This post is about what I learned at the Biohacking Conference, hosted by Dave Asprey, in Dallas, TX. I’m grateful that a media pass was provided to attend this amazing experience. You can read my first review about the Biohacking Conference here.
(and yes, this includes things you can do at home!)
Hi friends! How is the weekend going? We’re in full dance recital mode over here. Don’t forget to head over to this week’s giveaway!
Today, I wanted to share a recap of some of the top things I learned from the Biohacking Conference. As you can imagine, I learned a LOT, and felt like my brain was buzzing for days afterwards. I’ve finally had a chance to let everything simmer, and time to sort through the 19 pages of notes. Of course, I can’t share EVERYTHING here on the blog – you need to go in person!! – but here are some of my favorite points from some of the talks I attended while I was there. (I could post so much more but like I said, you really have to go in person!)
Courtesy of the 10th Annual Biohacking Conference
What I learned at Dave Asprey’s Biohacking Conference
The End of Mental Illness with Dr. Daniel Amen
I’ve been a huge fan of Dr. Amen for years and years, so I was thrilled for the opportunity to learn from him in person. During his talk, he shared that psychiatry is the only medical industry that doesn’t actually look at the organ itself before prescribing medication. If you have heart issues, they take an image. If you have kidney pain, they take an image. With your brain, they take an educated guess, and prescribe medication without actually looking at your brain.
At his clinic, they perform SPECT scans that enable providers to look at the surface of the brain, blood flow, and brain activitity. It’s pretty fascinating – they have a new clinic in Scottsdale! – and it was incredible to see images of brains that were healed after trauma, drug use, OCD, etc. through lifestyle, supplements, and medication, if it was actually needed.
The main message of his talk was that you can heal your brain, and you’re not stuck with the brain you currently have.
Factors that HURT your brain:
– Altered blood flow, through things like high blood pressure, caffeine, sedentary lives, low choresterol, nicotine, caffeine
– Head trauma
– Retirement/aging – no longer having a purpose, or suffering from lonliness
– Toxicity – alcohol, mold, heavy metals, THC, drugs, products
– What he refers to as “diabesity”: high blood sugar, pre-diabetes, diabetes, being overweight or obese
– Inflammation- from processed foods, sugar, leaky gut, gum disease
– Poor sleep
– Genetic factors, like methylation issues
– Infections/immunity
– Gluten and dairy were also mentioned here with a question mark. I know that for me, these foods are inflammtory and don’t make my body happy in general, so I skip them
Habits that can HEAL your brain:
– Test and optimize neurohormones
– Protection from head trauma
– Increase blood flow through exercise and nutrition
– Detox – sauna, hydration, fiber
– Retirement/aging: learn something new, donate blood
– Reduce inflammation
– Stress reduction and mental health
– Good quality sleep, 7-8 hours per night
– Know your genetic risk
– Promote healthy immune system function
*Some of the supplements and foods he mentioned included B vitamins, vitamin D, lion’s mane, Omega-3s, ginko, beets, cacao, garlic, and onion
He’s been on a ton of podcasts (linking my faves here and here), and has written many books. I added The End of Mental Illness and Raising Mentally Strong Kids to my collection.
I also had the opporuunity to meet him! It’s worth mentioning here that I was at the END of a line that was about 2 hours long, and he was still kind, genuine, and wonderful, even after signing books for about 2 hours.
Courtesy of the 10th Annual Biohacking Conference
Dave Asprey on How to Be Untriggerable
The father of Biohacking himself led us through a powerful meditation on how to let go of triggers. The parts of the meditation included:
– Remembering the last time you were triggered and how you felt inside
– Finding a small moment of gratitude in that moment – anything you could be thankful for
– FORGIVING the other person. “It’s a them problem, not a you problem.”
– Breathe into your heart as you forgive them. Let it go, and share this calm, forgiving energy.
He also went through a full rundown of his current routine, but I don’t want to post the spoilers here since it’s likely in his next book.
Courtesy of the 10th Annual Biohacking Conference
Jim Kwik on being Limitless
It was my first time seeing Jim Kwik live and he was AMAZING. He’s dedicated to helping others improve their learning ability, including reading speed. He also has a book (adding it to my collection), and a top podcast with quick tips.
My favorite quote from him was “if you fight for your limitations, you get to keep them.”
He taght us the acronym ALPHA:
A- awareness; knowing who you are, having a clear vision and principles
L- learning
P- prioritize; mind and priority managment
H- health (meditation, exercise, diet, supplements, sleep)
A- action – “knowledge itself isn’t power)
He also talked about animal brains and how our leanring styles can correlate to various animals. This made SO much sense to me, and I took his quiz to find out I’m a cheetah. I’m excited to learn his strategies to read faster… I came home from the conference with 9 new books.
Some of the selection:
Another excellent tip: When you wake up, fast forward to the end of the day when you’re going back to bed. What are three things that you want to accomplish personally and professionally before that happens?
Dr. Jill Carnahan talked about Building Resilience in a Toxic World
I’m currently in the process of devouring her book, but she has an incredible story of resilience after toxic exposure during childhood and a breast cancer diagnosis in her early 20s.
She talked a lot about toxic load, how to reduce toxic load, promote detox, biotoxins, gut and lymph support, and toxis stress.
Some takeaways that you can do at home:
– Eat at home as much as possible
– Filter your water and air
– Aim for food that’s organic, chemical-free, and pesticide-free
– Get rid of nonstick pots and pans. Use stainless steel or cast iron.
– Avoid microwaveable popcorn and pop regular corn on the stovetop
– Move your body
– Practice gratitude
– Seek sunshine
– Set boundaries
I love that so many of the speakers gave real world examples of things you can do at home. Sure, some of them might seem more *out there* than others, but I think biohacking is really about taking things to the next level when you’ve mastered the foundations. I’m always excited to learn new strategies and ideas to potentially increase longevity and healthspan.
My next Biohacking Conference post will be on the gadgets I tried, plus some easy things you can test and do at home, in a range of price points.
Have a wonderful weekend and I’ll see ya soon!
xoxo
Gina
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