Biohacking At 39 For Living 120 And Beyond
Lifestyle • September 26, 2022 • 11min read
Highlights
- Real-life experiences from people aiming for longevity may be a motivation to start your own journey
- We talked with Arnoud, a Belgian biohacker, to learn and share his story of successful biohacking
- The lack of knowledge about the body’s functionality may lead to exploring it deeper and finding methods to heal it more effectively
- Biohacking is a means for self-improvement leading to healthy aging and longevity
- Arnoud shares his methods of biohacking, as well as 10 useful tips to make your journey to healthier aging easier
Introduction
We may often lack the motivation to follow a healthier lifestyle. However, real-life examples of people aiming for longer and healthier life may drive our curiosity and motivation.
For that reason, we decided to talk with Around, a 39 years old biohacker from Belgium. He is a husband and father of 3 daughters. The aim of self-improvement and living healthy to be 120 motivated him to pursue the path of biohacking – a term that Arnoud defines simply as a system-thinking approach to our biology.
Arnoud started his way to wholesome living and longevity without even knowing he is biohacking his body. Despite the times of demotivation he always finds what inspires him. Read Arnoud’s story of healthy living, and maybe you will find you have been doing so without even realizing it. Take notes of his advice for beginners and how to make biohacking even more effective.
What Is The Ultimate Goal With Biohacking?
To dive deeper into Arnoud’s biohacking story, let us understand the term biohacking. We asked Arnoud how he would describe biohacking in simple words for his friends and family: Here is his answer to this.
“Dave Asprey says a biohacker is “somebody who uses science and technology to make their body function better and more efficiently”. I relate to this: “Adjusting lifestyle, habits, and environment to your individual needs and biology to achieve goals like better performance, longevity, happiness.”
Dave Asprey. Image source
Arnoud’s main focus is on self-improvement and individual aspects while everyone’s needs may be different. He is into computers, and his allegory compares the human body with this “black box” that we control via inputs leading to certain outputs.
“This automatically implies self-experimenting. You are the N+1 (safeguarding that the energy supply is always available). You adjust input based on predictions that are rooted in science (and other sources of information)” says Arnoud.
When Arnoud started doing what he calls “these things” in 2006 he had no idea there is a term “biohacking” for it. However, in 2018 when he stumbled upon Dave Asprey’s book “The bulletproof Diet” he got hooked:
“The concept of getting rid of toxins, and gluten being only one sort of toxin, sounded very logical and broader and his approach to keto (such as the grain brain diet also was) was cyclical. There were much more nuanced.”
“Dave Asprey also used technology to help gain results. He used it as a shortcut. These kinds of shortcuts were not new to me, as “The 4-Hour Workweek” by Tim Ferris, another fascinating book with a crazy idea, taught me about efficiency and the use of these shortcuts to get results. And this is where the previously mentioned machines, computers, and healing came together. He called it Biohacking.”
But how Arnoud decided to follow the path of healthy living? What made him seek more knowledge? He explains it as follows.
“School left me hungry for real knowledge. The knowledge that was on the edge of where science is today. The Internet, books, and communities taught me what school failed to do. (How to live? How to develop an individual (disintegration)? How to be self-aware? How to set goals?)”
Arnoud believes that technology and fast-growing scientific discoveries may make people live to be 150-180 years old. However, hopes to live to 120 years with the “exponentially expanding knowledge rising the number of the human lifespan quickly”.
To our questions about what is the most important aspect of biohacking for him, Arnoud answered “It gives direction to my life!”. Maybe this can be a way to go for many beginner biohackers.
How Did It All Start?
As soon as Arnoud learned about Dave Asprey, he started following his podcasts and website. But before that, the story holds more interesting facts. We asked him to share his biohacking journey.
“I have an older friend who is into Orthomolecular healing. I am into computers and while servicing his computers I came into contact with several “Bioresonance machines” like the Quantic and Core Inergetix. I also came into contact with the machines of Lakhovsky (Georges) and Royal Raymond Rife.
People had been looking for ways to find cures for diseases (like cancer) when regular healthcare wasn’t able to help them or heal them.
I read about these and experimented with them. As some people regard this as quack and others find them very helpful, I thought experimenting with them doesn’t do any harm, and maybe there is more to the story here.
A few years ago, I started to gain weight, and people around me started giving subtle comments about it. My clothes also went from small to large and then even these became too small. I had excess fat around the waist (what some would call a “dad bod”).
Trying to get rid of this I started fitness. First, a circuit where I did alternating cardio and power training equipment for about 1 hour. This helped me get into better condition but I only lost a few kilos before plateauing. Pure power training gained me some muscle, but the fat was still difficult to get rid of.
So I found the book “Grain Brain” by David Perlmutter and decided to try it. The result was fantastic but getting started required a lot of persistence. Sugar acts like an opiate and quitting it is hard. I needed to look for something more.”
Interestingly enough, before going deep into biohacking, Arnoud has been in several local associations of healers, coaches, doctors, and interested people that come together for lectures, looking for knowledge on the border of what current medicine has to offer. Some go back to old ways with herbal remedies and shamanic ways while others used technology and even very modern sciences as an approach.
The starting point for Arnoud’s biohacking was diet (Keto), supplements, and information. The latter, as Arnoud believes, is an essential part of biohacking, and with time, he started acquiring it at an increased pace. Yet, later on, he discovered that sleep is more important than diet.
