Tag: energy

by on

Biohacking

Last Saturday, I attended the first-ever Virtual Biohacking Conference. This was a very enriching day filled with talks by numerous renowned speakers. As explained by Dave Asprey, “Biohacking is the art and science of changing the environment around you, and inside of you, so you have full control of your own biology.” Biohacking goes hand in hand with human resilience. Anything you can do to help better (or maintain) your health and wellness can qualify as biohacking. It can be about focusing on improving your sleep, diet, exercise, and/or emotional balance. Tim Gray, one of the conference speakers, said that first, you need to ask yourself why you want to biohack, and then what you need to do, and finally, how.

What You Can Do

Biohacking doesn’t have to be expensive. In a blog post about Biohacking on a Budget: Affordable Upgrades You Can Do Right Now, Dave Asprey lists seven basic “hacks” for anyone to implement:

  • Change your bedtime routine. Here the main things are not to drink coffee after 2 p.m. (for most people), limit your exposure to blue and bright light at night (different software -like f.lux– and blue-blocking glasses are available), and sleep in a room that is fairly cold (around 60 to 67-68 degrees Fahrenheit) and pitch-dark. 
  • Take a cold shower. This gets your body to raise your metabolism in order to heat yourself back up. I like to do two minutes of cold water at the end of each shower and love how energized I feel after that.
  • Experiment with styles of intermittent fasting. There are different options when it comes to eating less often. I like to simply have a couple of cups of Bulletproof coffee (with ghee and MCT C8 oil) in the morning. Then a really light lunch and a regular meal for dinner. See what works best with your biology and your routine.
  • Pay attention to your gut. Your gut health is definitively linked to the types of food you eat, and even if it’s a bit gross, check your poop regularly to see how well your digestion is going. 
  • Move more, especially in the sun (light is a nutrient).

In Summary

Biohacking seems to me like a non-negotiable way of life if you want to keep your energy levels near-optimal as you get older. It’s a way of life to adopt if you want to keep on performing better, whatever your short-term and long-term goals may be. It’s about being more grounded, more in touch with nature and your biology. It’s about being happy to be alive and full of energy to do the things you want to do.

Until next time!

References

Amen, Daniel G. Feel Better Fast and Make It Last : Unlock Your Brain’s Healing Potential to Overcome Negativity, Anxiety, Anger, Stress, and Trauma. Carol Stream, Illinois, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 2018, p. 217.

Asprey, Dave. “Biohacking on a Budget: Affordable Upgrades You Can Do Right Now.” Dave Asprey Blog, 27 Feb. 2019, blog.daveasprey.com/biohacking-budget/. Accessed 11 Oct. 2020.

You can also find me on Instagram.

by on

Why Boosting Mitochondrial Function is Important

Being that I am now 50 years old and that I want to keep my energy levels up as much as possible, anything related to how we can boost our mitochondrial function is of interest to me. The mitochondria truly are the powerhouses of the cells. They are little organelles within the cells that produce ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate), the energy that our body needs each day in order for us to do anything. In Head Strong, Dave Asprey mentions: “From age thirty to age seventy, the average person experiences a 50 percent decline in mitochondrial efficiency.” So whatever we can do to strengthen our mitochondria, especially as we get older, is a big plus. I am devoted to red light therapy (as mentioned in 4 Easy Steps to Start the Day), grounding, and cold showers.

12 Actionable Steps to Strengthen your Mitochondria

These steps are highlighted by Dr. Frank Lipman in How to Be Well:

  • Quit eating sugar. Mitochondria don’t like using sugar as food.
  • Adopt a grain-free diet to further limit the amount of sugar in your blood.
  • Eat more vegetables to gain more nourishing phytonutrients.
  • Consume plenty of healthy fats. These are the preferred fuel of mitochondria.
  • Eat clean. Pesticides and toxins damage mitochondria.
  • Practice intermittent fasting.
  • Develop a routine of high-intensity interval training. HIIT has been shown to make more mitochondria.
  • Get strong. There is more mitochondria in lean muscle mass than in fat.
  • Practice better sleep hygiene.
  • Soak up some sun. Sunlight is a powerful mitochondrial booster.
  • Avoid electromagnetic radiation.
  • Start your day with a cold shower. Cold exposure, in short bursts, helps trigger the production of new mitochondria.

In Summary

The above steps are a great starting point in building new habits for improving mitochondrial health. Always check with your personal physician first, of course. Just focusing on one or two of these steps when starting this habit is fine. You can always progressively add a few more as time goes on. Eating primal may help in choosing the right foods for your mitochondria. Then you can later implement the other steps gradually according to what works best with your schedule. To better energy levels no matter what your age!

Until next time!

References

Asprey, Dave. Head Strong the Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster – in Just Two Weeks. New York Harper Wave, 2017, p. 41.

