5th Annual Bulletproof Biohacking Conference, Day 1

I was privileged to attend the Bulletproof Biohacking Conference again this year. Now in its 5th year, this conference is one of the most sought after conferences, and one of the highlights of my year. Once again, the conference was held at the Pasadena Convention Center in Pasadena, California.

I arrived late Thursday night and was able to get right to sleep thanks to a thermostat that I could hack to reduce my core temperature and my TrueDark Twilight glasses which got the melatonin flowing right away.

The first day began with registration, complimentary Bulletproof Coffee and a quick walk around the Tech Hall before the morning opening presentations. Registration was automated this year, as your pass was printed on demand upon signing in at an iPad station, which was a significant improvement over the prior year, where my pass was missing and they had ran out of 3-day pass cards when they printed a new one. This year's registration kit included a program, a thin grocery style bag, a copy of the September 2017 edition of Life Extension Magazine and assorted coupons and advertisements for vendors in the Tech Hall and along the corridor.

The first day welcome presentation included a special opening Maori Haka lead by a Bulletproof Coach from New Zealand. If you have never experienced one in person, it is truly intimidating to see, and energizing to partake in. No wonder the Maori Warriors were always feared, and no wonder as to why the practice continues today.

"Your intentions shape your reality." Dave Asprey

Dave's opening talk focused on Gratitude and Intention. He read a quote from the Dalai Lama regarding being grateful for being alive and taking advantage of the opportunity it brings. Intention, is an interesting concept, but similar to an actionable to-do list, I will find that writing out your intentions has amazing results. If you have been living under a rock the past five or so years, you can find more about Dave Asprey and the Bulletproof Diet here.

Gratitude. Growth. Game Plan. Group. Giving. Greatness.

Lewis Howes continued the Gratitude topic stating that Gratitude "starts your engine" and insisted that your Gratitude needs to be shared in order to be effective. His topic of Growth seemed to align with a principle I am very familiar with: Continuous Improvement. The key to a good Game Plan is to keep it simple. He reiterated the popular phase "that you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with (your Group)" and concluded with the importance of Giving to feel true fulfillment. All are no doubt his pillars of Greatness.

Sleep Hacking

Perhaps the best talk of the day in terms of actionable items was Dr. Michael Breus' hacks for better sleep. While his recommendations on adjusting your environment, your eating and napping habits were good, the one I have found most powerful is determining your ideal bed time. On average, we all sleep in 90 minute sleep cycles, and most people have five cycles for a total of 450 minutes, or 7.5 hours. This puts the 8-10 hour recommendation flat on its back and leads to my pro tip: schedule bed times in 90 minute increments of when you need to get up. While it is great to determine if you do in fact need 7.5 hours to sleep, it is far more important to set a wake up time and stick to it, and ensuring you go to bed at an appropriate time ensures you wake up when you are at the top of Phase 1 sleep and not the depths of Phase 3 and 4 sleep.

Dave's Year in Biohacking

Dave closed out the first day with a retrospective on his year in Biohacking. Anyone familiar with Dave will not find his use of stem cells, blue light blocking technology, red light therapy, and cryo-therapy abnormal, but his latest protocols are interesting. I was very interested in his MSH injection which is said to decrease glucose, increase thyroid hormone, block PDE4 (a la Viagra) and even increase melanin production (get tan). After reading The Wahls Protocol by Dr. Terry Wahl's, I was not surprised by Dave's interest in increasing his Polyphenols through drinking more decaf coffee, eating more herbs and his new Polyphenomenal supplement. He touched briefly on VIOME, a new technology that can detect fungus, bacteria, parasites and phages (bacterial viruses). Look for more on that in a future post.

Stay well engineered,

Devon

These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. These statements or products referenced are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

I Wear My Sunglasses at Night, Part 2

As a follow up to my previous posts about the importance of minimizing blue light during the day and blocking it at night, I thought I would write about my recent experience with my new Daywalker Elite and Twilight glasses by TrueDark.

I received a pair of Daywalker glasses in my most recent Biohacked Box, a box of items curated by biohacker Dave Asprey himself and sent out quarterly. I liked the style better than the Swanwick glasses that I purchased at the 2016 Bulletproof Biohacking Conference, and while the Daywalker glasses appear to be not as deeply tinted, I have not noticed a significant difference when staring a computer screen for hours at a time, or when driving at night. WARNING: Neither Swanwick nor TruDark products are approved for driving at night.

The Twilight glasses look a bit out of a science fiction movie, part Night Owl, part Batman, with the ridges along the brow. The foam lining the glasses ensures no stray light penetrates the sides, robing you of your precious melatonin.

The Twilight glasses are a little bulkier than my red tinted aviators, so they will likely not replace my aviators in my daily carry bag that accompanies me out of town, but I will certainly use the Twilight glasses when I am home.

If reducing blue light is not part of your daily routine, I highly recommend it, and I also highly recommend TrueDark.

Stay well engineered,

Devon

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These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. These statements or products referenced are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.