At a glance: 4.20 Biohacks that actually work | VAAY |
So, what did you have for breakfast? If you’re like us, it was probably something like a bowl of Corn Flakes and a strong cup of coffee. But what if the first thing you did in the morning was to get a shot of stem cells in your creaky joints? And what if, after that, just for good measure, you took an ice bath and got a blood transfusion to help lower your biological age?
This probably sounds like a sci-fi film starring Will Smith, but it’s actually already a reality. In fact, there are some self-proclaimed biohackers out there in Silicon Valley experimenting with microdosing and operating somewhere between self-optimisation and obsessive control, on the fringes of the law and evidently on a path to becoming a cyborg. If this is all too much to process, let’s go back and start again from the beginning.
What is biohacking
According to Dave Asprey, inventor of the so-called Bulletproof Diet, biohacking – also known as DIY biology – is the “art and science of changing the environment around you and inside you, so that you have full control over you own biology”.
But you don’t have to skip straight to being a hardcore biohacker like Asprey and immediately start injecting yourself with stem cells. In fact, biohacking can have a lot of appeal for the mere mortals among us.
What’s the big appeal? Well, you don’t need much more than yourself and a little bit of motivation to achieve noticeable results within a short period of time. Keep reading to find out how you can integrate biohacks into your everyday life in a meaningful way – and what this has to do with CBD.
A short guide to biohacking: 4 tips
Where there’s a goal, there’s a way. As a slightly less radical goal for your first biohacking experiment, we suggest you consider the WHO’s definition of health, which is “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”.
That sounds doable, right?
Biohacking Tip 1: Sleeping your way to the top matters
Sleep is essential to our bodies. (Tell me something I don’t know, Einstein.) Are you convinced that you’re able to survive just fine with only a few hours of sleep? In fact, the range for both young and middle-aged adults is between 7 and 9 hours of sleep. So, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll deviate very far from this number.
If you think this is bad news, you’ve probably fallen for that neoliberal idea that sleep is not a productive use of your time. At this point, we’re going to save you the long lectures and instead just encourage you to spend your valuable time engaging in the very productive (!) pastime that is sleep.
Because in the long run, getting more sleep could lower your risk of anxiety disorders and obesity, among other things. You’ll probably also be in a better mood, too. As long as you don’t push it too far, you can stay in bed as much as your heart desires.
Biohacking Tip 2: Why HIIT is the opium of the people
We’re pretty sure German rapper Alligatoah wasn’t using drugs as a euphemism for sports in his 2013 song “Willst du mit mir Drogen nehmen” (Do you want to do drugs with me?). We have our doubts. But, still, we firmly believe that sports can also be a kind of drug – and it looks like science agrees with us.
Of course, all the long-term benefits of exercise sound promising: With a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders, it’s hard to say it ain’t true.
But let’s face it, ultimately, we’re all just trying to have the best time we can and avoid dying, if possible.
Guess what, though: doings sports and getting exercise are actually essentials on the path to achieving both. Not immortality, of course. In order to do that, you would have to have yourself cryogenically frozen. No, we’re talking about the fact that exercise raises your level of BDNF, a growth factor that is mainly produced in the hippocampus. Lower levels of this compound are especially common in people with depression, sleep disorders and psychosocial stress.
But even though sports are great, it’s also a good idea to let yourself rest for a day or two. We’ve heard sports addiction isn’t all that great either.
Biohacking Tip 3: Make yourself useful
Especially in times where we don’t have much interaction with our fellow beings (we’re not going to use the C-word!), it’s easy to see how important it is to connect with others. Studies have long since shown that loneliness can be as harmful to our health as smoking.
The good thing about all this is, however, that we might have more control over the situation than we think. As early as in the 1970s, a now much-cited study found that elderly nursing-home residents who’d been given the responsibility of taking care of plants felt significantly better, more alert and participated more actively in life.
We can increase the scope of the responsibilities we take on in many different ways, be they through plants, pets or children. The last two aren’t things you should decide on an impulse, tough, and it’s usually best to stick to the small things.
So why not say a friendly “hello” to the grandpa next door when you see him in the morning, or put a chocolate bar in the post box for the postman. Or the next time you find a little kid staring at you, just pick up a banana and pretend you’re talking on phone. Whatever floats your boat.
Biohacking Tip 4: Biohacking by doing nothing?
It’s great to clean up your life every once in a while, try new things and get rid of old, useless habits. But, don’t forget, you are – first and foremost – a human being (and a pretty great one at that, just saying) and not an operating system in need of an upgrade.
Even though it’s all about control and optimisation, you still need to be able to drop the biohacking every once in a while, if only so that you can get back to it with fresh eyes at a later date.
If that’s too meta for you, we recommend the following quote from Astrid Lindgren: “And then, of course, you also have to have time to just sit there and stare”. Hey, I’ll take that, especially if you throw in a comfy hammock and 28 degrees in the shade, please.
And, last but not least, experience has also shown that our own bodies are going to demand a break every now and again if we don’t give it to them ourselves.
Biohacking 4.20 – The CBD hack
Tip 4.20 is a new kind of System D (look it up), or something similar. Either way, CBD products can support you with everything from sleep to relaxation to sports.
Whether you want to pamper yourself with a bit of wonderfully relaxing CBD Active Gel alongside the hormone cocktail you get through sports, or if you’d prefer to have our Hemp Sleep Capsules lull you to sleep: Either way, we hope you have a great time doing it, because that’s what matters most.
