The Biohacker Lifestyle
Recently, I met one of my friends who, I last recall, was quite invested in the processes of altering one's diet, environment and behavioral patterns, so as to improve the quality of life (think Andrew Huberman or, taken to the extreme, Brian Johnson, a billionaire spending $2M yearly to reverse aging). This refers to maintaining a Paleolithic, low stress (both biological and mental), back-to-basics type of living in current, modern, high pressure society (e.g. Singapore).
The benefits of this lifestyle include
- Greatly improved metabolic parameters, e.g. LDL (he achieved an LDL of 1.59mmol/L)
- Improved quality of sleep, as tracked by smartwatch (9.5 hours is the average)
- Better concentration/flow
He lives a protocolized routine, which roughly resembles the following:
Morning Protocol
| Time | Activity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 06:20 | Wake up, brush teeth, change | |
| 06:50 | Head to market to select fish | Usually mackerel, (wild-caught fish are higher in omega 3 vs farmed fishes, which tend to have more omega 6) |
| 08:00 | Start cooking | Add red/green beans to pot, together with aromatics and sweet potatoes |
| 08:05 | Add bok choy, broccoli, black fungus etc. | |
| 08:11 | Remove from heat, start eating breakfast | |
| 09:15 - 16:30 | Work | No/minimal lunch if any at all |
Evening Protocol
| Time | Activity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 17:00 - 17:30 | Zone 2 Cardio | Aim for 180-200 minutes of Zone 2 cardio weekly |
| 18:00 - 18:50 | Prepare vegetables for the next day | Cut and peel sweet potatoes, soak red/green beans, while listening to audiobooks |
| 18:50 - 19:15 | Laundry | From here on, there is no exposure to artificial light: whether from phones, screens or even indoor lighting |
| 19:15 - 19:45 | Relaxation | Meditation/listening to brown noise |
| 19:45 | Shower | With warm water, to prevent an adrenaline surge which would affect sleep |
| 20:00 | Lie in bed | Listening to audiobooks, with a background of brown noise |
| 20:30 | Sleep | Earlier if a strong wave of sleep hits |
Other notes:
- All the above timings are set as alarms on his smartwatch, to reduce the cognitive load of remembering.
- Fish selection in the morning is something he looks forward to, as it is the most variable part of his diet.
- He attempts to achieve exposure to ~6 hours of daylight daily, as this helps in retraining the circadian rhythm (together with receiving 10 minutes of sunrise/sunset daily). Unfortunately, this cannot be achieved during some working days.
- Social gatherings are scheduled regularly, at a fixed time slot once a week, e.g. 1-4pm on Sundays, usually outdoors hiking. He plans this a month in advance.
- Adherence to the Pescatarian diet of legumes, vegetables and fish is strict: When heading out, no food (apart from water) is consumed.
- He found that fish provides the greatest level of satiety.
- An average of 4L of water is taken daily (in sips). No water 2 hours before bed.
- Playing brown noise not only helps block out neighbor's footsteps/noises but also improves concentration.
- He likened using social media (Facebook, Instagram) to taking sugar.
- He notes that this lifestyle is a privileged one, however.
My takeaways
Sleep
- Sleep early, and wake up early. I might want to emulate this, seeing as I am not very productive at night, and exposure to light after 6pm does adversely affect sleep. After all, sleep is the best nootropic.
- Wear blue blocker glasses after 6pm. He cuts off light exposure at 6pm. Since I sometimes have to go out to meet friends, I should consider wearing blue blocker glasses.
- Have a consistent, relaxing bedtime ritual. Ironically, inspired by this negative review for The Circadian Code by Satchin Panda.
- Play brown noise at night. I recently discovered this, and I believe it does help with sleep and concentration. I may want to invest in a better speaker for this.
Diet
- Rotate legumes with other grains. He takes not only legumes, but also sweet potatoes and grains, to have complete protein.
- Eat breakfast, minimal lunch, no dinner. He eats most for breakfast, less for lunch, and no dinner. I sometimes eat after 6pm - I should stop.
- Adhere to diet as strictly as possible. I often end up eating outside food at gatherings, which is quite unhealthy at times (e.g. fried, refined or processed foods). I need to be stricter about this.
Misc
- Use timers to remind myself of routines. This reduces the cognitive load of having to remember to meditate, buy vegetables, or other chores, and lets me live this schedule full autopilot.
I'm probably not going to go full Brian Johnson and take 111 pills daily, do 'IsoTib ankle rotations' or eat 2250 calories per day in a 6 hour period (actually, maybe the last), but I think the general principles of eating vegetables and reducing light exposure hold a lot of value in a society sometimes so obsessed with materialism, that we have sometimes forgotten how to live.