The Quantified Body

Rejuvenation biotech is a new industry forming around the theme of life extension technologies. This episode provides a broad look at the state of the industry, its most promising life extension technologies and their potential timelines. Life extension - this is something I've wanted to spend time on for a while. In this episode, I interview 5 thought leaders from the life extension movement. Consider this an introduction to the current status of life extension tools and technologies, as we look at most areas with a broad first-look. You will learn where things are and what the risk profile of those life ...

Microbiome testing can be confusing: many companies, different technologies and a lack of standards make it hard to get actionable insights from the data. Find out how technologies and labs differ and what information is actionable from today's microbiome tests. In this episode we continue our discussion of the microbiome that we started in Episode 9 and continued with Episode 37. Today we try to help you navigate the confusing field of microbiome testing companies and discuss the pros and cons of different technologies. Examples and lessons learned from our own testing will give you an idea of how a microbiome ...

Looking at an example of Machine Learning applied to functional medicine with the goal of helping athletes optimize performance. The question - with the help of artificial intelligence, can a 7-minute questionnaire identify physiological weaknesses and bypass the need to spend money on expensive lab tests? This episode focuses on Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. These topics are massively discussed in investor and entrepreneurial circles, as well as the media in general. There is a trickle of that starting to move into areas of health tech and health data. There is a lot of potential and discussion around what that ...

What is carbohydrate intolerance? Do each of us have a personal tolerance or intolerance of carbohydrates? Does this also vary by source of carbohydrate? Learn how evolutionary tools may explain appetite regulation and carbohydrate metabolism and offer ways to regain carb tolerance through diet and lifestyle modifications. In this episode, we explore how carbohydrate intolerance works. We look at the evolutionary template (basically the Paleo template), neuroregulation of appetite, carbohydrate tolerance, insulin resistance and sensitivity, and the factors that drive all of these. "Once the person is insulin resistant, particularly when they are heading down this road towards prediabetes and potentially diabetes, ...

Is your glucose metabolism driven by your personal microbiome? Recent research reveals how the microbiome influences blood glucose, weight gain and weight loss. And how the new company, "Day Two", is using microbiome sequencing data to provide personalized nutrition recommendations. In this episode we discuss how personal your blood glucose response and regulation is. We look at how glucose metabolism can differ from one person to another, and how it differs based on typical measures, such as the hypoglycemic index. Most research studies try to understand what a diet or food does to an average person. But the question is whether ...

Recent investigations have shown supplements to not always contain what they say they do. Or at other times to have unwanted contaminants such as heavy metals. Learn to use 3rd party lab testing to select supplements that contain the active ingredients needed to provide the results you seek. Sometimes on this show, we discuss using supplements as tools to get desired results. Examples in past episodes included curcumin, activated charcoal, NT factor, Greens powder, oxaloacetate and many others. I've been aware for a long time that not all supplement products are equal in quality. For instance, if they actually contain as ...

Micronutrient status is a foundation of health, performance and chronic disease minimization. This episode looks at how to optimize fat soluble micronutrients status. In this episode we look at ensuring micronutrient status. Ensuring your body has the building blocks it needs to do what it needs to do. This is an important lever to increasing your health span and current functionality and performance. Previously we discussed micronutrient status with a focus on magnesium in episode 17 with Dr. Carolyn Dean. This episode is about fat-soluble micronutrients including vitamin A, D and K. I personally look at micronutrient status as a foundational piece to get covered ...

Ketone bodies, whether gained from fasting, keto diets, MCTs or exogenous ketones have many potential applications with benefits ranging from performance, to health, to longevity and mitigating symptoms and risks of certain diseases. There is growing evidence that ketone bodies, whether they come from fasting, keto diets, MCTs or exogenous ketones have potential applications across many areas from longevity to performance, to health and mitigating some of the risks and symptoms of certain diseases like cancer and neurologically inclined deceases. As such the whole ketone body area is what I call a high leverage area due to the many potential ...

