Beyond Mental Fitness

As a founder and entrepreneur, I quickly learned that the only way to make it is by changing my mindset, from thinking about limitations and rules to thinking that only real and unbreakable laws are the ones of physics (thanks Elon for this insight!).

This is all very true, but there is a big BUT:

And anyone, let alone an entrepreneur, needs an enormous amount of energy to thrive (we’ll talk about our body’s powerhouses, the mitochondria, in future articles too!).

We are not beings destined to (only) survive, our goal is not, at least for me, to “stay alive” in this world. And if we want to achieve anything more than that, some kind of mindset change needs to happen. This realization has been a cornerstone of my journey into biohacking, the fancy new word for “improving mind and body health via scientific and (often) spiritual experimentation.”

How Biohacking Saved My Life

My journey into biohacking began not out of curiosity, but necessity. After years of feeling sluggish, unfocused, and perpetually tired, I acknowledged this strategy wasn’t going to take me anywhere far, at least to achieve the goals I was setting for myself and my company. Something had to change.

Funny enough, a few years back during my master's semester in Ljubljana, Slovenia, my flatmate used to drink a strange coffee blended with butter and coconut oil (yes Bulletproof if you are already an expert!). I remember I was disgusted by the idea and wrongly (if I only knew then!) suggested to him many times why he couldn’t just eat some fresh fruit and cereals like all the “normal” people out there. (Remember this Jaka Berdnik 🤖 ?! If you’ll ever read this post…)

After all, I was still fresh of knowledge from University of Gastronomic Sciences - Pollenzo and I still believed that to be healthy, you simply had to eat healthy food. If we only know what is “healthy”, and even so, if only food contained all the nutrients we need to thrive…

Does this mean what we are told from a young age isn’t true? Mmmhh kind of… And no worries, re-reading these paragraphs makes me anxious too… So I get you! My mom already lost me at “cereals for breakfast are not good”...

It wasn't until I started reading a bunch of books about new diets and protocols that I realized a new paradigm is out there and it’s still too underground for anyone to grasp it!

The Foundations of Fuel: Eating Right

To keep it simple, at least for now, it all starts from unlearning what most of us have been taught when growing up: carbs are good, fruits great, eggs have high cholesterol - cholesterol is bad?! - and red meat gives you cancer. My god… did we really believe that?

The reality is, that sugar is the real beast in our society, the more refined the worse, and yes carbs are indeed sugars, simply a more complex structure to digest. Fat, by many discarded as the real evil, turns out to be very essential to both lower inflammation, increase energy, and - drumroll - lose body fat! Of course, not all fats are created equal, and some specific types are actually really really bad for you. But we will go over these another time if you’ll be interested too!

Fruits have lots of sugar, and a not-so-healthy one: fructose. What about those beautiful fresh fruit juices we pay high prices to get at the newest healthy couter in our supermarket or bar downstairs? Turns out we are taking out the “only” good thing about fruit, which is fiber, and concentrating fructose for a killer shot!

Red meat? Don’t get me started here… if you are interested in digging deeper, check out some great resources online, especially from folks like Dave Asprey , the father of biohacking.

Protect the Liver, Feed the Gut

If you are still reading, it probably means you haven’t fully discarded the idea that there’s something in biohacking that makes sense, or at least you are curious enough to try it for yourself. Thus, the best resource out there I keep suggesting to friends asking to dive into this topic, without necessarily starting to spend an outrageous amount of money on new tech and pills, is Professor Robert Lustig’s book: "Metabolical".

This book could be considered the bible to contemporary knowledge about healthy food and diet. Seriously, it’s that good!

I learned the critical roles the liver and gut play in overall health. The liver, our detox powerhouse, and the gut, our second brain, are fundamental to digestion, mood regulation, and immunity. Protecting these organs is crucial, involving a diet low in processed foods and high in fiber, prebiotics, and probiotics is key to support gut health and liver function. Which inevitably improves our metabolism overall and hence increases our energy, focus, mood, and stamina.

Where to Start From, My Beginner Steps as a Cheap Person

For me this meant taking out gluten - more on this in a dedicated article - reducing cheese as much as possible (but hey, I’m Italian!), avoiding fried things, and eating a loooot more fat, the good ones, saturated fat from grass-fed butter, extra virgin coconut oil, avocados (hopefully only where they are in season around here - yes Europe started producing them as well!) and - another drumroll - lard.

Reducing carbs and sugars as much as possible - ah I almost forgot, this includes alcohol too! - increasing fiber and fat, incorporating good meat into the equation, and you’ll already see changes in less than a few days.

Challenges and Misconceptions

Embarking on a biohacking journey is not without its hurdles. One major challenge was navigating the sea of misinformation and hype that surrounds biohacking. It's easy to get caught up in complex data and expensive gadgets. However, the essence of biohacking lies in making informed, simple lifestyle changes that yield big returns. Slowly and with more knowledge and experience, you can start investing more money into it.

This journey isn't just about avoiding illness; it's about thriving, enjoying heightened energy, sharper mental function, and overall better quality of life. And if you are already thinking about the next phase of your life, then longevity comes into discussion, and I have to warn you, people are loosing their minds about this!

As you embark on your own journey, remember that the best changes are sustainable ones; small steps can lead to significant transformations.

Interested in learning something more specific? Eager to share your experience and tips on what has been effective for you? I’m happy to grow this knowledge together and support each other in the journey, so drop a comment below.