enhance their overall health and quality of life.
Biohacking, also known as human enhancement, encompasses various practices, from enhancing brain function to facilitating more rapid weight loss. While there are certain sorts of biohacks that are generally safe to undertake at home, there are also others that might potentially be hazardous to one's health and yield consequences that are not always predictable.
Biohacking is a technique to improve your body, health, and brain to do what you want and attain your mental and emotional potential. Whether you use biohacking supplements, technology such as red light treatment, or adjustments to integrate an abundant mentality, biohacking is intended to help you create permanent, good change.
If you're having trouble sleeping and want to avoid unhealthy late-night snacks, try these healthy options.
Looking for 7 of the most effective biohacks for stress relief? - try this.
