What Is Biohacking?

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If you’ve paid attention to health and wellness culture, you’ve likely encountered the word “biohacking” at least once. The term can mean different things to different people, but the gist is this: Making small but strategic tweaks to your health to help you live a longer, healthier life. 

For some, “biohacking” is all about tech, with an emphasis on data, wearables like Whoop or the Oura Ring,  and specialized equipment like sleep-tracking beds or a high-end continuous glucose monitors. But others think you can achieve your desired goals with simple changes to habits related to sleep, fitness, diet, and stress management. 

Still unsure what biohacking is? We’ve broken the term down into various categories—sleep, exercise, diet, microbiome health, meditation, hot and cold therapy, and supplementation—and asked health experts across disciplines to share their insights and recommendations.

About the Experts

Tom Ingegno, D.A.C.M., M.S.O.M., L.A.C., owns Charm City Integrative Health in Baltimore and is an expert in acupuncture, Chinese medicine, meditation, sauna, and cryotherapy.

Bob Arnot, M.D., is the former chief medical correspondent for NBC News, author of more than a dozen books about health and diet, and chief innovation officer for Health Tech Without Borders.

Chelsea Perry, D.M.D., is an expert in dental sleep medicine who specializes in the oral component of sleep apnea and snoring and owns Elite Dental Studio.

Jeffrey Egler, M.D., is the medical director for Next Health. He’s board-certified in both family and lifestyle medicine and focuses on functional medicine and longevity. 

Examples of Biohacking

1. Optimize sleep

Science says: Getting enough high-quality sleep is crucial for overall health and well-being. 

Poor sleep is linked to cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s, metabolic disorders, high blood pressure, depression, and heart disease, and getting better sleep can reduce the risk of all (1).

How to do it

Fixing your sleep won’t happen, well, overnight, and it will likely require more than one little hack. It’s all about getting your circadian rhythm back in sync, says functional medicine physician Jeffrey Egler, M.D.

“To optimize sleep, you want to rise and fall with the sun,” Egler says. Dim or turn off any bright or overhead lights, which make the brain think it’s still daytime and limits melatonin production.

Blue light from our devices has the same effect. Turn off screens two hours before bedtime, Chelsea Perry, D.M.D., says. Sure, you can try setting your phone to night mode or wearing blue light-filtering glasses, but that’s only half the battle. 

“Think about what you’re looking at,” she says. “Are you reading the news? Are you scrolling? Your brain is probably too engaged to be getting into a good sleep pattern.”

Other tips from our experts: 

• Don’t eat a heavy meal close to bedtime. 
• Limit caffeine. It shelf-life is 5 to 6 hours but it can linger in the body longer, so it can still affect sleep hours later (2).
• Avoid alcohol. 
• Take a hot shower before bed to lower your core body temperature and signal that it’s time for sleep.

2. Focus on zone 2 training

Science says: Exercising in Zone 2 (60 to 70 percent of your max heart rate) benefits overall health, longevity, endurance, and fat-burning (3).

HIIT, while still beneficial for some goals, had its moment in the spotlight, and the focus of biohackers has largely shifted to a gentler form of fitness (4).

“The more intense your exercise, the more carbohydrates or sugar you burn,” Egler says. “When you’re doing an activity less intensely, you are more in a fat-burning state.”

It may seem counterintuitive, but exercising at a lower intensity for longer can improve endurance and promote fat loss. Egler notes many patients struggle to see progress despite frequent workouts. He says they’re often overtraining, which raises cortisol levels, disrupts metabolism, and encourages fat storage. 

How to do it

Egler’s recommended cardio? “My favorite exercise to recommend is whatever exercise you enjoy doing,” he says. “If you like it, you’ll do it.” 

Most cardio can be done in Zone 2, including cycling, rowing, jogging, hiking, swimming, and the elliptical machine. Once you determine your Zone 2 range, a smartwatch or other wearable can help you stay within it (5).

Regardless of the exercise, make time to recover. “The biggest secret across all of exercise is you need enough recovery, either a complete day off or in some cases two at a very low heart rate, to be able to go hard,” Bob Arnot, M.D., says.

3. Never stop strength training

Science says: Strength training is crucial for getting stronger and maintaining muscle mass and mobility as we age (6).

“Strength training is vital for preventing fraility and maintaining your muscle mass, which directly supports your metabolism,” Arnot adds.

