Biohacking is no longer a trend
Five years ago, an article by Sergei Fage, the ex-CEO of Ostrovok and the king of Russian biohacking, lit the fire and launched a new trend to improve your body and mind.
This trend included not only healthy eating, exercise and sleep, but also more exotic practices, such as the use of neurostimulants, supplements (including antidepressants), health tracking devices, meditation, various extreme methods such as vitamin injections, optimizing hormone levels and visits to shamans for various substances.
Biohacking has been particularly popular in IT environments around the world, supported by investors including Jeff Bezos, Larry Page and Peter Thiel (founders of Amazon, Alphabet and PayPal), and cultural figures such as Bulletproof's Dave Asprey, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, mega-podcaster Andrew Huberman and David Sinclair.
In recent years, the popularity of biohacking has declined, although some aspects of it remain in demand. What does this mean:
Criticism and disappointment. It turned out that many practices do not have scientific evidence or may be dangerous. For example, excessive use of fynbltghtccfynfvb may cause side effects. Extreme methods that were fashionable in the past (like IVs and visits to Peruvian shamans) were criticized, and enthusiasm decreased.
Mindfulness trend. With the rise in popularity of mindfulness, the idea of “being friends with the body” and “listening to yourself” has begun to replace the aggressive approach to biohacking, which assumes that the body is an improvement machine.
Changing priorities. Instead of achieving productivity as quickly as possible, many began to focus on recovery and harmony between work and personal life. A trend has emerged for “quiet” biohacking, which includes gentle practices without excesses, such as healthy sleep, meditation and moderate physical activity.
But, we must admit that the trend for biohacking is rather a fashion for certain types of it. For example, at first there was a mad wave of popularity for goji berries and chia seeds, and then they were replaced by microdosing with fly agarics and attempts to feed the microbiota. The development of gadgets and neural networks also makes its own adjustments: now ChatGPT can decipher tests and give recommendations, and the new Apple Watch now has a function for detecting sleep apnea, which previously could only be found out at great expense in special centers.
Modern approach
After some research and observation, it became clear that perhaps a better protocol for longevity and a happy life is exactly the opposite of what the biohacker fraternity is doing with its punishing ethic of discipline, control, self-focus and deprivation. Studies – a bunch of them – have proven a radically different protocol for longevity of youth, which, by the way, is more often intuitively activated by women, and which most of us know to the core. It involves having friends and family around, giving back, learning new things, spirituality and a good dose of having fun.
It may not be as flashy or (let's face it) monetizable as plasma infusions and EEG readings, but those things are biohacks in their own right.
Instead of radical and experimental practices, people began to take more care of their health and focus on scientifically proven ways to increase efficiency:
using apps to track sleep and stress levels
mindfulness practices and breathing techniques to reduce stress
working on workspace ergonomics
applying dietary and exercise recommendations based on genetic data and test results, but more carefully than before.
Perhaps health coaching is the profession of the future. To help us lead a healthy, balanced and conscious lifestyle instead of biohacking, taking into account long-term consequences and optimizing individual characteristics.
