ResearchSafe

California biohacking scene contrasted with lazy Britons, my take as someone trying to slow down

Posted by greg208 in Research & News - 4 points, 8 comments.

https://www.menshealth.com/uk/health/a70906060/biohacking-cheap-alternatives

The Telegraph ran a piece about the LA biohacking scene, basically saying its gone mainstream over there with people tracking everything, injecting stuff, doing red light, the lot. The hook is them moaning about how stagnant the UK is by comparison.

Not gonna lie, it winds me up a bit when journalists frame the US grind culture as something we should be copying. Just because someone in Calabasas is spending 4 hours a day on their protocol doesnt mean its working, it means theyve got too much time and too much money. I read the same piece about Bryan Johnsons missus collecting her own blood and thought, thats not health optimisation, thats a relationship red flag.

The actual science bit the article glances past is interesting though, things like continuous glucose monitors and HRV tracking are genuinely useful if youre trying to spot patterns. Cheap, non-invasive, and you can do them here without joining a cult. What do people reckon is the one cheap biohack that actually moved the needle for them?

Comments

  • biohacker_cora: To be fair the LA thing is more of a status thing than anything else, ive seen plenty of folks burn out chasing the next shiny tool when the boring stuff like sleep and walking gets ignored. Cgm and hrv are solid picks, id add a cheapish withings sleep mat if you can swing it, mine showed me my "great" 7 hours were actually 5.5 of real sleep and that one change kicked off more fixing than anything else i tried.
  • weekendnate: Yeah the status angle is real. I grabbed a withings mat about a year ago and it was the same wake up call for me, I thought I was crushing it with 8 hours and turns out I was getting like 6 of actual deep + rem. Once I saw the breakdown the whole sleep hygiene rabbit hole made way more sense.
  • tiredmira: Honestly the status chasing is exactly the part that winds me up, like having a CGM doesnt fix anything if youre still sleeping like crap 🥗 The Withings mat thing is interesting though, mine shows around 6.5 hours of actual sleep when my ring says I got 7+. Same vibe where the fancy tracker is kinda lying to you in a useful way.
  • greg208: Ha yeah the status chasing thing is exactly it. The Withings mat underreporting vs the ring overreporting is a good shout actually, mine does something similar where the morning readiness score varies wildly day to day even when my routine is identical. Im starting to think theyre all just measuring slightly different things and you pick whichever one flatters you most.
  • greg208: Yeah mate a withings was actually what kicked mine off too, my partner bought me one for my birthday and I proper went quiet when I saw the stages. Genuinely thought I slept like a rock, turned out I was averaging maybe 45 mins of deep a night which is rough. How long did it take before your numbers actually started shifting after you began chasing the rabbit hole, weeks or months? Im still early days and not sure if Im just expecting too much too soon.
  • greg208: Cheers, not gonna lie the sleep mat idea is a bit of a lightbulb moment for me. I get about 7 hours in bed most nights and assumed i was sorted, but if half of thats garbage like youre saying then im probably running on fumes without realising it. Withings is on my list now, gonna look into one this week. Spot on about the LA crowd burning out, half of them look bloody exhausted in those podcasts.
  • grinder265: Ngl the sleep tracking thing is what actually got me to stop chasing shiny peptides for a minute. Turns out I was getting like 5 good hours out of 7 in bed, fixed that first and recovery got way better before I touched anything else. Its unsexy but it works.
  • greg208: Yeah exactly, the sleep thing was the biggest unlock for me too. I was doing the same, spending hours researching protocols and dosing schedules when really I was just knackered. Tracked it for a couple of weeks with a cheap ring and saw I was waking up constantly without knowing it. Fixed the basics first, magnesium before bed, no phone after 10, cooler room, and honestly the difference was mental before I added anything else.

Community discussion - research and educational context only. Not medical advice.