Make Yourself Healthier by Sitting Right

This is a guest post by Veli-Jussi Jalkanen, a health inventor, and CEO and founder of Salli – a leading sitting health company providing solutions for ergonomic sitting with pioneering saddle chair technology

We all sit for hours every day, yet we rarely pay attention to how we do it. This important issue gets easily neglected, even though it can have radical impacts on our health and wellbeing. It is not only that bad sitting deteriorates health but also that by sitting ergonomically, one can lift one’s health to a totally different level, many suffer with their health by using products that deteriorate their body when trying to loose weight but here are the best fat burning pills to keep you healthy while in your weight journey. In a lecture at Biohacker Summit in Stockholm, I went through the main points of Salli’s sitting health concept.

We at Salli have been developing the world’s healthiest sitting concept for almost 30 years now. It is based on robust international research and development, and numerous feedback from Salli users around the world. The basis of the product concept is a two-part, active (swinging) Salli Saddle Chair.

Keep your back healthy

On Salli chair the position of the legs on each side of the chair is the same as when standing in a balanced position – the weight evenly on both feet. The spine is in a neutral position remaining its natural curves, which significantly diminishes the risk of a prolapsed disk. When the spine carries the weight of the upper body, muscles can remain relaxed.

In the upright posture, there is no extra pressure on the lungs and breathing is easy. Deeper breathing results in improved oxygen intake which in turn increases the oxygen levels in the whole body and keeps you alert and energetic.

Minimal disturbance on circulation and lymph flow

The wide 135 angles in knees and hips, together with bones (and not soft tissues) carrying the weight, enable undisturbed lymph flow and circulation. Because of the anatomic design of the Salli Saddle Chair the seat does not press the lymph and blood vessels in the inner thigh either.

The brain gets enough blood

Up to 25 % of the total circulation goes into the head. The vessels are in a narrow space between the neck vertebrae, throat and outer neck muscles (mainly a muscle called Sternocleidomastoides). A static poor posture of the head and neck makes muscles tense and reduces circulation in the main vessels. In tensed muscles the circulation slows down, the blood pressure in the brain increases and headache easily follows. Good posture of the neck can be attained only when the whole back is in a good posture. The relaxed neck muscles do not disturb the blood flow into the brain.

Healthy posture is possible on two-part saddle chairs

Because of the gap in the middle of the two-part seat there is no uncomfortable pressure on the genital area and thus no need to turn the pelvis away from the pressure. The healthy posture can now be obtained easily and be maintained during the whole day.

Better genital health

The gap enhances both genital and internal pelvic health. On padded chairs pudendal vessels get pressed between the pubic bone and the seat. Circulation decreases or stops in pressure-sensitive vessels. A two-part saddle chair eliminates the pressure allowing healthy circulation and metabolism.

In the modern society, we sit for longer periods of time than before. In addition, men are heavier than before. Old-fashioned sitting irritates the prostate because the weight of the upper body presses the pelvis. Sitting on the two-part saddle chair removes the pressure from the prostate.

The gap benefits females as well. The pressure of the upper body in a slouched position creates a pressure field inside the pelvic bowl, and weakens females pelvic floor muscles creating a big risk for pelvic organ prolapse (POP). In the Salli chair, the gap in the seat eliminates the pressure from the pelvic floor and vulva, and also most of the pressure from inside the pelvic area. The gap allows better ventilation to and lower temperature to the area lowering the risk of infections. 

Functional digestion

The intestine is not pressed the way it is in the slouched position. The motion from the swinging seat speeds up the peristaltic movement of the bowel, and thus enhances digestion.

Swing-mechanism encourages to move

On Salli Swing models you can exercise during the workday. Small micro-movements are enough to enhance the circulation, especially in the lower back muscles. This slows down the degeneration of discs and vertebrae.

Pay attention to your sitting health!

To keep yourself healthy, happy, energetic, and productive, and to prevent any sitting-related problems in the future, I would encourage you all to do the following things:

  • Be aware of the potential and possibilities of high-quality sitting environment
  • Use two-part active saddle chair (swing models), adjustable table, helpful accessories and high-quality height-adjustable monitors
  • Be motivated to learn to adjust and use the furniture in an optimal way
  • Use sitting- and circulation-friendly, loose clothing that does not press soft tissues and disturb circulation
  • Exercise often to boost the brain, energy, and circulation: stand and stretch, sit and swing, roll and reach, walk and talk, work and gym, and have some exercise equipment near to where you work

Red Light for Healing

This is a guest article by Anna Iversen  – a CEO and founder of Fjor, a company building the world’s first red light booth where the benefits of full-body red light treatment can truly be maximized

Seeing the light

When both my parents were diagnosed with cancer within weeks of each other I was scared. I didn’t know much about the disease and was too afraid to research it. During the emotional year, I spent looking after them just the word ‘cancer’ felt daunting. I was terrified and believed I was powerless to prevent it affecting those I loved.

In the week before my mother’s death (she was the last to go), I stumbled upon a book fittingly called Tripping over the Truth by Travis Christofferson, an American science writer. I can’t recall how I came across the book, or why I dared open it. But once I began reading, everything changed.

I lost my fear and started devouring every conceivable book and a research paper on cancer and degenerative conditions that I could find.

On reflection, what I discovered was certainly not ground-breaking. A disease does not just descend on us due to “bad genes” or “bad luck”. We as individuals create, through our diet, environment, and the lifestyle choices that we make, the terrain in our bodies, either leading us on a path to optimal health or chronic disease or anything in-between these two extremes. This realization gave me a profound feeling of empowerment.

