Sleep, Stress & Superfoods: Biohacking Your Way To Longer Healthspan
Biohacking your way to a healthy lifestyle may not be as complicated as it seems. There are simple biohacking techniques you can use to improve your lifestyle and overall health.
What Is Biohacking?
B iohacking is a term that refers to lifestyle changes people make to improve overall health. These changes range from nutrition and microbiology to intermittent fasting and wearable devices. Biohacking is a broad term that refers to behaviors that impact everything, like sleep, stress levels, and weight management. Researchers refer to people using these techniques as biohackers. Although research on these techniques is limited, some biohacking modifications may help patients lead healthier lives.
The dangers of stress
Stress is the body’s natural response to outside triggers, like an attack from a predator. Research shows that during a stressful situation, the brain’s hypothalamus makes the adrenal glands release adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones increase heart rate and blood pressure while altering the digestive and immune systems. The body is supposed to return to normal after the stressor vanishes, but constant triggers cause the body to stay in fight or flight mode. This state is detrimental to a person’s health and contributes to issues like anxiety, headaches, muscle tension, sleep issues, and heart disease. People should keep stress levels to a minimum by meditating, exercising, spending time with loved ones, and taking breaks throughout the day.
Why do we sleep?
The body is constantly running, almost like a machine. Therefore, the body needs time to rest and recharge. The body operates on 24-hour cycles called circadian rhythms, and the sleep-wake cycle is part of this system. Therefore, the body starts releasing melatonin, a sleep hormone, when the day gets dark and shifts to nighttime. There are various stages of sleep, but stage 2 non-rapid eye movement (NREM), stage 3 NREM or deep sleep, and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep are the most important. Adults need 7 or more hours of sleep per night. Lack of adequate sleep leads to issues like diabetes, high blood pressure, anxiety, and depression.
Try consuming superfoods
An important part of biohacking is nutrition, and superfoods provide the nutrients needed to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Biohackers will consume foods like salmon, spinach, trout, walnuts, almonds, olive oil, brown rice, quinoa, kidney beans, and tomatoes. These foods aid in improving the immune system, reducing the risk of heart disease and cancer, protecting against free radical damage, and helping the digestive system.
How do you biohack with superfoods?
A good way to biohack nutrition involves intermittent fasting. There are a few different types of fasting, including the 16:8 method, which requires fasting for 16 hours and eating for an 8-hour period during the day. The 5:2 method requires people to eat normally for 5 days per week and consume less than 600 calories for 2 days per week. Another method is alternate-day fasting, where a person eats regularly for one day and then only consumes water or liquids the following day. Patients can biohack by choosing any of these fasting methods and break the fast by consuming superfoods.
Consulting a doctor
Patients should speak to a medical professional before trying any biohacking techniques. People should consider getting blood work done to check vitamin levels as well as high blood pressure, diabetes, and other blood-related diseases. Doctors can work with patients to identify potential issues and suggest lifestyle modifications that are beneficial.