Egler says strength is one of the two main predictors of longevity—the other being a healthy percentage of body fat.

 How to do it

Resistance training and bodyweight exercises, HIIT classes that incorporate strength training, traditional gym lifts—whatever you like to do, do it, Egler says. Just make sure you’re doing it regularly. 

“Most recommendations are that you do strength training at least twice a week,” he says. “I don’t think that’s enough. I think it should be done most days of the week, rotating different parts of the body.”
Egler recommends that you also throw some balance and flexibility training in to help prevent falls and stay limber as you age (7).

4. Build a supplement stack

Science says: The body needs vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutrients to function at its best, but the jury is still out on whether supplements are the best way to get them. 

There’s no shortage of supplements on the market, from a simple multivitamin to a complex regimen of pills, powders, and potions. While they’re easy to buy over the counter, it can be hard to know what you truly need without consulting a healthcare provider.  Supplements also have potential side effects and drug interactions, just like other medications (8).

If you have a legitimate nutritional deficiency or hormone imbalance, you might need some extra help. A simple boost of a particular vitamin can make a big difference—if you know what to take. 

How to do it

Symptoms may have several root causes, so it’s a good idea to ask your doctor for a blood test to look for deficiencies or imbalances in nutrients, micronutrients, or hormones. This avoids a scattershot approach to a supplement stack that falls short or causes more harm than good.

Supplements aren’t regulated by the Food & Drug Administration like pharmaceuticals, so quality and purity can vary (8).

5. Start meditating

Science says: Meditation has lots of immediate and downstream benefits for physical and mental health (9).

Meditation is one of the more approachable biohacks, as it doesn’t require any special gear or gadgets—and takes minutes to work. Research has found it can improve sleep, reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol, lower blood pressure, slow cognitive decline, decrease chronic pain, and lessen symptoms of anxiety and depression (9).

How to do it

If you’re resistant to meditating because you think you won’t be able to do it properly, the key is just to start. Even 5 minutes (or less) has major mind and body benefits. Once you’re comfortable, gradually work up to longer lengths of time for even greater benefits. 

For some, following a guided meditation on an app like Headspace or Calm can get you more comfortable with the process. 

Tom Ingegno, D.A.C.M., M.S.O.M., L.A.C., says focused movement can also be a form of meditation, especially when paired with breathwork, as in yoga, tai chi, and Pilates.

6. Get a sauna

Science says: Using a sauna has several benefits for both physical and mental health (10, 11, 12).

A large study from 2015 in JAMA Internal Medicine found that regular sauna use (defined as four to seven times per week) reduced all-cause mortality by 37 percent due to the practice’s effect on heart and blood vessel function (12).

Regular sauna use can reduce anxiety and stress and improve sleep (13, 14).

How it works: All of that heat and sweat from sitting in the sauna serves as what’s known as a mimetic or “passive” exercise. “It makes your body think you’re doing cardio,” Ingegno explains. 

The key is to sweat, Ingegno says. Finnish-style “dry” saunas or steam saunas usually get between 160 and 200 degrees, though in gyms and other public spots, they’re usually capped at 180 degrees. Infrared saunas use a lower temperature of about 140 degrees, so you can stay in them longer.

How to do it

Yes, a communal steam room or sauna works just fine. If you belong to a gym that has one of these, use it. 
There are also plenty of home sauna options if you’ve got the space and the cash to do so. They range from single-person pop-up sauna tents for indoor use for just a few hundred dollars to multi-person outdoor barrel saunas for several thousand. Infrared saunas are typically more expensive than Finnish or steam saunas.

7. Track everything

Science says: The research isn’t conclusive, but some studies suggest that wearing fitness trackers is associated with increased physical activity and weight loss (15, 16).

Many of the experts agreed on the potential benefit of data. The key is figuring out what to do with the information once you have it. 

It can help in other health areas, as well. For example, Egler says tracking his sleep by wearing his Apple Watch helped him notice patterns that spurred him to get evaluated for sleep apnea. 

Arnot tracks various metrics with various devices. “I have my continuous glucose monitor running so I know my second-by-second blood sugar,” he says. “I have my Whoop device to track my overnight HRV and my recovery biological age. And then I have my Garmin Epix Pro, which has all my workouts, my heart rate, and my strain.”