I needed to spread the word and make as many people around me realize that we can, and should, look after our health and wellbeing. There is no reason whatsoever for us to accept aches and pains just because we have reached a certain age or have been living with them for as long as we can remember. This triggered me to give up my 20-year career as a City lawyer and launch Fjor, a health and wellbeing company that combines nutrition, exercise, good sleep and stress mediation with modern health technologies like light therapy.

Leveraging my previous career I see my role as a facilitator, someone that raises awareness and brings the cutting-edge science and technologies to a broader audience. It is all very well and good that we biohackers are fully immersed in this field, but we need ordinary people on the street to also become enlightened!

It is this passion for new technologies and finding ways in which to make them known and accessible to a broader audience that led me to take an active part in the 2018 Biohacker Summit in Stockholm.

I am such a keen advocate for using light to achieve excellent health that I have designed a prototype red light therapy booth with the objective to bring it to the wider public. My aim is to make it affordable and available so that it becomes as commonplace in people’s lives as going to the gym – with a lot less effort involved!

What are the benefits of red light therapy?

See video of Anna Iversen’s presentation:

Photobiomodulation (PBM), a term that was coined in the 1980s, is now the preferred term used to describe red and near infrared (NIR) light therapy, increasingly replacing the term Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT). It involves exposing cells or tissue to low levels of red and near NIR light, and is referred to as “low level” or “cold laser” because the energy density levels of the light used are low compared to surgical lasers and do not involve the heating of tissue. The shift in terminology from LLLT to PBM reflects that less expensive non-coherent light-emitting diodes (LEDs), emitting light over a wider range of wavelengths, provide similar results to a coherent monochromatic laser.

The therapy has been around for over fifty years, having been discovered in 1967 by Endre Mester at the Semmelweis Medical University in Hungary where he observed an increased rate of hair growth and improved wound healing in lab rats.

PBM is now being used therapeutically to reduce inflammation, the symptoms of chronic joint disorders, symptoms of neurological disorders and pain. In addition, it has shown to be effective in healing wounds, deeper tissues and nerves. PBM can also be used to increase muscle performance and several studies in athletes show improvements in muscle performance and reduction in post-exercise muscle damage.

The wavelengths of light used for PBM are in the 600-1070 nm range as tissue penetration is maximized within this range. Wavelengths in the range 600–700 nm (red light) are used to treat superficial tissue and has been shown to enhance the appearance of the skin, increasing blood flow and speeding up the regeneration process. Red light can reduce scarring and treat skin conditions like acne, eczema, and psoriasis. Longer wavelengths in the range 780–950 nm (NIR), which penetrate further, is used to treat deeper-seated tissues, helping reduce inflammation and joint problems like arthritis, rheumatism, and musculoskeletal disorders. Wavelengths in the range in-between these two “therapeutic windows” have so far been found to have limited biochemical activity and are therefore not commonly used.

Photobiomodulation is now making significant progress in obtaining the recognition it deserves from the medical establishment, scientific literature, and the media. The Journal of Biophotonics, a peer-reviewed scientific journal devoted to research on the interactions between light and biological material, has been existing since 2008.

This positive development is due to a series of factors, perhaps the biggest advancement was made as a result of the progress achieved in understanding the effect of PBM at a molecular, cellular and tissue-based level. The work of Tiina Karu’s in Russia is of fundamental importance as it identified cytochrome c oxidase, a protein within the mitochondria (the power plants of our cells), as receptors of light and it introduced the concept of “retrograde mitochondrial signalling” to explain how a single relatively brief exposure to light could have effects on an organism lasting several hours, even days or weeks.

The effects of PBM is photochemical, similar to photosynthesis in plants. With the correct intensity and exposure times, red and near-infrared light reduces oxidative stress and increases the mitochondria’s production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). This is achieved when the light is absorbed by cytochrome c oxidase in the mitochondria. In normal conditions, when cells are under stress, the mitochondria produce nitric oxide (NO). NO is a signaling molecule, which displaces oxygen from cytochrome c oxidase, and reduces ATP. This can lead to an overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) resulting in oxidative stress. Oxidative stress leads to inflammation and accelerated cell death. PBM allows oxygen back in, restoring ATP production and reducing oxidative stress. When normal mitochondrial function and cell metabolism is restored, improved health and wellbeing ensues.

Why light therapy booths?

My idea for light therapy booths came about last autumn while thinking about how best to incorporate the treatment into the range of health technologies I offer my clients.

Fjor’s London office is based inside a building mostly made of glass. Given light therapy is best administered with as few clothes on as possible, this was not the ideal setting.

I began looking at the private booths that people were using to make phone calls. My first thought was to use one of these but then I realized the benefits of designing a new unique light therapy booth that could be planted in a variety of settings and be easily accessed by anyone anywhere.

I designed my booth with scalability in mind and within a few months, my prototype was ready. The idea is that the finished product can be placed in any space where there is access to some level of security and maintenance capability. It is relatively cheap to produce and doesn’t require a huge investment from the service provider. It uses very little space and only needs maintenance on a level with a vending machine. Thus, it can be installed in office blocks, university atriums, gyms, health spas, shopping centers, railway stations and airports (what a great pick me up after a tiring and health-crippling flight).

Future developments of Fjor includes designing an app can be used for locating a red light booth, booking and paying for sessions, unlocking it and reporting any problems that may arise.

Bringing it to light

Like other delegates at the 2018 Biohackers Summit in Stockholm, I am driven by a passion to raise awareness of the importance of light.

Fake foods, pesticides, environmental pollutants, sedentary lifestyles, little time spent outside, stress, insufficient quality sleep and our modern approach to light contribute to chronic diseases.

