What is biohacking?
The term biohacking refers to practices aimed at “hacking” one’s own biology in pursuit of health and well-being, improving physical and mental performance, and preventing and slowing down aging, thereby increasing longevity.
What forms of biohacking exist?
The practices grouped under the “biohacking” umbrella are very numerous, some better known than others, but they all have in common the management or modification of environmental factors and lifestyle to exert control over one’s own biology, improving or enhancing it.
Intermittent fasting (an eating regimen that alternates meals at set times with prolonged periods of abstaining from food, to obtain benefits ranging from weight loss to reduced blood pressure and heart rate, to a lower degree of inflammation), for example, is considered a form of biohacking, as are some types of meditation.
Then there are biohacking practices that rely on various forms of technology: from common smartwatches and fitness trackers used to acquire data and consequently improve one’s lifestyle, to the use of external tools — such as dietary supplements, saunas and cryosaunas — that artificially mimic stresses such as caloric restriction, physical exercise or temperature changes to stimulate the cellular pathways that respond to alterations in homeostasis and make them more efficient.
A particular form of biohacking is called grinder and consists of implanting devices in one’s own body. Here too there is a wide range of practices, from the more conventional ones of proven usefulness (for example sensors that measure blood glucose concentration) to “more extreme” ones involving the implantation of chips for various applications not necessarily associated with health.
Are the benefits of biohacking supported by scientific evidence?
Since biohacking includes a wide range of practices, it is not possible to generalize. There are safe protocols with scientifically proven benefits, for example intermittent fasting or supplementation programs designed around the characteristics, needs and goals of each person. For other forms, however, the possible benefits are not yet supported by solid scientific evidence. Still others could even be harmful.
