Biohacking & HealthSpan

In the last article, I explained what flow is and why it can be such a positive state. In this second part, I will summarise the best practical techniques to promote it, drawn from the works of psychology theory and research. These include a myriad of ways in which to structure the external environment as well as one’s inner world.

Our modern lifestyles are slowly killing us: by overeating and being excessively sedentary, we might have brought upon ourselves an epidemic in metabolic diseases. Our body is not optimized for these modern ways of life and we can’t change that overnight, nor even in the course of a few generations. Evolution is slow.

Throughout evolution, the survival of humans may have greatly depended on the constraints of needing to acquire food. Food deprivation was most likely one of the biggest energetic and evolutionary challenges to our bodies - it is likely that many of our ancestors could only acquire food during daytime, having to fast for long hours; it is also likely that long periods of food scarcity were common. So, those who were able to endure in these conditions ended up being favoured by evolution.

The fact that our bodies store fat as a backup long-term, high-energy source, and that we can survive relying solely on it for a fair amount of time, is an indication of how human evolution prepared us (and maybe even optimized us) to go through periods of fasting.

Vanilla & Berry Coconut Chia Pudding 

Serves 2 

Ingredients 

• ¼ cup chia seeds
• 1 ½ cups of coconut milk (100% pure)
• 2 tsp vanilla powder
• 1 - 2 tsp cinnamon powder
• ¾ - 1 cup organic berries + extra to garnish with
• Fresh mint leaves for garnishing
• A pinch or two of coconut flakes

Optional Add Ins: raw honey, pure maple syrup or liquid stevia to taste, other fruits, lemon or orange zest and juice, chopped pure organic dark chocolate, nuts or seeds or nut butter mixed through.  

The ketogenic diet is a low-carbohydrate, high-fat, adequate protein diet. This dietary pattern changes the way our body produces energy – its basic principle is to get your body into a metabolic state known as ketosis where carbohydrate stores are depleted and fat becomes the main energy source. The name ketosis comes from the molecules that the liver starts to produce from fat to be used as fuel - ketone bodies or ketones.

Ketone-fuelling has become a lifestyle approach of choice because it allows fast weight loss with no harm to physical or mental performance and resistance. In fact, an effective transition to ketosis may actually improve these outcomes.

On a regular or high-carbohydrate diet, our body is in a state optimized for the use of dietary carbohydrates. But in a continuous state of carbohydrate restriction, the body puts its plan B in motion, switching gears such as to become more efficient at using fat as the main energy source. Ketosis boosts the body's capacity to use fats as fuel.

More than forty years ago Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi posed a simple question: “How does it feel to master something?” To figure this out, he interviewed hundreds of people who had demonstrated excellence in their chosen field. They included rock climbers, painters, chess players, basketball players, athletes and surgeons.

The short answer to his question was: joy.

“A strong relaxation and calmness comes over me. I have no worries of failure. What a powerful and warm feeling it is! I want to expand, to hug the world. I feel enormous power to effect something of grace and beauty.” - professional dancer describing a sense of control experienced while dancing.

Prep time: 20mins

Cook time: 35mins

Yield: One loaf

Ingredients:

• 3 ripe bananas
• 3 organic free-range eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla powder
• 1 tbsp coconut nectar (or sweetener of your choice)
• 2 tbsp Grass Fed Ghee or coconut oil
• 250 g almond flour
• 1/2 tsp Sea Salt
• 2 tbsp Chocolate Powder or organic raw cacao powder
• 1 tsp gluten-free baking powder
• 4-6 nitrate free bacon strips (~1 cup)

Ingredients

Serves 2

• 1 – 1 ½ Chocolate powder
• 2 Tbsp Grass fed Ghee
• A pinch of Himalayan salt
• 1 ½ cups organic coconut cream
• ½ cup of boiling filtered water
• Raw honey, pure maple syrup or liquid stevia to taste
• Peppermint essential oil (food grade) to taste
• Vanilla powder, sprinkled on top

Optional Extras: 1 Tbsp of grass-fed gelatin (bloomed), for the hot chocolate version only.

Modern lifestyles, particularly in the “western world”, are clearly having an impact on human health. Chronic stress and anxiety are recurrent and have a highly deleterious effect, leading to the development of chronic diseases and to an earlier onset of many age-related conditions.

Our feeding habits have also changed rather significantly. Throughout evolution, humans were designed for feeding patterns that highly differ from those currently observed. Modern western diets rely heavily on high-energy, low-nutrient processed food, for which we are not optimised. These choices are not innocuous - nutrition is a fundamental element in our health and in our resistance to disease.

The steady rise in chronic conditions observed in the last decades is most likely a consequence of these lifestyle options. Today’s most prevalent chronic diseases have been found to share a common ground that can be attributed to modern environments and behaviours.