9th Annual Biohacking Conference Recap
Plus, last chance to enter the June raffle
I’m Brandon Wilson. I am constantly working toward improving my mind, body, and spirit using various ancient techniques and cutting-edge biohacking tools and devices. I want to be healthy, but not at the expense of being happy. This simple idea is what it means to be wellthy.
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I returned to Arizona on Sunday afternoon after a whirlwind experience in Orlando, Florida. Dave Asprey & team knocked it out of the park! I am wiped out and still processing my experiences over the last four days. Allow me to share some highlights.
I received the incredible VIP gift bag upon checking in. I am familiar with some products, while others are brand new to me.
I started each day with a trip to the Danger Coffee Bar, which served unlimited coffee (Bulletproof-style) until 3:00. Little did I know Dave Asprey would be serving me a cup.
Why is it called Danger Coffee? Who knows what you might do after you drink it? You might become a dangerous person.
I’m unsure whether I transformed into a dangerous person, but I felt good and primed for the speakers each day. Let’s get right to one of my favorite talks.
Jim Kwik is a leading expert in speed-reading, memory improvement, and brain performance. Jim says there is no such thing as a good or bad memory; there’s only a trained or untrained memory. He believes we can all improve our memory recall and proved it with a simple exercise called the memory palace.
Memory is about attention and not retention. The more senses you can use to pay attention to what you want to remember, the better your recall. His example involves the top ten foods to support brain health. Listen to the audio (link at the top of the newsletter) for the whole experience.
Jim Kwik’s Top 10 Foods for Brain Health
Avocado
Blueberries
Broccoli
Eggs
Olive oil
Fish
Leafy green vegetables
Turmeric
Walnuts
Dark chocolate
Jim also told us about his free Brain C.O.D.E Assessment that reveals your brain animal type: cheetah, owl, dolphin, or elephant. I’m an owl, by the way.
Another impressive speaker was Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks, President and CEO of Ecos. Ecos is a family-owned, US-based business that makes eco-conscious, non-toxic cleaning products. Can you believe no agency regulates the cleaning products under your sink? If you buy traditional cleaning products, you are bringing many toxic chemicals into your home. Kelly convinced me to throw out all my cleaning products and replace them with Ecos products, which you can buy online or at many retailers.
Of course, the lunches were Bulletproof-Diet-approved, such as a grass-fed burger with bacon, sweet potato, and other veggies.
There was also a vegan option.
I thought I was fueled up and ready for anything until Dr. Joseph Mercola took the stage.
He started his talk by reinforcing his fundamental recommendations for better health:
Get sunlight exposure every day (he says ideally one hour).
Check vitamin D level and target between 60-80 ng/ml. Supplementation of 8,000 IU daily may be necessary and include magnesium/K2 and take with fat.
Regular exercise and resistance training to minimize muscle loss due to aging.
Avoid excess linoleic acid (primary source: seed oils).
Two strategies that benefit longevity are calorie restriction and minimizing these amino acids: methionine, tryptophan, cysteine, and histidine.
Dr. Mercola then introduced the idea that one of our biggest challenges is overcoming confirmation bias.
Confirmation bias - Tendency for people to process information by looking for or interpreting information consistent with their beliefs.
Dr. Mercola has changed his thinking on some topics, and he challenged us to reconsider our opinions:
Low-carb/high-fat/fasting diets increase the risk of dying early by 30%, whereas low-fat/high-carb diets decrease the risk by the same amount1. Diets with more than 30% fat lead to glycolysis, high lactate, and inefficient fuel compared to diets with less than 30% fat. As a result of this study, Dr. Mercola is now eating more carbs and less fat.
He challenged the notion that complex carbs are better than simple carbs. Complex carbs are metabolized in the intestine by bacteria, and gram-negative bacteria release an endotoxin (LPS). He suggests that the best carbs are ripe fruits and well-cooked starches. He also avoids most grains.
He no longer believes in extended fasting due to the increase in cortisol. He practices an 8-12 hour feeding window and recommends cutting off calories 3-4 hours before bed.
Instead of taking NAD+ supplements, he suggests people may want to supplement with niacinamide, which has been shown to increase NAD+ 32-fold.
Collagen is 30% of protein in the body; he says 1/3 of protein intake should be collagen.
