Hvmn Enhancement: Biohacking, Health, And Cognition

Biohacking is an umbrella term for the passion and mission to enhance and improve upon the human body, often with a hacker-like ethos. One arm of this comes in the form of "grinders", a growing collective of biohackers whose expertise lies in functional body modification (usually with electronic hardware) that extends their human capabilities.  Episode 43 features Tim Cannon, a human host of multiple implants including RFID's (radio-frequency identification devices) and magnets. His interest in being open to the idea of human enhancement stems from adolescence, when playing role-playing video games (where you are free to build up your character to your own liking and continually level up to become more powerful) made him wonder "Why can't we do this to ourselves?"  Some years later, and Tim is in the midst of a movement that pushes citizen science forward and in the process of creating an implant (named Northstar 2) that has a variety of functions such as a built-in glucose monitor and gesture recognition. Al

Meal replacement drinks, shakes, and powders (like the popular Soylent) have taken the tech world by a storm. There's a huge and proven market for people who just don't have the time to have a well-balanced meal and would rather rely on a packaged drink that provides them the nutrition of a complete meal. Although largely supported by its users, there has recently been an increased demand for a meal replacement that makes its macros even more healthy...a keto-friendly version.   Episode 42 features Dr. Cameron Sepah, the creator of the world's first nutritionally complete ketogenic meal replacement Actualize.  A practicing clinician and contributing academic, Cameron has a unique background where he has dipped his toes in many areas of medicine, science, and tech. He was a founding team member of Omada Health, a behavioral change program that used the power of technology to help a large number of people overcome diabetes and obesity. Cameron's new pursuit, a keto-friendly version of the many meal replacements

Have you ever tried memorizing and recalling the exact order of 59 decks of cards randomly shuffled together? Our guest this week not only attempted this incredible feat of brain power but succeeded in doing it, breaking the World Guinness Record for "Greatest Memory".  Episode 41 features Dave Farrow, a master of memory and PR strategies. Due to a difficult and formidable childhood filled with health problems and near-death experiences, Dave began to fall behind on his academia and had little help from outside resources. Forced to take matters into his own hands, Dave explored behavior modification approaches, such as creating specific memory techniques that were tailored to combat his ADHD and dyslexia. His determination for self-learning and cognitive improvement expanded to becoming a two-time Guinness World Record holder for memorizing and reciting 59 decks of playing cards all randomly shuffled together. Get this, he was allowed to only see each card once with zero repetition.  Geoffrey Woo and Dave dis

Biohacking comes in many forms, from those wanting to hack their work productivity, those aiming to optimize long-term health, and those wanting to correct their bodily shortcomings and deficiencies. This week, we talk to one biohacker whose mission might sound like something straight out of science fiction...adding additional sensors to the human body. Welcome to the HVMN Enhancement podcast. Episode 40 features Neil Harbisson, the world's first cyborg. Growing up color-blind, Neil sought to experience color without altering his existing gray-scale vision. His solution? Implanting an antenna in his head that allows him to perceive visible and invisible colors such as infrareds and ultraviolets via sound waves. This initial modification to his body spurred his current passion for cybernetics.  He is a co-founder of the Cyborg Foundation, an international organization that aims to help humans become cyborgs, defend cyborg rights and promote cyborgism as a social and artistic movement. Geoffrey Woo and Neil div

We always stress that tracking and measuring your biometrics is essential to successful biohacking, but sometimes you need to remember one simple thing: Listen to your body. Episode 39 features Ben Coomber, host of UK's #1 health & fitness podcast (Ben Coomber Radio) and writer for major publications such as Men's Fitness and The Daily Telegraph. A regular rugby player, Ben spends much of his time maximizing his athletic performance through the use of high-fidelity fitness, nutrition, and supplementation. As someone who dealt with childhood obesity and a multitude of other issues, Ben understands the difficulties of changing one's lifestyle even if they know it is for the better. While Ben has tinkered with various regimens and diets, he has concluded that his natural intuition is key to his own personalized health goals. Through educating and sharing his personal experiences to the world, Ben continues to push his audience to become a better, healthier version of themselves. Geoffrey Woo and Ben discuss

If you begin thinking about the human body as a system, where inputs directly cause outputs, you'd become more mindful of the one input we put into our bodies every single day: Food. Episode 38 features James Colquhoun, the filmmaker of some of the most internationally acclaimed food documentaries (Food Matters, Hungry for Change). After being driven to explore nutrition in order to save his father's life and seeing the results of a changed diet, James became inspired to spread the knowledge and change the lives of many others. An early contributor to the biohacking ethos by pushing people to be more thoughtful of the food they put into their bodies, James has devoted himself to arming people with the knowledge they deserve to live a healthy and prosperous life. Geoffrey Woo and James discuss the importance of not being dogmatic about diets, how certain practices from the past are making a comeback to modern society (i.e. feast and famine periods), and the influence nutrigenomics (as well as nature-based phil

Episode 37 features Dr. Priyanka Wali, a forward-thinking doctor who is experienced with guiding patients through a prescribed ketogenic diet. Originally a vegetarian, Dr. Wali is now an advocate of the ketogenic diet. She's helped those with diabetes to those simply curious about the diet for health optimization purposes. One such biohacker Dr. Wali personally guided was Business Insider's own Melia Robinson, who recently wrote about her experience being keto.  Geoffrey Woo and Dr. Wali discuss the rapidly growing interest in the ketogenic diet, why more doctors should view nutrition as an integral part in health and medicine, and Geoff's experience fasting for seven straight days!