Putting the body into ketosis and controlling blood glucose levels may prove to be effective therapy against certain cancers. This real case reveals one aggressive self-experimenter who used a combination of the ketogenic diet, fasting and other tools to control his epilepsy and send his brain cancer into remission. This episode examines the ketogenic diet as a tool to fight against cancer. It is a follow up of the episodes on ketosis and fasting that we have done with Dr. Thomas Seyfried in episode 16, and Gene Fine in episode 36. You definitely should check those out for context before ...

Most of us have non-optimal blood glucose regulation today.The impact? Reduced performance, and reduced longevity. We wrongly assume that it's only diabetics that are exposed to these issues. This episode explores using continuous glucose monitoring and other tech to optimize blood sugar through the eyes of a diabetic self-experimenter. How can blood sugar regulation and dysregulation be  better understood? Certainly a lot of you are aware and concerned about these topics, if you haven't already been tracking your blood glucose or your ketones through some of the self experiments we have previously done. There are a lot of lessons on optimization ...

Part 3 in our series of Fasting Self-Experiments. In this longer 10 day water fast I tracked results with a broad set of biomarkers (ketones, glucose, weight, hormones and cognitive performance panels). This is a long post - if that scares you, jump directly to what you're looking for: Why Do a 10 Day Water Fast? (The health benefits that we're optimizing for) 10 Day Water Fast Results (Weight, metabolism, cognitive performance, hormones) 10 Day Water Fast Experience (Anecdotal thoughts, symptoms, and my post-fast rookie mistake) The Tracking (Details on all the biomarkers tracked and lab tests used) Tools & Tactics (Details on the exact ...

A look at how to accurately quantify your cardiovascular fitness in order to optimize endurance sports or your cardiovascular health. Is VO2Max the gold standard? Are the metrics in the current "fitness trackers" useful for this goal? In this episode we look at different ways to track fitness. Previously we have talked about VO2 max and Heart Rate Variability (HRV), along with the trackers (ex. Fitbits) which are used to quantify such physical activity markers. This episode highlights difficulties and advances in translating physical activity data into meaningful information. We seek to understand what tracking fitness actually tells you about how fit you ...

Heart disease affects 50% of the U.S. population in their lifetime. Learn how to accurately quantify your personal heart disease status and risk, and if necessary, take clear actions to reduce that risk by eliminating plaque in the arteries. This episode presents an in depth look at heart disease because this is one of the most likely things to shorten our lifespan. We focus on the key topic of quantifying your real heart disease risk. One in three deaths in the United States are caused by cardiovascular disease. Even worse, one of out two Americans will suffer some form of heart ...

Meditation - ever more popular as studies pile up proving its benefits. However, how do you assure yourself that you gain the same benefits with your meditation practice? Muse Calm is a neurofeedback device that promises accurate feedback on the quality of your meditation. In this episode we talk about improving your focus and meditation practice with the Muse Calm app. There are many benefits to meditation. Some find that it helps increase their calm. Other benefits include reducing stress, and changing the structure of the brain. In spite of these benefits, many find it hard to either start or continue ...

What is genetic testing able to do and not do with current services? We talk with one of the top genetic lab services to understand how technologies differ in accuracy and where it is working, where it is not yet ready and why. In this episode we look at the impact that genetics has on our health and wellness. With rapid discoveries in epigenetics, the picture isn't as clear as when we thought genetics was everything. Epigenetic factors regulate which parts of our genetic blueprints are actually active and working for us at a given time. As previously covered throughout ...

What defines human microbiome health? The co-founder of American Gut Project discusses the differences we've found in the gut microbiome and how it influences our health. We look at tools and lifestyle choices that have been shown to change the microbiome (for good, and for bad). Our microbiome plays an important role in our ability to overcome health issues. A healthy biome can make you resilient to these challenges, while a poorly-balanced one can create or worsen health problems. We first talked about the microbiome in Episode 9 with Jessica Richman, and today we are going to dig deeper into ...

