How to start Biohack your life
Meet Camilla, a Nutritionist, Holistic Chef, Teacher and Writer from New York. She is the founder of The Practice, where she teaches classes within Yoga, HIIT and meditations. She also works as a mentor to nascent businesses in the health, Wellness and Creative sectors, utilizing her 15-year advertising career at Condé Nast in New York City.
Instagram @ThePractice_se
In todays interview Camilla shares her knowledge about Biohacking. What is Biohacking and how can it improve your health and wellbeing?
What is Biohacking?
According to David Asprey, who coined the term Biohacking, he says it is: Biohacking: (verb, noun). (v): To change the environment outside of you and inside of you so you have full control of your biology, to allow you to upgrade your body, mind, and your life. (n) The art and science of becoming superhuman. I would say it is looking at your own bio individuality and finding practices that elevate your own mind, body and spirit.
What are some common biohacking methods or practices?
Biohacking looks at up-leveling your life by looking at ways to enhance your Nutrition, Exercise, Work-setting, Mind, and Sleep practices. So, biohacking will look at what you are eating (i.e. food intolerances and sensitivities) and how you are eating (Intermittent Fasting), upgrading your workout to optimize performance in less time through HIIT; IN your workplace it will look at how functional your office is (EMF protection, ergonomic chairs, natural light, etc). For your mind, you may be taking supplements and nootropics, as well as practices like meditation and for sleep you may be tracking your sleep patterns, limit blue light exposure, use calming herbals and essential oils to induce sleep. Some of the ‘sexier’ practices include Ice Baths, Infrared Saunas, Ozone therapy, Hyperbaric chambers and more extreme interventions such as Extracorporeal Blood oxygenation therapy or stem cell replacement.
How can biohacking impact your health and wellbeing?
Biohacking on the simplest level means getting curious about how your body works. Optimizing where you can so you can feel healthier and happier. For many that means feeling more energized and vital, for others it's more about clarity and greater focus and concentration. Since the body and mind & spirit are one whole system, we look at ways where we can help one area work better, which then cascades into lifting and elevating another area. Each practice lends itself to the next, to You ultimately feeling better.
Are there any beginner-friendly biohacks ?
Absolutely! Cold baths are one of the easiest and cheapest ways to Biohack. Three minutes on the coldest setting at the end of your shower. You’ve biohacked! You will reduce inflammation, feel more alert, lift the mood with a greater dopamine surge (which lasts up to a day post-shower). Also look at the food that you are eating: what you eat is energizing and fueling your whole system. Opt for nutrient-rich, whole foods, preferably organic, and eat everything (small farm-raised grass-fed beef) but mostly plants. Infrared saunas is also a wonderful Biohacking tool that's appreciated right now in Scandinavia, where it is hard to warm up. IR rays have tissue-level effects on Mitochondria, our cell’s energy power house, it improves circulation, detoxes the body of heavy metals and other toxins and is believed to reduce the oxidative stress in the body.
Whom do you recommend trying biohacking?
Anyone can try biohacking, but go slow. If you are pregnant or nursing, begin with smaller adjustments such as cleaning up diet choices, and then when you feel ready, begin to implement other practices in the areas where you are most curious to benefit.
What are your favorite biohacking habits?
I believe it is foundational to move your body, to eat well, and to meditate and create space for spirituality. So, while they technically do fall under biohacking practices, for me they are already such a built-in part of my life (after practicing a long time, may I add!) that I like the more kooky therapies: hyperbaric chamber, ozone therapy and IR sauna. I also work a lot with herbals and functional mushrooms to boost my immune system. I was severely asthmatic as a child and i worked with a functional medicine doctor 12 years ago who introduced me to an herbal protocol that kept from getting a cold, which was previously the trigger for things like Asthma-induced pneumonia and bronchitis. It’s been life changing! Now I’m rarely sick.