This article is intended for educational purposes only. It should go without saying: before taking a new dietary supplement or making drastic dietary changes, please consult with your doctor to ensure any changes are suitable for your unique situation.
Dear Fellow Biohackers,
In this second installment of my Biohacking 101 series, I discuss the importance of nutrition and metabolism from the perspective of a non-biochemist biohacker. For a large portion of my life thus far, I’ve remained willfully ignorant as to the primary role food plays in our body. It’s common in modern life to view a meal as simply a palette of flavors, but in today’s vast selection of hyper-palatable and calorically empty foods, it’s all too easy to trick our brains into thinking we are consuming nutrient dense diets, when the reality is quite the contrary. I will illustrate my approach to understanding the role nutrition and metabolism plays in our bodies and how I use this knowledge to fine-tune my diet and supplementation regimen.
Nutrition is “The process of nourishing or being nourished, especially the process by which a living organism assimilates food and uses it for growth and replacement of tissues.” [1] Metabolism is “The chemical processes occurring within a living cell or organism that are necessary for the maintenance of life. In metabolism, some substances are broken down to yield energy for vital processes while other substances, necessary for life, are synthesized.” [1] Because it would take a library of books to explain the complexity of the currently-understood systems of the human body, I’ll focus this writing on the highly-simplified, high-level, and systematic approach I employ to educate myself and make critical decisions regarding diet and supplementation.
The key premise herein is to learn everything you can about the substances you are (or aren’t) consuming. Biohacking nutrition requires paying careful attention to what you eat at both the macronutrient level and the micronutrient level. Furthermore, it entails continually improving your understanding of these dietary components and their role in the body; this will arm you with the necessary knowledge to make smart dietary choices and design a diet tailored for peak performance.
The three high-level categories of macronutrients (that we all know and love) are fats, proteins, and carbohydrates; but the reality is far more complex than this. For example, fats are part of the broader category: lipids—which also contains sterols such as cholesterol. Cholesterol is the precursor for steroids[2] such as testosterone (which is also a lipid), bile acids, and more. Other common lipids include phospholipids and glycerides. The hierarchical taxonomy of each macro-component—from the types of fatty acids that comprise a lipid to the amino acid profile of a protein source to the several classes of carbohydrates—is worth recursively breaking down into their constituent parts to fundamentally understand how each substance you consume is absorbed and utilized within the body. This is enough homework to keep anyone busy for a lifetime—especially when applied to micronutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and polyphenols which, to keep from writing a book, I’ll leave for you to discover. To give you an example of what you can look forward to, the mineral magnesium is necessary for more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body[2]; some of which involve energy production, DNA replication and RNA transcription, nerve and muscle function, brain health, glucose regulation, and amino acid activation.
Hacking nutrition starts by understanding what nutrients you should be consuming and why. If you are a beginner and don’t know where to start, an adequate jump-off point is the FDA’s Nutrition Labeling Fact Sheets—specifically the Vitamins and Minerals Chart as well as the individual macronutrient fact sheets. Look at what the FDA has established for recommended daily values and assess your diet to ensure you are, at a minimum, meeting your daily needs. If you are lacking in a particular vitamin or mineral, adjust or add foods to optimize your intake; it is best to do this with whole foods. Should this be insufficient based on your research, then you may want to consider supplementation.
My Daily Considerations
Am I consuming the proper ratios of sodium to potassium and magnesium to calcium? What about other electrolytes?
Have I consumed any berries today? For rabbit hole travelers, look up the bioactive principles contained in various berries and look for published research on the individual components.
Have I consumed the recommended servings of vegetables today?
Did I get enough protein today? Individual amino acids that comprise a protein source are crucial for myriad functions in the body and are worth individually researching just as you would research a vitamin or mineral.
Have I been cognizant of my sugar intake?
Have I consumed enough healthy fats?
When will I stop procrastinating and invest in the darned DNA test kit to see what my ancestors ate? 🤣
Have I consumed enough choline? Choline is critical for your body. Your brain and nervous system need it to regulate memory, mood, muscle control, and other functions. [3]
Some supplements I take or have taken after researching:
Alpha-GPC
DHA
Uridine Monohydrate
Creatine Monohydrate
Phosphatidyl Choline
Vitamin D3
B Vitamin Complex
Caffeine
L-Theanine
Nicotinamide Riboside
Magnesium L-Threonate
Again, consult with your doctor before choosing to take any dietary supplement. If you have the means, it’s a good idea get blood levels checked for nutrient deficiencies. Although far from a perfect metric in all cases, it can provide you with valuable insight into any obvious areas worth focusing your attention.
Since placing my nutrition front and center, I have personally noticed greater energy levels, higher quality sleep, and increased mental stamina. The human body is a complex system that requires care and maintenance surpassing even the most complicated man-made machines, so avoid thinking you’re going to find that one magic hack. Sadly, it doesn’t exist. The good news is that the act of sowing well-researched and smart dietary decisions into your daily life compounds into reaping some distinctly magical benefits.
References
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. The American Heritage dictionary of the English language, 5th ed. 2011.
Gropper, S. Sarreen. Smith, L. Jack. Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism, 6th ed. Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2013.