What so many people haven’t yet fully understood is that light is, in fact, an essential nutrient. By spending most of our time inside with little access to natural light from the sun, while also exposing ourselves to the harmful blue light emitting from TVs, computers, tablets and smartphone screens, we are damaging our bodies, in particular, our mitochondria, in a profound way.

According to our mitochondria, modern life is well and truly rubbish, contributing to the emergence of so much chronic disease. Flipping the coin to the other side, by embracing and promoting the science and technology that is emerging, modern life can offer health and longevity at a level that has never been experienced before.

We live in exciting times where we can merge science and technology to achieve optimum health. Anything that helps do this deserves to be brought into the limelight. If we do not take action soon, our generation, and worse still, that of our children, will suffer serious health consequences. Together we can reverse the negative trend and raise a new generation that will not suffer the serious health consequences we are experiencing now, who will be living long and fulfilling lives free of crippling disease.

Finding Your Chronotype & Optimal Bedtime With Hannu Kinnunen (Biohacker’s LIVE Show)

Biohacker’s Live Show features top experts in optimal human performance as if they were in your living room. Your host is Teemu Arina, the co-author of the Biohacker’s Handbook and curator of the Biohacker Summit. Catch each episode by subscribing to our podcast on iTunes here.

How to find your chronotype and optimal sleep time? How the Oura ring revolutionizes sleep tracking? How to find balance in your life? How to visualize your chronotype? Why evening persons perform better at cognitive tasks especially in the evening? Why our host needs to sleep more?

Hannu Kinnunen is a wearable pioneer, inventor and Chief Science Officer of Oura. Hannu Kinnunen is the brains behind the science that makes Oura the most advanced wearable vital signs monitor in the world. With a long career at heart rate monitor maker Polar, Hannu was responsible for the physiological algorithms, many of which are still used in Polar products today. Hannu is credited in dozens of patents and scientific articles on the field of heart rate based signal processing, biosignal detection, and the analysis of activity, training, recovery and sleep.

Watch the interview with Hannu Kinnunen:

[powerpress]

SIIM’S SPECIAL REPORT

Watch also Siim Land’s special report on hustling and lack of sleep:

RESEARCH OF THE WEEK

Schmidt, C. & al. (2015). Pushing the Limits: Chronotype and Time of Day Modulate Working Memory-Dependent Cerebral Activity. Frontiers in Neurology.

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we investigated how chronotype and time of day interact with working memory at different levels of cognitive load/complexity.

Methods

Thirty-two young healthy volunteers, 16 extreme morning, 16 extreme evening types.

They were screened for their sleep–wake timing preferences using the morningness–eveningness questionnaire.

They were asked to follow the sleep schedule they would spontaneously adopt while free from any social constraints but to keep their bedtime duration at 8 (±1) h for the week preceding the laboratory part of the study.

Subjects then entered the sleep laboratory for two nights. The precise schedule of each session was individually adapted to the subject’s habitual bedtime.

Subjects underwent a fMRI session 1.5 and 10.5 h after wake up at the scheduled timing. During the fMRI session they were administered three cognitive tasks.

The method used in this study was a n-back task which is a continuous performance task that is commonly used as an assessment in cognitive neuroscience to measure a part of working memory and working memory capacity.

Results

Accuracy scores (percentage of correct responses minus false alarms) in the N-back task according to the working memory load condition (0-, 2-, 3-back), the time of day (morning, evening), and the chronotype (morning type, evening type). Filled circles: morning types; open circles: evening types.

The results were marginal but there was a trend for a main effect of chronotype. The morning types exhibited slower reaction times than evening types, independent of time of day and working memory load condition.

The fMRI data analysis showed that evening types exhibited higher activity in the thalamic area of the brain in the evening hours. The thalamus is associated with functions such as the regulation of consciousness, sleep, and alertness.

On the contrary the morning types had higher responses than evening types in the morning hours in the other measured areas in the brain.

When considering the highest cognitive load performance in evening types, their performance improved from morning to evening hours.

APP OF THE WEEK

The app of the week is Owaves – A holistic calendar designed to optimize your circadian rhythm. Plan meals, exercise, and sleep into your day. Available for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.

PRODUCT REVIEW OF THE WEEK

OURA smart ring is designed to measure your body’s physiological signals. The ring features scientifically proven sleep tracking and personalized guidance that is based on data from over a million nights and days. With Oura you are able to understand how your lifestyle affects your body and mind as well as learn your optimal times to move, eat and take a break to get enough restorative sleep.

The ring is to be worn around the clock and it measures your sleep stages, resting heart rate, heart rate variability, and body temperature – all important recovery indicators. In addition to sleep and recovery, the smart ring gives you a holistic view on your activity and its effect on your well-being. As rest and activity influence each other, Oura provides you with an all-encompassing image of your mental and physical health and performance.

Additional info (few examples on different features):

Sleep features:

  • Sleep stages (light, deep, REM)
  • Sleep quality breakdown

Recovery features:

  • Readiness score & readiness insights
  • On-demand resting heart rate and heart rate variability tracking for meditation or breathing exercises

Activity features:

  • Personalized daily activity goal (based on recovery and readiness)
  • Intensity, timing, and duration of physical activities

Other features:

  • Long-term sleep, recovery, and activity trends

You can now get 50 USD / 50 EUR discount on the OURA ring at their site by using the code BLS during the checkout.

Finding Your Chronotype & Optimal Bedtime With Hannu Kinnunen (Biohacker’s LIVE Show)

Biohacker’s Live Show features top experts in optimal human performance as if they were in your living room. Your host is Teemu Arina, the co-author of the Biohacker’s Handbook and curator of the Biohacker Summit. Catch each episode by subscribing to our podcast on iTunes here.