Lipman, Frank M D. How to Be Well: The 6 Keys to a Happy and Healthy Life. Houghton Mifflin, 2019, pp. 168-69.

You can also find me on Instagram.

by on

What is the Ketogenic Diet?

The ketogenic diet is a type of low-carb diet in which carb consumption is reduced enough so that the body can start making and utilizing ketones. As mentioned in a previous post, ketones (special energy molecules) are a by-product of body fat that is tapped into if we fast or if we limit our carb intake to a bare minimum. The body’s stored fat and the healthy fats consumed during the day (along with reasonable protein intake) become the main fuel source on a ketogenic diet, as opposed to getting glucose from carbohydrates for energy. Eating keto means eating mostly (well-sourced) meat, fish, eggs, certain vegetables, nuts and seeds, little fruit, and healthy oils.

If you’re wondering what type of meals one may be eating on a ketogenic diet, here are a few examples for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (as described in Keto for Life, by Mark Sisson and Brad Kearns).

Breakfast

  • Fasting with water, tea, or coffee
  • High-fat coffee or other beverage
  • Omelet with pastured eggs, vegetables, cheese, avocado, bacon, salsa
  • Hard-boiled egg bowl with walnuts, sun-dried tomatoes, avocado, and avocado oil-based mayonnaise
  • Full-fat yogurt with nuts, cinnamon, and cacao nibs
  • Bone broth with egg yolks

Lunch

  • Fasting after one of the above breakfast options
  • Salad with vegetables, nuts and seeds, well-sourced protein, and healthy oil dressing
  • Salad made with sauerkraut or kimchi

Dinner

  • Grass-fed beef, bone-in cuts
  • Organ meats 
  • Whole chicken or turkey
  • Wild-caught fish
  • Vegetables (mostly above-ground vegetables like cruciferous and leafy green vegetables, as opposed to starchy tubers): steamed, baked, or pan-fried, with plenty of healthy fats (butter, lard, coconut oil, avocado oil)

In Summary

As you can see, there are options abound on keto too! Limiting carbs doesn’t mean depriving yourself of delicious meals or snacks. For more ideas and recipes, you can visit Mark’s Daily Apple. Eating keto can have many benefits, as stated in Keto Answers, by Dr. Anthony Gustin and Chris Irvin: more energy, improved brain health/function, fat loss, improved insulin sensitivity, lowered inflammation, improved blood sugar control, improved mood, etc. Make sure you check with your physician first if you decide to start eating keto. As mentioned in My Paleo/Primal Eating Habits article, I like to stay in mild ketosis during the day and refeed with some healthy carbs at the end of the day. I enjoy the extra energy I get by eating that way. See what works for you!

Until next time!

References

Gustin, Anthony, and Chris Irvin. Keto Answers : Simplifying Everything You Need to Know about the World’s Most Confusing Diet. Middletown, De, Four Pillar Health, 2019, pp. 3-10.

Sisson, Mark, and Brad Kearns. Keto for Life:  Reset Your Biological Clock in 21 Days and Optimize Your Diet for Longevity. New York, Random House, 2019, p. 72, 82.

You can also find me on Instagram.

by on

Changing for the Better

Five years ago, after reading the book, Your Personal Paleo Code, by Chris Kresser, I started eating a paleo type of diet. Everything in this book made so much sense, the most logical thing to do was to start experimenting and see for myself if eating as much as possible the way our ancestors did made a big difference in the way I would feel every day. The increased amount of energy one experiences when removing foods from the traditional SAD diet is outstanding. All the more that I found out last year (thanks to 23andMe and DNAfit) that I have a high predisposition for celiac disease as well as a high carbohydrate sensitivity. This explains why removing gluten (among other things) from my diet gave me an amount of energy I never felt before. There is no coming back once we start eating that way and feeling better all around no matter what our age. When I happen to mention to people that I am about to turn fifty, no one believes me. And I want to share this message that we can all experience better health on a daily basis. Food is what fuels our bodies, and just like the fuel we put in our cars, it has to be of good quality, not junk food.

Now changing the way we have been eating for years can be challenging. We can make the switch overnight, going cold turkey, or progressively dropping one unwanted food after another, and replacing it with better options. No matter what the approach, we have to understand that it is okay to have very successful days in this life-changing enterprise and days that are not perfect. That is what author Dr. Kyra Bobinet explains in her book, Well designed life, when it comes to any behavior change. She states, “As the new behavior is practiced more and more, the neural connections underlying that behavior get stronger and stronger. It is like wearing a rough footpath through repeated use, and then once established, paving that road (i.e., adding myelin to neural networks) to make it faster. Eventually there are two neural pathways that are of equal strength—the old habit and the new one—and you can imagine two highways that you could choose from. When we hit this point, the new behavior is as good an option (and equally likely to occur) as the old default behavior.” (295-6) 

Are you ready to bring in new habits to foster a wealth of vitality?

You can also find me on Instagram