Water fasting or ketogenic therapies may be effective with some cancers, and not with others. Learn about the PET scan and how it can provide insights into whether a cancer is likely to be responsive or not to the water fast tactic we've covered in previous episodes. In this episode, we return to look at ketosis and water fasts as a tool to help treat cancer. This builds on the previous episodes looking at Ketosis with Jimmy Moore and the impact of water fasts on cancer with Dr. Thomas Seyfried. In this episode, we dig deeper into the cancer topic looking ...

An in-depth look at using heart rate variability biofeedback with slow breathing to reduce stress, enhance athletic performance and provide therapeutic support for some chronic health issues. Heart rate variability biofeedback is being used primarily to reset the nervous system and thus as an antidote to different types of stressors. These include modern-day chronic stress, aka the all-time-on syndrome, or infections or other problems in our lives. In this episode we compare the use of breathing techniques to other tools like meditation to improve HRV (Heart Rate Variability), and the use of biofeedback to optimize the benefits. Biofeedback enables us ...

A look at a collection of high impact endurance tools and tactics - and the top biomarkers to watch for optimization. Vetted by an endurance athlete with years of experiments and competitions behind him. Today's episode is about endurance training and using high-impact tools to get the most out of it. We look at self-tracking in diet and exercise when aiming to optimize your body to perform at peak capacity. We discuss factors playing a role in improving endurance through a healthy progression. What self-quantifying strategies are useful for tracking overall performance and health? This episode features actionable takeaways on dealing ...

We strive for the best mental performance but how do you know if your routines (sleep patterns, coffee habits, etc.) are helping or hurting? The Quantified Mind is a web-based project that allows you to quickly check your cognitive function in a few minutes. In previous episodes, we have discussed and identified ways to improve our mental performance. Most recently, we explored Brain Training with Adrian Owen in episode 27. Many people try to improve their cognitive function with interventions such as caffeine, Nootropics, and different sleep patterns to try and improve clarity of thoughts and performance of the mind. How ...

Can physicians improve health outcomes using new self-tracking tech with their patients? Or is the tech still too inaccurate or impractical? We take a hard look at the reality and potential with a physician testing quantified self practices in his clinic for the last 3 years. This episode is about quantified medicine or the reality of cooperating with your physician using self-tracking and observation. Working with such feedback aims to bring fourth an integrated approach to health and performance. Previously, we have looked at the value of a good physician on your team when looking to improve your health in episode ...

Oxaloacetate is an important metabolic intermediate in the energy pathway of the mitochondria. Recent case studies support the use of oxaloacetate as a nutritional supplement to help regulate blood glucose levels, potentially support longevity and protect the brain. Can you get similar beneficial results from a nutritional supplement as you can from a water fast (previously discussed in episode 16 and episode 28)? Oxaloacetate supplements (also discussed in this episode with Bob Troia) are currently being studied for their use in improving blood sugar regulation and potential anti-aging properties. "...through the clinical trial that was done. We know that 100mg [of ...

Mitochondria, the power plants of our body, get damaged through aging and other stressors. Lipid Replacement Therapy (LRT) is a tool being used to repair part of this damage to mitochondrial membranes, and can help people recover and optimize their energy levels. The mitochondria is often described as the "powerhouse" of the cell and it supplies the energy the body needs to function properly and efficiently. Previously, we have discussed mitochondria as related to cancer, in episode 16 with Dr. Thomas Seyfried and in episode 3 where Dr. Terry Wahls described mitochondrial health and the link to autoimmune disorders. This ...

A walk-through of the 5-day water fast with the tracked results (ketones, glucose, weight) and the practical do's and don'ts to make the most of the experience. I'm not a fan of cancer. The only people I've lost in memory - my grandfather and other close family - it was cancer that took them. NOT putting an end to the fun of life because of cancer has been a part of my plan since my early 20s. So after my discussion with Dr. Thomas Seyfried in episode 16 I was looking forward to put his 5 day water fast "cancer insurance ...

Have you been using Dual-N-Back or other braining tools? A look at failed brain training experiments and how to assess real mental performance improvement with Dr. Adrian Owen. In today's fast paced, technologically advanced world strong mental performance is of utmost importance. From our abilities in the work place to our interactions in social situations we are expected, and constantly asked, to be able to perform with the highest level of mental function. Therefore, it is important that we both protect and improve our minds in order to get the most out of life and increase our overall satisfaction. In ...

