Biohacking is self-experimentation on your body to fight aging and disease, increase performance, lose weight etc. Experiments can range in risk levels, from intermittent fasting to DNA injections.
Many of these biohacking ideas originate from Silicon Valley, where people treat the body as a technical engineering problem. In other words, any problem is solvable, including death. A related and growing movement is transhumanism, where some believe that human beings can and should use technology to augment and evolve our species.
Some of these biohackers are PhDs, applying published scientific studies in unique ways. Others are amateurs that use wearable tracking devices to report on their results (e.g., tracking sleep quality). With the rise of Instagram and other social media platforms, more people now have access to these biohacks.
But why should you care?
Everyone should have the right to experiment. In fact, biohacking can lead to great discoveries that can eventually be fully tested in clinical trials. However, many of these biohackers are notable influencers (e.g., Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter). They publish results to millions of followers who then perform similar experiments. As a result, your patient will encounter these experiments when conducting basic web searches such as “how to lose weight.”
Rather than seeking a nutritionist or doctor, they will likely succumb to charismatic influencers and experiment out of ease and desperation. Again, many of these are harmless. But a person can easily get lost in the rabbit hole of the biohacking world and no longer question things. They will also likely increase their risk tolerance.
In addition, majority of these experiments will lead to subtle to no-results. This can deflate your patient’s confidence and motivation. The fact they were proactive to research is great! It’s unfortunate to channel that energy to a non-proven solution, resulting in your patient thinking that change is just not possible for them.
Advice to consider during sessions.
Many of these biohacking ideas originate from Silicon Valley, where people treat the body as a technical engineering problem. In other words, any problem is solvable, including death. A related and growing movement is transhumanism, where some believe that human beings can and should use technology to augment and evolve our species.
Some of these biohackers are PhDs, applying published scientific studies in unique ways. Others are amateurs that use wearable tracking devices to report on their results (e.g., tracking sleep quality). With the rise of Instagram and other social media platforms, more people now have access to these biohacks.
But why should you care?
Everyone should have the right to experiment. In fact, biohacking can lead to great discoveries that can eventually be fully tested in clinical trials. However, many of these biohackers are notable influencers (e.g., Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter). They publish results to millions of followers who then perform similar experiments. As a result, your patient will encounter these experiments when conducting basic web searches such as “how to lose weight.”
Rather than seeking a nutritionist or doctor, they will likely succumb to charismatic influencers and experiment out of ease and desperation. Again, many of these are harmless. But a person can easily get lost in the rabbit hole of the biohacking world and no longer question things. They will also likely increase their risk tolerance.
In addition, majority of these experiments will lead to subtle to no-results. This can deflate your patient’s confidence and motivation. The fact they were proactive to research is great! It’s unfortunate to channel that energy to a non-proven solution, resulting in your patient thinking that change is just not possible for them.
Advice to consider during sessions.
- While many biohacking experiments have positive results, consider this: A fully funded clinical trial were run with 1000 participants, without controlling any of the variables then only reporting out the results from 1 of the 1000 participants. That is not too different to biohacking results.
- There are some great biohackers to follow. However, have your patient consider how much of the biohacking experimentation is really to sell products. Not to say that monetizing is a bad thing, but it can alter incentives.
- There is no silver bullet to fight aging, gain muscle or increase intelligence. At the end of the day, lifestyle changes and hard work are required.