How to find your chronotype and optimal sleep time? How the Oura ring revolutionizes sleep tracking? How to find balance in your life? How to visualize your chronotype? Why evening persons perform better at cognitive tasks especially in the evening? Why our host needs to sleep more?

Hannu Kinnunen is a wearable pioneer, inventor and Chief Science Officer of Oura. Hannu Kinnunen is the brains behind the science that makes Oura the most advanced wearable vital signs monitor in the world. With a long career at heart rate monitor maker Polar, Hannu was responsible for the physiological algorithms, many of which are still used in Polar products today. Hannu is credited in dozens of patents and scientific articles on the field of heart rate based signal processing, biosignal detection, and the analysis of activity, training, recovery and sleep.

Watch the interview with Hannu Kinnunen:

[powerpress]

SIIM’S SPECIAL REPORT

Watch also Siim Land’s special report on hustling and lack of sleep:

RESEARCH OF THE WEEK

Schmidt, C. & al. (2015). Pushing the Limits: Chronotype and Time of Day Modulate Working Memory-Dependent Cerebral Activity. Frontiers in Neurology.

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we investigated how chronotype and time of day interact with working memory at different levels of cognitive load/complexity.

Methods

Thirty-two young healthy volunteers, 16 extreme morning, 16 extreme evening types.

They were screened for their sleep–wake timing preferences using the morningness–eveningness questionnaire.

They were asked to follow the sleep schedule they would spontaneously adopt while free from any social constraints but to keep their bedtime duration at 8 (±1) h for the week preceding the laboratory part of the study.

Subjects then entered the sleep laboratory for two nights. The precise schedule of each session was individually adapted to the subject’s habitual bedtime.

Subjects underwent a fMRI session 1.5 and 10.5 h after wake up at the scheduled timing. During the fMRI session they were administered three cognitive tasks.

The method used in this study was a n-back task which is a continuous performance task that is commonly used as an assessment in cognitive neuroscience to measure a part of working memory and working memory capacity.

Results

Accuracy scores (percentage of correct responses minus false alarms) in the N-back task according to the working memory load condition (0-, 2-, 3-back), the time of day (morning, evening), and the chronotype (morning type, evening type). Filled circles: morning types; open circles: evening types.

The results were marginal but there was a trend for a main effect of chronotype. The morning types exhibited slower reaction times than evening types, independent of time of day and working memory load condition.

The fMRI data analysis showed that evening types exhibited higher activity in the thalamic area of the brain in the evening hours. The thalamus is associated with functions such as the regulation of consciousness, sleep, and alertness.

On the contrary the morning types had higher responses than evening types in the morning hours in the other measured areas in the brain.

When considering the highest cognitive load performance in evening types, their performance improved from morning to evening hours.

APP OF THE WEEK

The app of the week is Owaves – A holistic calendar designed to optimize your circadian rhythm. Plan meals, exercise, and sleep into your day. Available for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.

PRODUCT REVIEW OF THE WEEK

OURA smart ring is designed to measure your body’s physiological signals. The ring features scientifically proven sleep tracking and personalized guidance that is based on data from over a million nights and days. With Oura you are able to understand how your lifestyle affects your body and mind as well as learn your optimal times to move, eat and take a break to get enough restorative sleep.

The ring is to be worn around the clock and it measures your sleep stages, resting heart rate, heart rate variability, and body temperature – all important recovery indicators. In addition to sleep and recovery, the smart ring gives you a holistic view on your activity and its effect on your well-being. As rest and activity influence each other, Oura provides you with an all-encompassing image of your mental and physical health and performance.

Additional info (few examples on different features):

Sleep features:

  • Sleep stages (light, deep, REM)
  • Sleep quality breakdown

Recovery features:

  • Readiness score & readiness insights
  • On-demand resting heart rate and heart rate variability tracking for meditation or breathing exercises

Activity features:

  • Personalized daily activity goal (based on recovery and readiness)
  • Intensity, timing, and duration of physical activities

Other features:

  • Long-term sleep, recovery, and activity trends

You can now get 50 USD / 50 EUR discount on the OURA ring at their site by using the code BLS during the checkout.

Ketogenic Diet With Siim Land (Biohacker’s LIVE Show)

What is the ketogenic diet? How to become a fat-burning machine? Is ketosis good for exercise? How to become keto adapted? How to measure if you are in ketosis? What are the health effects of switching from carbohydrates to fats as a primary fuel source? These questions and more answered in this week’s Biohacker’s LIVE Show.

Biohacker’s Live Show features top experts in optimal human performance as if they were in your living room. Your host is Teemu Arina, the co-author of the Biohacker’s Handbook and curator of the Biohacker Summit. Catch each episode by subscribing to our podcast on iTunes here.

The hero of a greater journey, an anthropological student of life, a self-empowered being – those are the words Siim Land uses to describe himself. He is a writer and content creator on topics related to human performance and life enhancement. Ever since childhood, Siim’s been fascinated by human nature and the world around him, which ignited his pursuit towards understanding life as it unravels itself in your subjective experience. He’s committed himself to lifelong personal growth and the empowerment of others. Admitting that he knows nothing, Siim shares with you the most profound lessons and strategies that have changed his outlook on life.

Siim Land is a regular guest at the Biohacker’s LIVE Show with his entertaining short videos that are jam-packed with ketogenic goodies. You can watch more of his videos on his Youtube channel.

Watch the trialog between Siim Land, Teemu Arina and Dr. Olli Sovijärvi:

[powerpress]

SIIM’S SPECIAL REPORT

Watch also Siim Land’s special report on melting fat with butter:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b84tGGLYqyw

RESEARCH OF THE WEEK

Anderson, J. C. (2015). Measuring breath acetone for monitoring fat loss: Review. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 23(12), 2327–2334.

