Biohacking is gaining in popularity – but what is it?
CASE STUDY
You might have heard the term ‘biohacking’ bandied around in the wellbeing sphere, but it can be hard to understand what it actually means. In simple terms, it’s making incremental lifestyle changes that add up to significant benefits to body and mind – ‘optimising’ how well you function, so you ‘become your best self’.
People turn to it for specific issues, such as improving sleep or focus, or gaining control over their menstrual cycle, for example. It can include anything from taking certain micronutrients to having freezing showers. The list is long. It’s especially popular with high-powered types: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey extols the benefits of ‘salt juice’ (Himalayan salt with lemon and water), while US entrepreneur Dave Asprey started the trend for bulletproof coffee (containing MCT oil and butter).
At the extreme end of the spectrum, diabetic biohackers are formulating ways to produce insulin. Winston Ibrahim, CEO of water-filtration company Hydros, reportedly injects himself with coenzyme NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) for energy. And various companies are developing sub-dermal implants for that logical next step on from health trackers.
What ties these strands together is the idea we can take control of our physiology by monitoring biological data, zeroing in on niggles, experimenting and harnessing cutting-edge technology.
What’s involved?
A bafflingly broad range of practices fall under the label. At its accessible end, this includes everyday tracking devices such as the Oura Ring, which monitors activity and sleep using optical heart-rate monitoring, with sensors for skin temperature. Popular practices like cold water therapy (daily freezing showers to boost immunity) and taking nootropics (to enhance cognition) are sometimes described as biohacking. If you dig deeper, you’ll enter the realm of transhumanism and grinders – a subculture of chemical injections, implants and robotics that some believe enhance their capabilities.
What are the benefits?
It might be quicker to say what biohacking doesnÕt do than what it supposedly does. Devoted followers claim lifestyle tweaks increase energy, focus and strength, boost mood, improve sleep quality and build fitness. There are also specific hacks such as exercise systems to help beat declining bone density as we age.
It pays to be wary of more experimental measures like injecting enzymes, but some entry-level hacks aren’t far from the health measures many of us already follow. If you track yo