How well are you aging? We look at an attempt to make an aging biomarker index accessible to consumers that tracks their true biological age and provides feedback recommendations to improve how they age. In this episode we take another look at longevity through the lens of aging biomarkers. This time taking a look at some of the most well research-supported biomarkers to predict how well we are aging. Or more to the point, how badly we may be aging, and get some early warning indicators, about having to intervene to assure we avoid shortening our lifespan. Specifically we look at ...

What is the best biomarker to track your oxidative stress burden? Joshua Fessel explains why F2-isoprostanes provide the best assessment of our ongoing oxidative state. Today's topic is understanding your oxidative stress levels via lipid peroxidation. We previously took a broad look at measuring and lowering oxidative stress in episode 4 with Dr. Cheryl Burdette. Now, we are going to take a look specifically at one of the more accurate and reliable markers: F2 isoprostanes, a measure of lipid peroxidation. This is an important marker for the fact that every cell membrane in the body is comprised mainly of lipids and ...

This episode is about experimenters in the field of biohacking, the people actually in the trenches doing stuff. We're focusing on wearable devices such as watches, shirts, bracelets, necklaces and on and on. We're focusing on wearable devices such as watches, shirts, bracelets, necklaces and on an on. Basically, anything that you can put on your body that can give you data on your performance. Wearables are here to stay and there are more coming out to track different aspects of our biology, of our health and our fitness, and so on. Which of these devices give us the ...

Today we return to the topic of detoxification. A simple and universal lever everyone can use in the quest for better health, detoxification is a worthwhile endeavor whether you suffer from a chronic disease or are an athlete seeking to gain a performance edge. Previously on The Quantified Body, we looked specifically at toxicity issues surrounding mercury and lead and today we are going to look more broadly at other metal toxins and chemical toxins which are all around us in our everyday lives. We're going to look at testing methods and discuss several case studies that reveal the ...

Today's episode is about practical tools that we can use to improve our biology and how we can track those results to make sure we are getting the right answers. This episode can serve as an important source of information about N=1 experiments and biohacking. N=1 experiments involve a single subject and they are entirely capable of providing statistical inferences about the efficacy or side-effects of treatments specifically on that subject alone. The aim of this episode is to provide very practical tips that are really accessible to you. Some of the topics covered are the Bulletproof diet, intermittent fasting, and the impact of oxaloacetate supplements. "So ...

Recently, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) or the non-invasive targeting of weak direct current (DC) to specific brain regions has received media attention. Among the scientific research community, tDCS has been a subject of great interest owing to its usage ease, relative inexpensiveness, and encouraging research results on a range of functions. Studies have seen tDCS accelerate learning, reduce symptoms of dementia, and improve attention in those with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). Understandably, a coinciding rise in the DIY community has also prompted an increase in consumer devices available for home use in hopes of mimicking tDCS's potential neuroenhancement ...

Is Heart Rate Variability the best biomarker of the time to track our longevity? In this episode we look at why HRV may be the best way to track how well you are aging and the bets being placed on it in Silicon Valley to drive innovation in anti-aging and longevity research. Previously we've looked at using HRV for training and recovery, stress management, and tracking hormesis. If you are new to biohacking, HRV is an easy economical way to start tracking. All one needs is a heart rate strap and phone app. The activity around HRV in Silicon Valley ...

Today our bodies, particularly our bones, are burdened with one to two thousands times the level of lead that our ancestors carried. As recently as seven hundred years ago (prior to the industrialized age) human skeletal remains contained very low levels of lead. Once the earth's crust was disturbed through mining, much higher levels of lead were released into our food and air. In a previous episode, Episode 13, we looked at the burden imposed by the heavy metal mercury on the body. Today we will discuss Heavy Metals Part II: Lowering Your Lead Burden. Problems associated with a heavy ...