Endogenous acetone production is a by‐product of the fat metabolism process. Because of its small size, acetone appears in exhaled breath. Historically, endogenous acetone has been measured in exhaled breath to monitor ketosis in healthy and diabetic subjects. Recently, breath acetone concentration (BrAce) has been shown to correlate with the rate of fat loss in healthy individuals. In this review, the measurement of breath acetone in healthy subjects is evaluated for its utility in predicting fat loss and its sensitivity to changes in physiologic parameters.

Results

BrAce can range from 1 ppm in healthy non‐dieting subjects to 1,250 ppm in diabetic ketoacidosis. A strong correlation exists between increased BrAce and the rate of fat loss. Multiple metabolic and respiratory factors affect the measurement of BrAce. BrAce is most affected by changes in the following factors (in descending order): dietary macronutrient composition, caloric restriction, exercise, pulmonary factors, and other assorted factors that increase fat metabolism or inhibit acetone metabolism. Pulmonary factors affecting acetone exchange in the lung should be controlled to optimize the breath sample for measurement.

Conclusions

When biologic factors are controlled, BrAce measurement provides a non‐invasive tool for monitoring the rate of fat loss in healthy subjects.

See also this excellent article:

Cohen, S., Janicki-Deverts, D., Doyle, W. J., Miller, G. E., Frank, E., Rabin, B. S., & Turner, R. B. (2012). Chronic stress, glucocorticoid receptor resistance, inflammation, and disease risk. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109(16), 5995–5999.

PRODUCTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Ketonix

Ketonix is a reusable device that indicates ketones in your breath. This enables you to measure throughout the day with no extra costs or blood samples. By knowing your ketosis you will be able to find out how your fat-burning is affected by different lifestyle changes.

Check Ketonix here.

Levl

A simple breath into the LEVL breath pod gives you a 24 hour snapshot of how your wellness choices are affecting your fat metabolism and state of ketosis.

Check LEVL here.

Extreme Biohacking With Serge Faguet (Biohacker’s LIVE Show)

Biohacker’s Live Show features top experts in optimal human performance as if they were in your living room. Your host is Teemu Arina, the co-author of the Biohacker’s Handbook and curator of the Biohacker Summit. Catch each episode by subscribing to our podcast on iTunes here.

Serge Faguet is a serial entrepreneur, extreme biohacker and CEO of Mirror AI. Previously he founded Ostrovok, Russia’s largest online travel company with $500m in turnover. While there he raised >$50m in capital and led the company to EBITDA profitability and >300 employees. Before that, he founded TokBox, a leading B2B video communication company with ~$50m ARR, funded by Sequoia Capital. He has also worked at Google and studied at Cornell and Stanford GSB.

In addition to being a tech CEO, Serge is a diehard biohacker who is keen on having better energy, mood, focus, happiness, confidence, willpower, intelligence, health, and longevity. His hobby for the past 5-6 years has been to achieve the above-mentioned attributes by hacking the body and mind through science. As a part of that journey Serge has optimized sleep, nutrition, and exercise, taken thousands of tests, meditated > 1000 times, and worked with some amazing doctors.

He wrote two very influential blog posts on biohacking, where he describes any and all means (including controversial ones) to achieve these feats: Check them out here and here.

In this episode we dive deep into biohacking principles, transhumanism, the singularity, Serge’s optimization strategies, lab tests, details of his medical team and successful interventions he has done. There is a lot to be learned from this episode.

See the interview with Serge Faguet:

[powerpress]

Watch also Siim Land’s take on biohacking that is featured in the episode. In his biohacking special report he dives into the principles of biohacking. Afterwards we have an in-depth technological and antropological trialog on its implications on humanity:

Research article of the week

This article was represented in response to the discussion on lithium, that Serge Faguet uses for stabilizing his mood:

Singh N, Sharpley AL, Emir UE, Masaki C, Herzallah MM, Gluck MA, Sharp T, Harmer CJ, Vasudevan SR, Cowen PJ, Churchill GC. (2016). Effect of the Putative Lithium Mimetic Ebselen on Brain Myo-Inositol, Sleep, and Emotional Processing in Humans. Neuropsychopharmacology. Jun;41(7): 1768-78.

Lithium is known as an effective mood stabilizer for the treatment of bipolar disorder, but it is toxic at only twice the therapeutic dosage and has many undesirable side effects like kidney and thyroid damage, muscle weakness etc. Therefore, scientists have tried to produce molecules that have lithium-like effects in brain but with substantially less adverse effects.

One of such molecule is Ebselen (also called PZ 51, DR3305, and SPI-1005), is a synthetic organoselenium drug molecule with anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and cytoprotective activity. It acts as a mimic of glutathione peroxidase and as a lithium mimetic, which is part of the National Institutes of Health Clinical Collection, a chemical library of bioavailable drugs considered clinically safe but without proven use.

This study published in 2015 in Nature-magazine aimed for determine whether it is warranted to progress the development of Ebselen as a possible treatment for bipolar disorder. The studies were overseen by the Oxford University.

The emotional processing study involved 40 healthy participants with no history of any psychiatric disorder, 20 per group, in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group design.

Methods

  • The day before the test day participants were asked to complete a set of baseline questionnaires: positive and negative affective schedule, some mood, energy and state-anxiety questionnaire, visual analog scales etc.
  • The participants were given Ebselen/placebo three times, each time 3x200mg dose and after final dose they completed the above questionnaires to reveal any drug-related effects.

Results

  • Taken together, the results demonstrated that Ebselen affected emotional processes in healthy participants. Safety of the drug seems excellent based on other animal and human studies to date including the current one.
  • Moreover, Ebselen is an antioxidant, inhibits several of the proinflammatory enzymes, and, like lithium, is a neuroprotectant.