Welcome to the THINKING Podcast, produced by HVMN.  Episode 36 features Dr. Ted Achacoso, an exceptional polymath who has professionally trained in interventional neuroradiology, pharmacology, neurology, medical informatics, neuro-interventional radiology interventional endocrinology, nutritional medicine, and more. After spending years absorbing knowledge from different areas of medicine, Dr. Achacoso current mission now revolves around HOMe: "Health Optimization Medicine". Health Optimization Medicine just does that: Optimize health. Sounds a lot like biohacking, right? Instead of waiting for a patient to develop a reason for medicine, Dr. Achacoso is aiming to swing the pendulum towards optimizing health by detecting and correcting imbalances in your body (hormones, nutrients, toxins, etc). By doing this and taking precautionary measures, this practice has the potential to not only prevent future disease but also bring you to your most optimal shape.  Geoffrey Woo and Dr. Achacoso discuss the reasoning and

Welcome to the THINKING Podcast, produced by HVMN.  Episode 35 features Jasmina Aganovic, president of Mother Dirt, a product that flips the switch on the normal school of thought of modern hygiene. Instead of cleaning bacteria from your skin, Mother Dirt aims to restore & maintain the good bacteria. What's the rationale behind this, you ask?  The microbiome.  The microbiome is a community of microorganisms (such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses) that inhabit a particular environment. The particular environment we're talking about here is your human body, which is home to 100 trillion microbes. Before you jump out of your skin, it's known that these microbes play an essential part in our bodily function and survival. The popular frenzy surrounding probiotics is fueled in large part by surging scientific and public interest in the human microbiome. Mother Dirt is playing a huge part in leading this new space in the dermatology industry by bringing microbiome-friendly products to consumers that are backed by

Welcome to the THINKING Podcast, produced by HVMN.  Episode 34 features Geoffrey Woo returning to the mic with Brianna Stubbs, who is now formally a member of the growing HVMN team. Dr. Stubbs, coming from an impressive academic and athletic background, is leading our Research and Development team in our efforts to contribute to the space of human enhancement.  Geoff and Dr. Stubbs discuss the differences between industry-funded research and government-funded research, not shying away from the uncomfortable truths and nature of any funded study. Dr. Stubbs dives into the difficulties scientists have including women into a study, in which standardizing is a challenging process due to constantly changing variables (i.e hormones) that are present in women. Geoff also ponders about the role of science and research development in the world of top-tier athletics, in which Brianna reveals that it is tough to convince elite athletes to partake in any experiment, likening them to a well-oiled machine in which any outs

Episode 33 features Geoffrey Woo and Michael Brandt, who are some of the most prolific thought leaders in the space of human enhancement. They've made a name for themselves (featured on NYT, WSJ, and BI) by building up Nootrobox as one of the leading nootropic companies. Now, they are taking the next step in their mission to make better humans by launching an all-encompassing human enhancement company: HVMN. This episode dives into the long-term vision Geoff and Michael have with HVMN and why now is the perfect time for human enhancement. Plus, nuggets of backstory regarding the origin of Nootrobox! Check out HVMN: https://hvmn.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=post If you have any special guest requests and/or questions, email our producer zhill@hvmn.com!

Welcome to the THINKING Podcast, produced by HVMN.  Episode 32 features Nathaniel Krasnoff, a successful venture capitalist who started from humble beginnings and continues to prosper thanks to the various biohacks he's experimented with over the years. An avid polyphasic sleep practitioner, Nathaniel works around the clock to help start-up founders realize their company vision. Geoff and Nathaniel discuss productivity hacks, Nathaniel's journey to the top of the largest mountain in Africa (and how HVMN product SPRINT made it possible), and the culture of Silicon Valley.    

This week, Geoff sits down with Dan Doty, the founder of Evryman and a recurring guest on the Joe Rogan show. Dan leads various "men's communities", groups of men who come together to find their true selves and get in touch with their emotions...often retreating in nature to block the distractions of the modern world. Dan makes it crystal clear that these groups harbor no anti-feminist sentiments, and in fact stresses that these retreats are less about finding what it means to be a man...but what it means to be human.  Geoff and Dan discuss the importance of self-reflection, the problem with social constructions regarding what it means to be a "man", and the techniques Dan has learned over the years mentoring young troubled men and getting them on the right path.    SUBSCRIBE for weekly episodes that will make you THINK!

This week, Geoff sits down with Dan Doty, the founder of Evryman and a recurring guest on the Joe Rogan show. Dan leads various "men's communities", groups of men who come together to find their true selves and get in touch with their emotions...often retreating in nature to block the distractions of the modern world. Dan makes it crystal clear that these groups harbor no anti-feminist sentiments, and in fact stresses that these retreats are less about finding what it means to be a man...but what it means to be human.  Geoff and Dan discuss the importance of self-reflection, the problem with social constructions regarding what it means to be a "man", and the techniques Dan has learned over the years mentoring young troubled men and getting them on the right path.    SUBSCRIBE for weekly episodes that will make you THINK!