There’s no convincing evidence that cold therapy is good for you. While cold exposure increases dopamine, it also increases adrenalin and cortisol. He doesn’t buy into the purported benefits of brown fat based on new research2.
It’s better to supplement downstream (DHEA and Pregnenolone) than to use bio-identical hormones.
We should focus on increasing carbon dioxide instead of nitric oxide using intermittent hypoxia.
Pharma discredited aspirin, but some people may benefit from daily low-dose aspirin.
I haven’t read these studies or fully processed these opinions, but I’m willing to set my confirmation bias aside and do some research to see where I land.
Tech Wonderland
The Tech Wonderland is my dream come true. It was one giant room of biohacking nirvana. You can sample products and get great discounts. You can also meet the people behind the products.
I was excited to talk with Andy Hnilo, the founder and CEO of Alitura. Andy was on The Life Stylist podcast recently. After listening to Andy overcome many challenges and hearing that he recently moved to Sedona and will be opening a brick-and-mortar store, I had to stop by and say hi. He actually looks like a superhero in real life, but more importantly, he’s very spiritual and dedicated to producing the highest quality products for your skin. Check out the product he just launched called the Meteorite Facial Scrub.
I also wanted to say hi to Steven Sashen, CEO of Xero Shoes, and tell him I am a true believer. I wrote about my experience with Xero shoes in a previous newsletter, and I’m still a big fan.
I had an extended conversation with Juraj Kocar, CEO of Somavedic. I wrote about my experience with the Somavedic device in a previous newsletter. Unfortunately, during a particularly raucous VR ping-pong session, I accidentally tripped over the cord, and the beautiful crystal shattered all over my kitchen floor. One piece of glass still connected lights up when I plug it in. Juraj asked me to contact customer service so that I can send it to them and pay a fee for a replacement.
I would be remiss if I didn’t spotlight some of our very own Be Wellthy Subscribers. I was thrilled to meet Ariel and trade notes about conference takeaways.
Renata participated in the So You Think You’re a Biohacker gameshow and walked away with several thousand Oxy Bucks to spend.
This year’s conference theme was fun, and what could be more fun than a 70s & 80s Time Capsule dance party!? Some might argue my t-shirt doesn’t constitute a costume, but Ann went all out and won my vote for best costume.
There is so much more to write about, and I will in future newsletters. In the meantime, here’s a teaser of some of the future topics based on what I explored at the conference:
🎉 🎊 Be Wellthy has 519 subscribers!
I’m sorting through all my goodies and will announce the conference raffle winner next week.
Finally, the date is set for next year’s conference: May 30th - June 1st, 2024, in Dallas, TX. Ann and I already have our tickets. Are you going to join us? Get more info on the conference website.
The Daily Habit is where I share my habits related to the fundamentals: sleep, diet, physical activity, mindfulness, and stress management.
Jim Kwik’s non-negotiable daily routine is based on four elements:
Air - Breathwork/meditation
Fire - Sunlight exposure
Water - Drink filtered water that’s been remineralized with electrolytes
Earth - Get grounded
Congratulations to last week’s winners: Keith S., Ariel E., Steve H., Renata B, and Scott S. This week is the last chance to enter the June raffle. All you have to do is email bewellthy@substack.com the correct answer to each week’s brain training, and you will be entered into a monthly raffle to win cool biohacking prizes. You must be a subscriber to win! I do respond to every email.
This week:
I have two puzzles for you. Answer either one for one raffle entry or both for two raffle entries.
An office has twenty-seven employees. If there are seven more women than men in the office, how many employees are women?
What comes next in the following sequence?
240 120 40 10 2 ?
I looked back to a year ago and saw one of my reviews of Dave Asprey’s Biohacking Box. Those were fun to get, but he shut down the program. This box inspired my brain training raffle prizes because getting a package of goodies in the mail is just cool.
Dave Asprey's Summer Biohacking Box (2022)
I’m Brandon Wilson. I am constantly working toward improving my mind, body, and spirit using various ancient techniques and cutting-edge biohacking tools and devices. I want to be healthy, but not at the expense of being happy. This simple idea is what it means to
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https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/joim.13639
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36896177/
Brandon, thanks for the writeup, I hope to make it to the next one!
Did you get any takeaways, practices or products that you plan to work into your health routine?