App of the week

LabGear is a definitive reference guide for lab test results with summarized descriptions and references to medical databases.

LabTests+ was also demonstrated, that has similar functionality.

Promotion of the week

Use code FAGUET to get 10% off of Biohacker Summit 2018 Stockholm tickets here.

Use code BLS to get 50 USD off of the new Oura ring on their website here.

 

Upgrading the Workplace with Authors of Biohacker’s Handbook

In the endless race of this modern age towards living our dreams, many of us end up overworked, exhausted and stressed – with little time to do what we love – or sadly, even be with those we love. Worst of all, our bodies bear the brunt and take the beating. If this scenario sounds familiar to you, then the time has come to Upgrade Your Life and Workplace!

In James J. Lachard’s ‘Interview with God’, when asked: What surprises you the most about humankind? God answered: “They lose their health to make money, and then lose their money to restore their health. They live as if they will never die and die as if they had never lived.”

According to Olli Sovijärvi (MD), Teemu Arina (Serial Technologist), and Jaakko Halmetoja (Nutritionist), co-authors of the bestselling Biohacker’s Handbook, “upgrading” consists of a deep look at the five key areas to living a happy, healthy and well-balanced life: Exercise, Nutrition, Sleep, Mind and Work.

If you have been suffering from any of the 90-95% of all illnesses which are ultimately stress-related, or even an undiagnosable illness, or any aspect of your world is not what you had imagined for yourself, try looking at your life and the way you live it with new and open eyes. The upgrading process engages every sense and urges us forward to perfect health with a renewed boost of power to take responsibility for our own wellbeing and experiences, and also take advantage of the technology and latest discoveries available to us.

You can wake up energetic and revived with an excitement and zest for life by incorporating these simple hacks into your daily routines: eat quality nutrient-dense foods, upgrade your beverages, improve your work conditions, optimize ergonomics and fix your posture, and most importantly, train your mind and nervous system and become part of nature! By optimizing your biology you are on the road to surpassing all physical limits!

The Japanese have a concept called ‘Ikigai’ – a reason for being – which they believe each one of us possess, though we must search to find it. It’s interesting to note that Ikigai is not a reason for ‘doing’, which in our collective culture, what we “do” is more often than not where identities are drawn from. To find your ‘Ikigai’ ask yourself:

  1. What do I LOVE? (Your Passion)
  2. What am I GOOD AT? (Your Profession)
  3. What can I be PAID FOR? (Your Vocation)
  4. What does the world NEED? (Your Mission)

When you set out to become clear on these foundational questions without all the unnecessary distractions of our surroundings, health becomes simply a state of being.  As the adage goes, “You are what you repeat.” It is not the new diet or the new exercise routine that will change our lives; it is the small choices we repeatedly make every single day which determine the quality of our lives.

Hence to “upgrade” means to be in touch with oneself. We do that by becoming completely self-aware of where we are at this moment. From that place of realization we can take the next steps (like all great and successful human beings on earth do), to foster morning and daily rituals and explore what kind would most benefit us personally and give us the needed momentum for the day. A ritual could be as simple as a cold morning shower.

Through increased consciousness, we can also further explore how our bodies are programmed. Dopamine is the ‘feel good’ organic chemical in the body and if we get to the bottom of all the gadgets and software we buy and use, they are all to the same end of filling the void of this primate need to feel good and be connected. Evaluate what your habits of patterns and addictions are, in order to best evaluate what serves you and what doesn’t.

Biohacking expert Teemu Arina measured his activities using apps like RescueTime to see how much time he spent at a computer. He combined that data with the Moment App to check time spent on his phone. Together it gave him a relatively accurate gauge of his daily habits. This type of information can in turn become a platform for crucial improvement upgrades.

SLEEP: Once routines are measured, focus is more wisely placed on recovery rather than productivity, as recover is more than half of training. The amount of sleep you need depends on the individual and also on the state of health. With sickness or an inflammatory infection, obviously more sleep is needed. At least 20% of sleep should be deep sleep because this phase is the most restorative part of sleep when the lymphatic system flushes out the metabolic byproducts and toxic waste that accumulates in the brain. REM sleep (the lighter sleep) is difficult to measure accurately, but it’s the phase of sleep when learning from the day is consolidated. This is why taking breaks and short naps throughout the day for 20 to 90 minutes 6 to 8 hours from wakeup is beneficial. Biological rhythm is important and good sleep can help in preventing diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Sleep hacks include wearing a sleeping mask and using noise protection.

To wind down before sleep, try lavender oil which lowers cortisol and wear blue-light blocking glasses like the ones Arnold Schwarzenegger wears from Swannies when looking at a screen or phone 90 minutes before bed, to protect your body’s natural ability to produce melatonin.

WORK: To understand what happens in the workplace we must broaden our perspective of ergonomics from only physical and organizational, to also include cognitive ergonomics. This is about how you recover, and can maintain productivity and performance without burning out in the process. The most important factor in ergonomics is indoor climate. Thyroid and gut problems can come from poor air quality and too much carbon dioxide literally makes us dumb, because it affects our cognition. Essential oils such as rosemary in a diffuser can help to combat mold and also alleviate pressure on the sinuses. Great air purifying plants are: Dwarf Date Palm, Boston Fern, Kimberley Queen Fern, Spider Plant and Chinese Evergreen.

Hack your work day with at least a few breaks where you cut down stimulus for your visual cortex. Lie down for 10 minutes with noise-cancellation headphones, or listen to binaural beats to increase alpha and get into the creative zone along with diffused pine oil and lots of plants around.

