Balance November 2017 - 27

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Biohacking - making changes
to your lifestyle to 'hack' your
body's biology - is catching
on - fast. And the possibilities
are almost endless...

ow does this guy do it? Dave
Asprey, the world's most famous
'biohacker', is sitting across
from me, and he looks healthier
and younger - way younger
- than the last time I saw him
10 months ago. He's more toned, his arms are bigger, the
lines on his face are smoother, and hang on, he appears to
have youthful dimples in his cheeks. Like a 20-something.
Where did the dimples come from? He definitely didn't
have them at the start of the year.
I've travelled to Los Angeles to Dave's 5th annual
Bulletproof Biohacking conference. Defined as a 'systemsthinking approach to our own biology' or, using the nongeek version, the art of tweaking our diet and lifestyle to
improve performance levels and health.
Biohacking is increasingly big business. This gathering
sees 2,500 futuristic health-hackers all gathered to try out
the latest in everything wellness.
But first, those dimples. How does a man's face look so
different after eight months without surgery? Ordinarily
the first thing that would spring to mind is botox. But this
is the biohacker with a stated aim of living to the age of
180 and doing it in a healthy way. First question - how
do you look annoyingly younger than last time, while I
seem to be ageing not-so-gracefully? 'My goal is, when
I'm 180, to look like I do now,' Dave says, 'and that means
doing everything possible including stem cell injections.'

NATURAL FACELIFT?
Stem-cell therapy is a process where deposits are taken
from somewhere in your body such as the bone marrow
or lower back. Growth factors are then separated from
these samples, and when you then come back for an
injection of stem cells, growth factors and platelets can
be injected anywhere in the body. The potential for this
is enormous. Anywhere you've ever had chronic pain or
have been injured, you can inject stem cells. Or, you can
just put them in the face to look more youthful.

Dave has had stem cells inserted not just in his face,
but pretty much everywhere in his body. His face, his
hair, his blood, and he was the second person in the
world to have stem cells injected into his brain. He's
also had them injected into his penis. Which sounds
painful. 'I'm a professional biohacker, I'm willing to try
everything,' he tells me. 'If you want to be younger, you
want to be younger everywhere.'
A few years ago a stem cell treatment would cost
$100,000. Now the cost is down to around $5,000, which
is all very cool, if you've got the cash. But I know from
personal experience that biohacking can be much easier
and cheaper than that. What else can he recommend that
won't necessitate a lottery win?

BUDGET BIOHACKS
'Get off the fried stuff, get off the grains, skip meals if
they're not going to make you feel good, start eating
more vegetables, and eat more natural fats such as
grass-fed butter,' he says. Good Fat vs Bad Fat is a theme
at the conference, with 12,000 cups of rich Bulletproof
Coffee being drunk (ingredients: coffee, grass fed butter
and Brain Octane - a form of coconut oil). Alongside this
celebration of good fats, speakers such as alternative
medicine proponent Dr Joseph Mercola warn of the
dangers of oils such as canola oil, soya bean oil and
vegetable oils on the body. Dave agrees. 'They're not
proper food,' he says, 'though they make good paint.'
Another of his recommendations is a surprise. Dave
not-so-surreptitiously sprays something into his mouth
twice during the interview. 'Nicotine,' he says. 'It is
actually not bad for you; it's smoking that will kill you.
'Nicotine is one of the most studied smart drugs and
it causes the energy production system in your body to
start becoming more productive,' he says. 'So quit your

IF YOU WANT TO BE
YOUNGER, YOU WANT
TO BE YOUNGER
EVERYWHERE
smoking and start using another form of nicotine.
Don't fear the nicotine, fear the smoke.'
In fact, many of the recommendations at the
conference are the complete opposite of what we are
taught about health and this can seem overwhelming...
Butter is OK, nicotine's fine, and so on.
But many other hacks seem to be distinctly oldschool. As well as eating plenty of veggies, most of those
gathered in LA are big fans of meditation and getting
some natural sunlight in the morning.

November 2017 BA LA N CE

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Balance November 2017