How to do it

There’s no shortage of wearables to track virtually every health metric: steps, sleep, heart rate recovery, VO2 max, and more. Here are a few of our recommendations: 

• Oura Ring: Most wearables go around the wrist, but Oura is worn on a finger. It measures sleep, stress, movement, heart rate, heart rate variability, and blood oxygen.
• Apple Watch: Nearly as ubiquitous as the iPhone, Apple Watches track various health and fitness metrics, including steps, heart rate, irregular heart rhythm, noise levels to protect hearing, workouts, and sleep. 
• Whoop: These track sleep, vitals such as skin temperature and heart rate, and behaviors you can input yourself, like caffeine consumption and sunlight exposure.
• Garmin: A favorite of runners and athletes, Garmin can track blood oxygen levels, ECG, hydration, sleep, and also determine your fitness age. 
• FitBit: Now owned by Google, the standby is available in a variety of models that track workouts, calories, heart rate, stress and sleep.
• Muse: Ingegno is an ambassador for the Muse headband, which tracks your brain activity during meditation and sleep to help improve focus.

Upgrade your diet

Science says: You really are what you eat. 

Even though there’s not a single diet that’s been deemed The Best (though the Mediterranean diet comes pretty close), there are some aspects both experts and research can agree on: more plants, less sugar, and less processed food (17).

How to do it

Different diets are popular with biohackers: keto, whole-food plant-based, carnivore, and intermittent fasting to name a few. Their clear boundaries may appeal to biohackers, but restrictive diets can be hard to stick with over time. 

Instead, focus on what you’re putting on your plate rather than what you’re removing. Both Egler and Arnot recommend a diet composed of whole foods that’s top-heavy on plants with some lean protein thrown in, like line-caught salmon. Still, Egler recommends removing the two basic baddies: sugar and overly processed foods. 

Take a cold plunge

Science says: While it’s inconclusive,  there is evidence supporting the benefits of cold-plunging, or cryotherapy in general, for physical and mental health (18, 19).

Cold therapy works through hormesis. “Hormesis is stressing the body a bit to encourage a positive outcome or healing response,” Ingegno says. When we cold-plunge, we stimulate cold-shot proteins. “They help the body protect itself,” he adds.

The purported benefits are wide-ranging. It may be good for mood and mental health. A small 2023 study found that 15 minutes of cold-water immersion at 50 degrees F (10 degrees C) lowered negative thoughts and levels of the stress hormone cortisol after 3 hours (20).

Other research suggests it may reduce or change body fat, lower insulin resistance and inflammation, regulate the nervous system, and other potential benefits. However, studies tend to be small and have other limitations, so they’re inconclusive (21, 18). 

There are risks, as well, including hypothermia, cardiac arrest, and drowning (22, 23).

How to do it

“Dip a toe,” recommends Ingegno, in the figurative sense. “Start slowly, with short exposures. The easiest, cheapest way is cold showers.” 

If you want to go full immersion without committing to a home plunge tub just yet you can simulate the experience by making an ice bath in your bathtub with a bag of ice and cold water. Ingegno’s practice offers cold-plunging to its clients, so you might also be able to try it at an integrative practice, gym, or wellness center near you. And remember: have plenty of warm, dry clothes on hand to prevent hypothermia (24). 

Microbiome optimization

Science says: Research on the importance of a healthy microbiome is solid, but whether this can be attained through supplementation isn’t clear.

Most of the microbiome is housed in our large and small intestines, and keeping it healthy and balanced is crucial for immune function. This is important for keeping inflammation at bay, as it’s linked to many diseases, including cancer and cardiovascular disease (25).

Newer research looks into postbiotics: the waste left behind by gut bacteria after they feed on prebiotics. This stuff is good for the body, too. Postbiotics can include key vitamins, amino acids, and short-chain fatty acids (26).

How to do it

Tons of supplements aim to keep the microbiome happy: prebiotics, probiotics (which add more good bacteria), and synbiotics (a combo of the two). Your physician can order a blood or stool gut health test to better understand what’s going on  (27).

The general recommendation is to eat first and supplement second. Egler says that if you only supplement without changing your diet, you won’t get the results you want.

Good prebiotics include whole-grain foods, garlic, asparagus, and bananas. Probiotics are foods that contain live organisms such as yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi, and kombucha (28).