Article by the Drummond Team

Biohacking? It seems to be the latest fitness “buzz word” – but what is it?

  • Its  the process of making changes to your lifestyle in order to “hack” your body’s biology and feel your best.
  • It’s the idea that “we are what we eat” – everything we put into our bodies – food, thoughts, physical movement – all affects how we feel and behave 
  •  Its to transform our bodies in effort to feel more energised, be more productive, and overall feel like the best possible version of our ourselves!

What it isn’t:

Its not being a “mad scientist” and doing crazy experiments with your body!

How do you do it?:

Some people might think that all sorts of gadgets and measurements are necessary to biohack yourself, but it can be done the old-fashioned way: making small changes to your lifestyle, giving your body time to adjust and then seeing how you feel. You stick with the things that work for you, and ditch the ones that don’t. After all, when it comes to how your body feels, you’re the expert!

Ways to Biohack Yourself:

Elimination diet

If you struggle with food allergies, have trouble digesting foods, experience skin issues like eczema and acne or find yourself constantly fatigued, it’s probably time to biohack yourself with an elimination diet.

An elimination diet sounds scary, but it’s just a short-term eating plan to figure out if the foods you’re eating are playing a role in whatever issues you’re experiencing. Here’s how it works: for 3–4 weeks, you’ll remove foods that are known allergens, giving any inflammation time to go down and giving you a clean slate. Gluten, soy, dairy, peanuts and corn are all foods to cut out during this time.

Then, slowly, you’ll re-introduce the banned foods, paying attention to how you feel and how your body responds physically. If you suspect a food you’ve added back into your diet is an irritant, you’ll remove it again and see if symptoms clear up.

Reduce sugar 

Cutting down on sugar is one of the best things you can do for your overall health. It can be a pretty tough biohack, but one of the most rewarding.

Sleep more

Sleep is often missing from conversations about losing weight and improving your health and mood — and that’s a major mistake. If you’re not getting enough zzz’s each night (usually between 7–9 hours) and suffering from sleep deprivation, you’re putting yourself at risk for a host of health problems, including a higher risk for chronic disease, a weakened immune system, depression, trouble concentrating, irritability, an increased appetite and out-of-whack hormones.

Meditate!

What we feed our minds is just as important as what we feed our bodies. Meditation is the ultimate brain hack. The benefits of meditation are huge: from reducing pain and increasing sleep quality to lowering inflammation and boosting productivity. If you’re suffering from stress or anxiety, meditation can also be a really effective way of naturally dealing with symptoms. Establishing a daily meditation practice is one of the best things you can do for your mental and physical health.

Get up, stand up

Most of us spend our days going from sitting in our cars to sitting at a desk to sitting in the car some more – we’re spending an extraordinary amount of our lives seated. All this sitting is harming our health, so be sure to stand up regularly – and get plenty of exercise when you can.

If you are interested in how you can help people change their lives, why not consider our nutrition course

Source: Sunday Times Style Magazine: WebMD.