According to a 2015 consumer wearables report, 1 in 10 Americans has a fitness tracker. Yet there have been various media reports questioning the accuracy of these devices. Today we talk about whether the accuracy of fitness trackers matters; upcoming research trends; and, the most important question, even if they are accurate, are fitness trackers serving their purpose? Are they getting us moving by holding us accountable? With the help of our expert, Dr. Greg Welk, we discuss the complexities involved in making a device to quantify movement. We will also explore the findings of Dr. Welk's 2014 ...

Micro-nutrient deficiencies are prevalent today, and prevent our biology from functioning optimally by limiting its activity. The most common and most severe micro-nutrient deficiency for most of us is Magnesium. A hundred years ago we were able to get five hundred milligrams per day of Magnesium. Today we get closer to two hundred milligrams per day because of changes in food nutrient composition and diet that we'll discuss today. The impacts can be subtle and long term, to severe and immediate. As Magnesium has an important role in over 300 enzymes throughout the body, it can effect performance and health ...

Is some aspect of mitochondrial damage behind cancer? If so, can this theory help us take control of cancer via tactics such as yearly or more frequent "7 day water fasts". When we think about death, cancer is often what we think of first. If you're like me, most, if not all, of the deaths affecting you personally in your life may have been due to cancer. Part of what makes a cancer diagnosis so devastating is that it's mechanisms – how it works, where it comes from, how we can treat it effectively, how we can track it's development, ...

This week's podcast is about the rising movement for quantifying our lives beyond just health and body. The Quantified Self  is about self-knowledge through self-tracking and extends our awareness about what's happening in our lives, how we're spending our time, and pretty much anything related to our daily living. In 2007 Ernesto Ramirez joined with Wired Magazine's Kevin Kelly and Gary Wolf to create this organization, made up predominantly of individuals with a passion for managing their lives. The society has grown from its San Francisco roots to about 90 groups meeting regularly worldwide. Many of the devices we ...

A walk-through of a practical framework designed to achieve what most of us believe is impossible - completely eliminate aging. Learn about the 7 ways we age, and how scientists are trying to design tools to repair each one of them. Today is our first episode on aging. Longevity is a subject close to my heart, and I've been following the career of this episode's guest for many years. Dr. Aubrey de Grey is a visionary and general strategist in the field of longevity and anti-aging. He applies the concepts of planning, investment, and risk management to the science of aging ...

Toxins negatively impact our health, longevity and performance in a variety of ways. Today we look at one of the most important toxins all of us are exposed to in today's environment - mercury. It finds its way into our bodies in many ways: through our dental amalgams, the fish we eat, and vaccines, to name a few. Essentially, we are looking at quantifying your mercury burden and detoxification. What is the impact on our biology, across the different systems and organs? How do we remove this toxin from our bodies once it's there, and what data metrics can we ...

Functional medicine is a framework for tackling health issues and an approach to optimizing health that contrasts sharply with today's "standard of care" medicine model. In this episode we look at assessing the body via the functional medicine framework and your detoxification system. Where "standard of care" excels at dealing with acute health crises, like car accidents injuries and deadly pathogens and infections, functional medicine has grown to tackle primarily chronic health issues. The argument for a future where we turn increasingly to functional medicine is that: where traditional medicine seeks to manage disease (e.g. pharmaceutical therapy or surgery), functional medicine ...

Today we're looking at HRV- endurance training, adrenal fatigue, and future app developments. If you didn't listen to it, in Episode 1 we primarily looked at resistance training, or weight training. Today we also look at some scenarios where the HRV metric can be confounded where an increase in it is not good, how it can be used to identify possible adrenal fatigue and how to improve its accuracy by combining it with Resting Heart Rate and qualitative measures. Today's guest is Simon Wegerif who founded ithlete, the first HRV app company, which appeared 5 years ago in 2009. ...

A different philosophy: Leverage highly time efficient workouts to increase strength, build lean mass, promote cardiovascular performance and provide longevity benefits. In 2009 I found my time getting swallowed up by the demands of my career job while starting my own business on the side and trying to keep to my crossfit workout program (which I dearly loved). I barely had any time or energy to socialize or get anything else done. More worryingly my performance in my workouts was going down - not up. I found myself getting more and more tired during and after workouts, having to hold ...