Plus, quite insightfully, he noted that “what you do not eat is more important than what you do eat and that timing is important. I found that certain supplements are necessary depending on your genes. But it should be a commitment to limit supplements and find a natural way whenever possible.”
Arnoud’s main focus in his biohacking journey is longevity. By being conscious of the choices you made, you may have control over your health and longevity. It is important to mention his approach to optimized sleep and bedroom, supplements, and wearables that help in understanding the heart rate, blood glucose levels, weight, and many other metrics. However, as Arnoud says. “Quantified self is only useful when you also know how to interpret the data. You need to ask yourself questions about why certain metrics are off.”
Depending on one’s interests and aims, there are several types of biohacking – nutrigenomics, DIY biology, and grinder. Arnoud defines himself as a biohacker interested in neurogenomics.
“Nutrigenomics is definitely part of what I am doing and related to my current passion: functional genomics. It is part of what to do once you start understanding your genome.
For me, self-improvement is the main theme of Biohacking. It is about getting results. Experimenting here is more a means than a goal.”
He continues his way of biohacking with mostly lifestyle and dietary changes, and extensive use of wearable technology (from measuring the biofeedback). He is also looking out for genetic engineering and synthetic biology in the very near future.
What Are The Techniques Of Biohacking?
The techniques Arnoud uses for his biohacking, are mainly supplements and devices. Here is his long list of them.
Supplements
- Morning: Caffeine, C8 oil, Butyrate, NMN, Resveratrol, TMG, L-Tyrosine, Collagen, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B9, Vitamin D, vitamin K2, Magnesium Threonate, Quercetin, Fesetin, Hyaluronic Acid, Zinc + Copper.
- First meal (usually afternoon): Spermidine, Niacin, Nattokinase, NAC, milk thistle, Omega-3 (phospholipids), Astaxanthin.
- Before bed: Magnesium, Calcium D-Glucarate, Taurine, L-Ornithine, Lion’s mane, 5htp, berberine, melatonin.
Devices
- Oura Ring, first thing in the morning (measures sleep stages but also temperature, HRV, RHR, and Blood oxygen)
- Smart Scales (Withings), the second thing in the morning
- Cold shower after waking up
- Blood Pressure Monitor (Withings), third thing in the morning
- Thermometer (Withings), more when someone in the family feels off
- SmartWatch. Besides time, used mostly for heart rate when feeling some stress like driving a car but also during fitness or biking, walking, etc.
- X3 bar when I do not go to the gym
- eGym when at the gym
- Finnish Sauna, Infrared Sauna, Ice bath when at the fitness
- Sensate to calm down
- KetoMojo when cycling into keto or when fasting
- Holosync for power naps or therapy when stuck on something
- Kokoon IEMs and night masks (when traveling)
- Truedark glasses when I have to get to bed early when it is not dark
- TrueLight Infrared, for wound healing, and skin
- Smartphone with good IEM to listen to podcasts and audiobooks
- Shakti mat (acupressure)
With all of these supplements and devices in use, Arnoud experiences numerous health improvements including
- A healthy body and a healthy mind
- I feel more energetic and younger
- I feel more alive, and experience life more vividly like a fog was lifted
- I used to be somewhat depressed and lost, frustrated with where my life was going, this is gone
- I better control my fears and developed a more entrepreneurial spirit (but I still feel more like the professor)
- An overall more positive view of life
- I feel a need to share what I learned and to help others with the abilities I learned.
However, at the moment Arnoud shares his experience and tips on Facebook groups. And he gets motivated by such famous biohackers as Dave Asprey. But also David Sinclair, Mohammed Mansoor and Kashif Khan, Dr. Berg, Gundry, Perlmutter, Tony Robbins, Tim Ferris, Vishen Lakhiani, Dr. Yurth, Brendon Burchard, Wim Hof, Mark Hyman, Siim Land, and many others.
Tips From An Experienced Biohacker For Beginners
Naturally enough, there may be times of demotivation and wish to give up. And for this Arnoud has his whole arsenal of tricks he learned on his 16 years long biohacking journey. “On the way, you look for supplements, for therapies that influence brainwaves. But if all else fails, my wife is the person I can build upon and fall back to.”
At the end of our interview, Arnoud shared 10 useful tips to help you rewrite your health and lead a successful biohacking.
- Prioritize sleep and optimize sleep quality
- What you do not eat is often more important than what you do eat. This includes fasting and avoiding toxins (both natural and processed)
- Know yourself. Give your life direction
- Know your biology: Get a functional genomics scan. Adjust based on this information
- Use tracking devices
- Increase knowledge by following podcasts, reading books, and following blogs
- Be both open-minded and skeptical. The truth is often somewhere in between
- To start with: learn about hormetics, and flow state
- Do some sort of short high-intensity training, 3 times a week
- Surround yourself with family and equally-minded people
Final Words
Biohacking in simple words is rearranging your health with the help of supplements, lifestyle modifications, science-based devices, and information. There is no certain way how you can adopt these methods into your life. The main thing is to find the approach suitable for you and your genome, testing and tracking the numbers and signs your body gives.
There are hundreds of different biohacking methods and biohackers all over the world. You may take advantage of their experience, and use their tricks and tips to make your biohacking journey much easier.