Posture: The ‘mobile device posture’ is highly alarming especially in humans as young as seven years old, with head and gaze fixed downwards. This posture can cause many serious physical problems including vertebral disc degeneration. The best angle to sit is at around 130 degrees. Sit with as little pressure as possible, even from restrictive clothing as it only takes light pressure to cut off or hinder blood flow through the veins. Contrary to common belief, sitting is not a natural resting position or the best way to relax, nor are standing desks the solution. Squatting is a better way to rest, and the main point is to alternate positions and try to sit on the very edge of your chair and find your sitting bones because pressure on your soft tissues increases pressure to the organs. If you sit a lot, a saddle chair like Sauli’s is a good idea.

NUTRITION: Rethink diets away from the traditional framework, and instead cater nutrition to your environment and the work you do. Those who train in the gym know they need protein to lift heavy weights, but we rarely think about eating for the other things we do. A person ploughing fields is actively engaged in physical work and needs different food from someone maxing out their brain at a computer. If you’re looking at a screen all day you need to feed your eyes with foods rich in beta carotine and lutein. Research is still being done on if eating the right things for our eyes can increase our ability to see in the dark. We also need food for our brains and nervous systems in order for them to be able to manage our work longterm.

Blood Sugar: A steady blood sugar level is essential, however the normal recommended blood sugar is not optimal for health. The classic porridge and OJ breakfast is sure to make you crash and crave only hours later. In the future we may have real time info and trackers to help us know our optimal energy and blood sugar levels, but even if the devices we have today are not entirely accurate, they can still give a good idea. 100 grams of Blueberries/bilberries are good for memory and brain function and research has proven that they aid recovery and are natural nootropics.  Other hacks for balancing blood sugar are: Vinegar (decreased gluconeogenesis), Fenugreek (decreased gastric emptying), Ginseng (decreased carbohydrate absorption), Cinnamon (enhanced insulin signaling), Barley & Oats instead of wheat (beta-glucans), Medicinal Mushrooms like Reishi, Chaga, Cordyceps, Maitake, Shiitake (beta-glucans), and the now trendy Coconut Oil (medium-chain triglycerides).

Fasting: From an evolutionary perspective when you don’t have food available your biology makes you better at finding food and increases your higher functions. Fasting types include: Eat Stop Eat (24 hour fast 1-2 times/week), The Warrior Diet (20 hour fast and 4 hour feeding window), Alternate Day Fast (36 hour fast and 12 hour feeding window), Leangains (16 hour fast and 8 hour feeding window), Bulletproof Intermittent Fasting (18 hour fast). If you have stomach problems it is good to not always put things in there. Hunters and gatherers did not eat breakfast in the morning, they hunted and gathered. Fast in a way that doesn’t make you feel irritated, and you can use MCT oil to help trigger the fast.

Brain: The brain is 60% fat. 15-20% of cerebral cortex and 30-60% of retina. So check your DHA (omega-3) for optimal brain functioning.

Staying Warm: For combating the chilly autumn and winter seasons, add cinnamon, cayenne pepper, black pepper or any thermogenic ingredients to your coffee or tea to make you feel warmer and to clear your head.

Coffee/Tea: Coffee can also balance blood sugar because it increases insulin signaling and reduces risk for type-2 diabetes. Yet coffee is not for everyone. Check if you have the CYP1A2 coffee gene to know if coffee will work for you. Coffee can also affect your eyes so sometimes hacking is also going back to the basic: “listen to your body”. Upgraded coffee can help combat the negative effects of coffee and add more boost so the crash is less pronounced. The jury is not yet out on light or dark roasted, so it’s a good idea to alternate and mix it up a bit. You can hack your coffee using beans grown at a high altitude and made in an aeropress with spring water. Easy coffee hacks include adding MCT oil, Grass-fed butter Butyrate, CLA, Cinnamon (balances blood sugar levels), L-theanine from Green Tea (reduces coffee side-effects), Cacao and Tumeric (gives an anti-inflammatory effect). Yerba Mate “Titanium Tea” (caffeine + theobromine + theophylline + saponins) is an excellent beverage to add to your repertoire according to expert nutritionist Halmetoja.

Bitters: Add some to your diet, as especially some kind of bitter drink in the morning with spices and herbs can help suppress appetite.

MIND: The good news is that stress management is a learnable skill. The side effects are exhaustion, fatigue, failure of body systems, and all the nasty you certainly want to live  without. Some amount of “good stress” is important for getting things done because cortisol is needed for activity. Where we want to place our attention is to make sure that we are not in the active state of stress for too long without adequate recovery as this can be dangerous for health. Devices like the FirstBeat sensor that tracks HRV (heart rate variability) over a period of several days, can show you if your body’s resources are being replenished as much as they are consumed. In Japan they have a saying that for every one hour at office, spend five minutes in nature. An excellent restorative practice for the body is to spend an hour in nature a day. Find out what is best for you.

Hacks for the mind can be as easy as rituals in your daily routine to help you calm down. The best hack for this purpose is deep breathing or pranayama or box breathing, all of which raise your HRV. Doctor Sovijärvi noticed shallow breathing with the upper lungs instead of slow diaphragm breathing whenever a patient came to his office stressed out. A long hard deep breath out is the quickest hack for relieving stress. Even if you have good quality food, if your sympathetic nervous system is running and you’re stressed when you’re eating it, your body won’t absorb as much, so an upgraded life begins with a healthy mind!

Join Biohacker’s Handbook team at Biohacker Summit in Helsinki, October 13-14.