A couple of cutting edge and very relevant quantified body topics today- quantifying the microbiome and the state of crowd science We're looking at the microbiome, which you probably have seen is the big new topic in the health media and news the last few years. Research is increasingly relating differences in our microbiomes to a range of disease conditions, primarily chronic and gut related ones. If you're already buying the probiotics or prebiotics in the health store - the reason you're doing that, is for the microbiome. But what, if anything, do the probiotic and prebiotic products do for us? ...

What is it that makes our bodies stronger? Gives them greater longevity? Greater resilience to disease? Greater performance? The strange answer to this is that often something that harms us, stresses us, is what ends up making us stronger. The process is known as "hormesis" and applies to pretty much everything we can think of. Low doses of all types of stressors can make us better by stimulating us to adapt - exercise, emotional stress, radiation, natural pesticides found in plants - also known as phytonutrients and so on. When the dose is too high it proves to do ...

The problem with diets is that we think that one diet should be good for everyone. But research and N=1 experiments show that's not the case. Learn about measuring ketones and ketosis to understand how your low carb or high fat diet is really affecting you. If there is one area of our bodies that is debated to extremes, with literally hundreds of differing strong opinions on it, it's nutrition. For many, beliefs about nutrition and diet are tribal. We put ourselves in different camps and we war agains the other camps. Whether it be paleo, low fat, low carb, ...

In the first episode of The Quantified Body, we looked at the biometric of Heart Rate Variability or HRV and how to apply it to optimize training and workouts. HRV has also been researched in other contexts such as stress management, general health, motivation, and willpower, where it can help you make decisions about how to improve these areas and identify what's working for you - and what is not. So we're going to continue to look at its use in these different contexts and the research behind it. Today we're looking at managing stress with heart rate variability ...

Today's episode takes a look at Methylation, it's role and importance for many body functions, how it can enhance our quality of life and performance when running properly, or expose us to greater health risks like heart disease or cancer when it doesn't. Addressing methylation SNPs (genetic mutations that we all have some of to varying degrees) and related biochemical imbalances personally made a very big impact to the quality of my life, eliminating issues like migraine headaches, improving sleep, and enhancing my quality of life and productivity by smoothing out "mood dips and bumps”, and helping heal my ...

The paradox: We spend a lot of money and time on increasing our antioxidant intake through foods and supplements. Yet most of us never know if this effort is making any impact on our health. Should we be checking our oxidative stress levels as often as we check our cholesterol? Not a day goes past that we don't hear about oxidative stress in the news and interwebs, and how it is shortening our lifespan or causing diseases like heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Unless you've been living under a HUGE rock, you also know that antioxidants protect us from oxidative ...

Are your autoimmune and chronic health issues driven by mitochondrial damage? Could nutritional and other simple approaches targeting improved mitochondrial function provide the answer to many of our modern day ailments? When we think about health risk, and reducing it, most of us are thinking about cancer, heart disease and strokes. Autoimmune and other chronic health conditions aren't top of mind, because they don't tend to get the same attention in the media - and have much smaller research budgets currently. But if you look at the numbers you are statistically much more likely to face autoimmune problems in your lifetime ...

Our performance and quality of life is largely dependent on a delicate balance of brain biochemistry. It defines our mental health, mood, our anxiety, our focus and attention, cognitive performance and ultimately even our personality. Today's guest estimates that 80 to 90% of the population have some kind of biochemistry abnormality that affects their brain. This is based on insights from a database of biochemistry he has collected over 35 years with over 3 million biochemistry test assays. So while many of us may not be included within the 26% of the population included in clinical diagnoses for mental disorders, ...

Whether you're a professional athlete or a weekend warrior, taking a break from mental work to hit the gym at weekends, recovery is an important part of how you train. When we don't recover sufficiently we end up decreasing our performance and health rather than getting the results we desire - higher performance, beating our records and increasing our health and wellbeing overall. In today's chronically stressed world, it's all too easy to over train as we are so used to the constant stress burden. Most people are aware of this now. But it's still difficult to manage, even with this ...