Hacking Your Biology: Unleashing Your Full Potential for Health and Performance — Part 2 of 2

Neel Suresh Sus
5 min readSep 6, 2023

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An illustration of a scientist with types of biohacking methods around him on a purple background

If you’re interested in exploring the world of biohacking, this blog post is your guide to how to get started and what it can mean for your health and wellness.

Key takeaways:

  • Biohacking involves self-driven optimization of body and mind, akin to a software upgrade for your biology.
  • Biohackers experiment with diets, optimize sleep through temperature control, reduce blue light exposure, and manage stress.
  • Biohacking is a personalized journey of experimentation and self-discovery, emphasizing expert guidance and ongoing research for balanced well-being enhancement.

I’ve been tossing heaps of biohacking tidbits at you lately, so you might think, “Hey, we’ve pretty much cracked the code,” right? Hold onto your hats, because we’re only revving up the biohacking engine! There’s a treasure trove of mind-boggling info waiting for you, including how you can biohack your way to a life that’s practically dripping with reaching those ultimate “pinch me, am I dreaming?” goals.

Whether you’re hustling as an entrepreneur, zipping around like a sports superstar, or just craving that extra helping of “oomph” from life, consider this article your personal backstage pass to biohacking and how it can turbocharge your overall vibes.

Back to basics

We’ve covered the basics of biohacking before, but let’s jog your memory. Think of biohacking as juicing up your body’s performance, health, and overall awesomeness through a nifty software upgrade. It’s like hacking into your biology for serious, next-level, DIY results.

Biohacking your diet

Biohackers like to play around with different diets — including options like keto, paleo, or intermittent fasting — to crank up their energy, brainpower, and overall wellness. They might also dive into certain supplements or nootropics to up their mental game.

Here’s a quick look at what biohacking your diet can look like:

Ketogenic

Eating a keto diet forces your body to burn fat from things other than carbs. It relies on mostly fats and proteins instead of carbs for energy, which is a biohack in itself, but you can go even further by paying close attention to your macronutrients. Avoid hidden carbs in starchy veggies, rice, and wheat flour as well.

Paleolithic

Paleolithic diets are the modern man’s version of how cavemen ate. They include nuts and seeds, lean meats, fish, and eggs. Whole foods are the goal here, so you avoid processed items. Paleo diets can have a positive impact on weight, triglycerides, cholesterol, and high blood pressure.

Fasting

Intermittent fasting is characterized by alternating nourishment cycles and abstention from food. This approach has effectively facilitated weight reduction and enhanced holistic well-being, and can lessen bodily inflammation and enhance cognitive acuity.

Carnivore

This diet works off the premise that humans get all the required nutrients from animal products, such as meat, eggs, and dairy. It can help reduce inflammation and improve mental clarity.

Opting for a diet plan that aligns with your everyday routine is vital. Begin with a gradual approach so you acclimate without becoming overburdened. Closely monitoring your progress is crucial to making it work for you.

Biohacking your sleep

Managing healthy, refreshing sleep is important for staying healthy and performing at your best. Those into biohacking are all about upgrading their sleep routines, sometimes trying out cool gadgets such as sleep trackers or smart beds to monitor and tackle their particular reason for insomnia.

Some of the most common include:

Temperature

Your body chills out when you hit the snooze button, and it warms up when it’s time to rise and shine. If your bedroom turns into a sauna or an icebox, it might mess with your sleep and give you a midnight wake-up call. The sweet spot for great sleep is about 64°F, but it’s not just the room temp that matters — your pajamas and cozy covers also play into the temp game.

Blue light

Browsing social media or catching up on TV before bed can contribute to sleep issues, as the blue light emitted by your mobile device, laptop, and TV disrupts your body’s natural patterns. This can disturb your internal clock if encountered late at night, because it hampers the creation of melatonin, often called the sleep hormone, which signals your body that it’s time to rest. Prevent blue light from impacting your sleep by steering clear of screens for two to three hours before bedtime and opting for a traditional book instead.

Timing

The body’s natural clock, known as the circadian rhythm, regulates your alertness and sleepiness during different parts of the day. You should ideally be most awake and active in the morning and gradually become sleepier as the day progresses and night falls. You can biohack your sleep routine by going to bed and waking up at the same time every day. It can also help to get some sun and exercise as soon as you wake up.

Biohacking provides lots of ways to break the restraints of insomnia and get your good night’s sleep back. Just keep in mind that it isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. You’ll have to experiment to figure out what works best for you.

Stress management

Biohacking offers a lot of options for stress management, too. Breathing exercises, mindfulness, meditation, and yoga can each make a big difference in leveling up your well-being and resilience.

Breathwork

Deep breaths are often overlooked, yet they wield potent stress-relieving effects, earning them the nickname “the body’s innate stress reliever.” Numerous deep breathing methods — such as roll, morning, and belly breathing — offer mood enhancement, stress reduction, and heightened alertness.

Mediation

Meditation for only a few minutes can reduce stress by helping to release negative emotions, change brain patterns, and lower heart rate. You can do it anywhere, and it doesn’t require any equipment or training.

Explore nature

Getting outside has a whole host of benefits aside from exercise and fresh air. The simple act of exploring nature can lower blood pressure, calm racing thoughts, and increase gratitude.

Hacking into your stress management routine is simple. The hardest part is remembering to do it regularly, so set a reminder for a daily walk or meditation time to keep you on your toes.

Biohack your life

It’s essential to seek expert advice before experimenting with new healthcare methods, because you should also emphasize safety above quick outcomes. Biohacking entails an ongoing voyage of self-discovery and adapting interventions to align with your distinct requirements and desires. Engaging in thoughtful research and expert guidance ensures a balanced and effective approach to enhancing your well-being.

I base my teachings on what I’ve found true about personal transformation and how it affects every part of life. Take a look at my Medium and LinkedIn pages to see what personal transformation looks like firsthand and what it can do for you!

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Neel Suresh Sus

Believer in Conscious Leadership | CEO at Susco | We enable people to lead more fulfilling lives by creating intuitive software for innovative organizations.