The Annual Biohacking Conference, hosted by Upgrade Labs, is a mind-boggling, mind-enhancing gathering of people, from all walks of life, who want to live better and longer.  LLAMA’s Peter Bowes attended this year’s event, in Beverly Hills, California, to meet Dave Asprey, the movement’s poster boy for self-improvement, along with some of the conference’s key speakers and exhibitors. In this episode we explore everything from cryotherapy to enhancing neuroplasticity, flow meditation, mitochondrial health and infrared saunas. Dave explains how biohacking has come of age, why he believes he will live to be at least 180 and how he says everyone – not just the rich and famous – could benefit from being in better control of their bodies and biology.

We also meet:

• Dr. Barry Morguelan, Chinese energy grandmaster
• Dr. Charles Brenner, Chromadex
• Lauren Hansen, Cryo Science
• Dr. Patrick Porter, BrainTap
• Tom Griffin, Halo Neuroscience
• Dr. Chris Shade, Quicksilver Scientific
• James Brown, Vedic Meditation
• Dr. Raleigh Duncan, Clearlight Infrared

Notes & Quotes

01:52

Dave Asprey | Founder, Bulletproof

Dave, the original biohacker, explains how and why the practice has come of age and how we can all benefit from it.

“Biohacking is largely the art and science of changing the environment around you, so that you have more control of your biology.”

Also check out: LLAMA episode 65, with Peter’s tour of Upgrade Labs in Santa Monica.

Martin Tobias: Biohacking to upgrade the human mind and body

“Anyone can afford to have a bedroom that’s dark and that alone can change your blood sugar regulation and improve how long you’re going to live because you sleep better. It’s actually cheaper to turn the water to cold at the end of your shower in the morning than it is to keep it hot. This is a zero cost intervention.”

Connect with Dave and Upgrade Labs: Upgrade Labs | Upgrade XP: Wake up your untold potential | Bulletproof | Twitter | Facebook | Dave’s third book, Game Changers: What Leaders, Innovators, and Mavericks Do to Win at Life.

12:24

Dr. Barry Morguelan | Gastroenterologist

Chinese energy grandmaster, double board certified gastroenterologist and internal medicine doctor trained at UCLA and currently practicing in Los Angeles. Dr. B, as he is affectionately known, is a force of nature with a mind-blowing story of personal discovery and experience.

“I want to pre-empt you getting ill. I want you stay strong forever and not need to come in to get fixed … It’s not the fountain of youth but is your birthright.”

Connect with Dr B: Energy for Success Website |Twitter

21:54

Dr. Charles Brenner | Chromadex

Head of Biochemistry at the University of Iowa & chief scientific adviser to the Chromadex, a California-based nutraceutical company behind the Nicotinamide riboside (NR) supplement, Tru Niagen. Dr. Brenner updates us on his work understanding NAD and cell metabolism.

“We want to respect aging, we want to age well and so essentially what we’re trying to do is we’re trying to maintain our youthful bounce, our resiliency, our capacity for self repair, and because our NAD system is under attack by conditions of metabolic stress, as well as aging, that’s kind of the use case for NR to help us maintain our resiliency.”

Also check out our previous interview: LLAMA episode 53

Charles Brenner: Explaining the science behind “age better” vitamin B3 supplement

Connect with Dr. Brenner: Bio |Tru Niagen

26:32

Lauren Hansen | Cryo Science

Learn about the Cryotherapy craze.  Lauren explains the science of exposing the body to subzero temperatures in order to stimulate physical and mental health benefits.

“You don’t want to just do it one time and be like ‘I’m healed’ – but if you use it as a therapy, like any other therapy, you will notice that you can actually get rid of pain that you might have had for years.”

Connect: CRYO | LinkedIn

32:26

Dr. Patrick Porter | BrainTap

Dr. Porter hacks the power nap with “brainwave entrainment” technology. Through guided-audio programs and creative visualization processes, an app allows users to “relax, reboot, and revitalize while achieving peak brain performance.”

“The science shows it takes three to four hours to have a really good power nap … with the technologies available now, we can hack that and do it in 10 minutes.”

Connect: BrainTap | Bio

41:14

Tom Griffin | Halo Neuroscience

Tom explains the science behind a headset fitted with electrodes that put your brain in a more “excited and malleable state” for an hour.  For athletes, Tom explains that the headset works by applying a small electric current to the part of the brain that controls movement, activating neurons so they fire more often during training.

“All learning in the brain happens through repetition. And repetition creates neural pathways or strengthens existing neural pathways. And that’s the process that we are facilitating.

Connect: Halo

44:15

Dr. Chris Shade | Quicksilver Scientific

Keto or Kale? If the former is your diet of choice, Dr. Shade explains how a ketogenic diet works and how he has developed a system to hack – i.e. speed up – the process. So what is Keto Before 6?

“This is really a true hack that gets you into the super clean metabolism where you’re burning a lot of calories both from fat and carb at the same time and gives you all the energy that you need.”

Connect: Quicksilver Scientific | Bio

50:09

James Brown | Vedic Meditation

Step back and go with the flow. James explains Vedic Meditation and how it allows the mind the settle, without trying too hard.

“I think meditation, you could think of as a hack, because it’s something that can be quite easy to do and can allow you to reach a state of expansion of awareness more quickly.”

Connect: Website

1:00:20

Dr. Raleigh Duncan | Founder, Clearlight Infrared

Infrared suanas have attracted a huge amount buzz recently.  But how do help us hack our health and athletic recovery?  Peter steps inside a hot yoga cubicle to find out more.

“My vision is that everyone can have some sort of sauna in their home, so they can remove the toxins, relax and just have a better life, very easily.”

Connect: Website