Ari Meisel: Make Everything in Life Easier

Ari Meisel is an author, speaker, coach and the creator of Less Doing, More Living, a set of practices and principles designed to help the overwhelmed become more effective. He’s appeared in The New York Times, Mashable, the Huffington Post and TED. Ari had to work his way up to get where he is now. At the age of 23 he was diagnosed with an incurable chronic condition called Crohn’s disease. His work Less Doing, More Living is the result of his journey of back to health by optimizing, automating and outsourcing everything in his life. Ari says: “For any challenge, the first thing to do is optimize it.”

The disease was the point when Ari started to take his health seriously. After 4 months of self-experimentation and self-tracking he was able to get off of his meds, and 3 months after he was competing for his first triathlon. The complete recovery from Crohn’s disease as well as brilliant career as a productivity coach demonstrates the power of Less Doing.

Ari emphasizes 9 elements of the Less Doing system:

  • The 80/20 rule or Pareto’s law
  • Creating an external brain
  • Customization
  • Choose your own work week
  • Stop running errands
  • Batching
  • Organization
  • Finance
  • Wellness

Ari also shares some productivity hacks, that helped him to get more done. For example, he recommends to identify your prime time, the 90 minutes time of the day when you are most productive. You are up to 100 times more effective than any other time of the day. The key is to know when exactly that time is, and apply it in your work.

Here’s how you calculate your peak time: you measure your energy level for at least 3 weeks and observe the time when it spikes. Your “biological prime time” is the time of the day when you have the most energy, and therefore the greatest potential to be productive.

Find out more tips from Ari Meisel:

Train smart and measure your muscle activity with Mpower

Do you want to optimize your workouts? Are you serious about strength training? Forget the guesswork and let the muscle tell you what it needs. A Finnish company called Fibrux has just launched an Indiegogo campaign to crowdfund their upcoming product Mpower.

Mpower measures your muscle activation levels, but that’s not all. It actually separates the activation between fast and slow-twitch muscle fibers. Fast-twitch muscle fibers produce explosive strength and speed but they tire quickly. Slow-twitch fibers are responsible for the slow, endurance based activities. It is also important to remember, that fast-twitch muscle fibers are the biggest muscle fibers in the body. This means, that no matter if you train for strength or size, you want to maximize the activation of fast-twitch muscles.

Up to this point it has been very difficult to analyze muscle activation without professional-grade laboratory equipment. Maximizing gains also involves a lot of mysticism and so-called broscience. Everybody gives you contradicting advice. There’s one thing that everybody agrees though: For the best results, you need to work hard AND smart.

This is where the Mpower shines. It consists of an app and up to four wearable sensors. The electrodes work dry so there’s no need for skin preparation and everything is wireless over bluetooth. The sensors measure sEMG from individual muscles and detect muscle cell type (slow and fast). sEMG stands for surface electromyography and is used to evaluate and record electrical activity produced by skeletal muscles.

If you’re looking for something to give you an edge over your competition or get over a plateau, Mpower might be it. Here’s a rundown of the features:

  • Activation distribution: Distribution of activation power between slow and fast muscle cells.
  • Fast activation trend: When fast muscle cell activation level starts decreasing i.e. fast muscle cells starts getting tired.
  • Muscle fatigue index: Development of fatigue, ie when fast muscle cell activation level decreases further, indicator for successful endurance strength training.
  • Fast activation power: Momentary fast muscle cell activation power of a single exercise repetition.
  • Max fast activation power: Maximum momentary fast muscle cell activation of the specific muscle of a single exercise repetition.
  • Fast activation volume: Cumulative fast activation power per muscle during your workout.
  • Activation power balance: Activation power between same muscle on left and right side. (compare the activation power b/w)
  • Activation power ratio: Activation power between two arbitrary muscles. (compare the activation power b/w)
  • Activation power: Momentary (slow + fast muscle cell) activation power of a single exercise repetition.
  • Max activation power: Maximum momentary total muscle cell activation of the specific muscle of a single exercise repetition.
  • Activation volume: Cumulative activation power per muscle.

The app has an instant workout feature, which you can use to start measuring right away. You can also build your own workout and configure movements, sets, reps and weights. The app has a library of 100 workouts and more to come. Of course library like this can never be complete because of the countless variations of every exercise. We suggested that they implement a custom exercise feature, so we can program our own quirky biohacker exercises in there.

The product is not void of problems. It was challenging to find the exact spot from the individual muscle where to attach the sensor pod. We were informed however, that Fibrux will deliver information sheets with the final product, from where it’s easier to pinpoint the optimal location for the pods. The app is also only available for Android. Other platforms are on the roadmap.

Speaking of pods – if you decide to buy the product, consider purchasing more than one pod. Each of our test group members had only one pod each. it became apparent very quickly that switching the pod around was a bit of a hassle. Besides, if you are doing big compound lifts, it’s not just one muscle you’re interested in. With multiple pods you also get valuable information of the imbalances in your body and movements. The app supports up to four pods and it is recommended to get at least two. With one pod you get limited benefits.

Fibrux has nailed the hardware pretty solid. The app however still needs a lot of work to deliver all the expected benefits. The Indiegogo campaign exist mainly to develop the app further. Features like calendar and a way to chart your workout progress are still absent and the user interface definitely needs some work. The technology in Mpower is really great, and we hope that they get the funding they need, to finish the app.

The important question at this point is this: do you need this product? If you like to go to the gym every now and then and do some bicep curls, you’ll get some bragging rights with Mpower at most. On the other hand, if you are result oriented in your strength training or bodybuilding, you’ll get great value out of Mpower to optimize your workouts. Especially when combined with professional coaching. Mpower has the potential to become the gold standard in the strength training circuit. Let’s fund their campaign and make it happen.

Support Mpower’s Indiegogo campaign here