Joel Stanley, the CEO of CW Hemp, joins us on the THINKING Podcast to discuss the origins of his family-run CBD company, the state of the rapidly growing industry, and how his CBD product can be used for biohacking. The inception of his company is especially interesting. CW Hemp breeds high CBD plants, the cannabinoid substance in cannabis and hemp that is non-psychoactive (by having very little THC) but maintains documented medicinal benefits, known for its anti-anxiety and anticonvulsant effects. Their flagship product was used to stop Charlotte's epileptic seizures, a little girl who had gone through every other medical procedure to no avail. Her usage of the product was featured in a CNN documentary and garnered national media coverage, and the product was then named after her. Since then, CW Hemp not only provides biohackers with a product that can protect the brain but also continues to be a beacon of hope for parents with children in similar situations.   SUBSCRIBE for weekly episodes that will make yo

Joel Stanley, the CEO of CW Hemp, joins us on the THINKING Podcast to discuss the origins of his family-run CBD company, the state of the rapidly growing industry, and how his CBD product can be used for biohacking. The inception of his company is especially interesting. CW Hemp breeds high CBD plants, the cannabinoid substance in cannabis and hemp that is non-psychoactive (by having very little THC) but maintains documented medicinal benefits, known for its anti-anxiety and anticonvulsant effects. Their flagship product was used to stop Charlotte's epileptic seizures, a little girl who had gone through every other medical procedure to no avail. Her usage of the product was featured in a CNN documentary and garnered national media coverage, and the product was then named after her. Since then, CW Hemp not only provides biohackers with a product that can protect the brain but also continues to be a beacon of hope for parents with children in similar situations.   SUBSCRIBE for weekly episodes that will make yo

If you've been keeping up with the recent emergence of more biohackers and athletes looking to optimize their performance and health by utilizing ketones, you know that the research behind this fuel source has been increasing steadily. As the data grows thanks to the hard work of talented and intelligent researchers, so does the proof of the benefits brought by being in ketosis.  One such talented researcher in the space is Dominic D'Agostino, who's primary focus is developing and testing metabolic-based therapies, including ketogenic diets, ketone esters, ketone supplements and metabolic-based drugs. Dominic, in true biohacker form, often performs various n=1 tests on himself with ketone supplements, namely ketone salts and esters. As Geoff digs into Dominic's lifestyle as a ketone researcher and his scientific findings, Dominic drops countless nuggets of knowledge regarding the science and research behind ketones. Not only has ketones showed improvements in cognitive and physical performance, but Dominic is

If you've been keeping up with the recent emergence of more biohackers and athletes looking to optimize their performance and health by utilizing ketones, you know that the research behind this fuel source has been increasing steadily. As the data grows thanks to the hard work of talented and intelligent researchers, so does the proof of the benefits brought by being in ketosis.  One such talented researcher in the space is Dominic D'Agostino, who's primary focus is developing and testing metabolic-based therapies, including ketogenic diets, ketone esters, ketone supplements and metabolic-based drugs. Dominic, in true biohacker form, often performs various n=1 tests on himself with ketone supplements, namely ketone salts and esters. As Geoff digs into Dominic's lifestyle as a ketone researcher and his scientific findings, Dominic drops countless nuggets of knowledge regarding the science and research behind ketones. Not only has ketones showed improvements in cognitive and physical performance, but Dominic is

We've spoken with multiple guests on the podcast who have had strong opinions on the current U.S health care system. Most of these guests have been on the side of the patient, feeling as if doctors have been failing them and refusing to evolve with the times.  Enter Kevin Pho, a physician who gives us a refreshing reminder that there are doctors who are proud to be forward-thinking and are doing what they can to get their voices heard. After being in the "system" for years and experiencing the countless institutionalized obstacles doctors must overcome to simply focus on actual patient care, Dr. Pho built one of the most read medicine blogs and has been crowned "Social media's leading physician voice". Geoff and Dr. Pho discuss the dysfunctional health care system, where Dr. Pho lends us his insight as a primary care doctor. He shares how important it is to recognize the evolution of the doctor-patient relationship, and stresses that instead of the doctor filling in a wholly authoritative role to the patient

Geoff sits down and has a 1:1 conversation with Professor Thomas Seyfried, a renowned and controversial researcher who authored "Cancer as a Metabolic Disease". Cancer has generally been considered a genetic disease since its inception, but Professor Seyfried fights against that view and argues that it is a metabolic disease. Encouraging doctors to look into metabolic treatments as the first method to combat cancer cells, Seyfried may have a point. Metabolic treatments include caloric restriction, fasting, and ketogenic diets...all of which Seyfried speculates have the ability to help the body and kill off cancer cells. There are certain bodies of research showing that cancer cells thrive on sugars and amino acids, which metabolic therapies have the potential to control. Could cancer truly be a metabolic disease?