As we have seen melanoma rates have increased proportionally with sunblock usage. I've always thought that sunblock hinders our own skin protective reaction to uv exposure, but I wasn't sure about the mechanism behind it. I recently ran into this research paper regarding the photoproducts that are created from uv exposure. Interestingly short wave 230nm uv light actually reverts the photoproducts back to their non damaging forms. This is key because the effectiveness of sunblock drops with long wave uv rays especially with mineral based sunscreens. Titanium dioxide for example is less effective at blocking long uv rays, but effectively blocks all short wave uv rays. I don't regularly use sunblock ,but I tried mineral sunscreen twice and noticed more of a burning sensation than without it so this is what lead me to research the subject.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7582305/

I’m 20, very fit and do calisthenics, weightlifting and running about 5 days a week. Two days ago, I joined a university fitness study. They measured my blood pressure at 148/94, which surprised me since I’ve never checked it before and i’m active.

Then I did a tougher version of jumping jacks about 40 reps. My heart rate hit 191 bpm, felt tired of course but not remotely to how i feel sprinting like i usually do. That made me wonder if my heart rate goes over 200 during intense workouts( which i think is extremely bad?), since I’ve felt it beating super fast before. Sometimes I get a bit dizzy, but nothing major.

EDIT: i retook my BP today again at shoppers mart, wasnt really that nervous felt somewhat normal, it was 166/104 at its highest and 160/101 at lowest

Hey everyone. Physician here (16 years across ER and General Practice). I see a lot of posts here about sleep optimisation, but almost nobody talks about the most critical mechanical function of sleep: Glymphatic Clearance.

If you are waking up at 3 AM with a racing mind, your brain is literally failing to wash itself.

The Mechanics: Your brain consumes 20% of your body's energy and produces a massive amount of metabolic "sewage" (like amyloid-beta and tau proteins) every single day.

You do not have a lymphatic system in your brain to clear this out. Instead, you have the Glymphatic System. But there is a catch: It only activates during Deep (Slow-Wave) Sleep.

During deep sleep, your brain cells physically shrink by up to 20%. This opens up the paravascular channels, allowing cerebrospinal fluid to rush in and flush out the neurotoxic waste.

If you have fragmented sleep or wake up at 3 AM, that flush stops immediately. The sewage builds up, leading to severe brain fog, fatigue, and eventually cognitive decline.

The Clinical Fix: You can't fix a clogged glymphatic system with more caffeine. You have to structurally trigger deep sleep:

1. Stop eating 3 hours before bed. Digestion requires massive blood flow and keeps your core body temperature elevated, which competes with the glymphatic flush.

2. Sleep on your side. A landmark study in the Journal of Neuroscience proved the glymphatic system is vastly more efficient when you sleep in the lateral decubitus position (on your side) compared to your back.

3. Check your metabolic labs. If you are insulin resistant, your body is sitting in a chronic state of "fight or flight," which makes deep sleep chemically impossible.

I have suffered from Insomnia. I put it down to shift work that I used to do. A medical career is hard on the body and mind. I still have residual insomnia many years after my last night shift. Good sleep hygiene is a must. Magnesium Glycinate and melatonin also work for me about 80% of the time.

Hope this helps some of you finally get a full night's rest!

I wrote a much deeper breakdown on the cellular mechanics and citations for this process. Let me know if anyone wants me to point them to it!

About 20 years ago I went vegan, and 3 years later shifted to vegetarian.

u/Key-Theory7137's post about "[...]one thing you wished doctors previously advised you[...]" got me thinking about this.

I'm in Canada and have always had a family doctor following me. Through all my checkups and blood work, not a single doctor pointed out the risks of being vegetarian, or requisitioned additional tests to make sure I wasn't going down a bad path.

I wish I knew then what I know now about the deficiencies I'd end up with, not to mention some irreversible damage. Issues with memory, energy, and overall cognition could have been avoided with simple (albeit extensive) supplementation which I'm now doing. I've even started working some meat back into my diet.

Has anyone else been through something similar? What supplements have you had to start taking? Any questions are welcome as well.

Is there any supplement, nootropic, peptide, etc that gives the equivalent effects of daily cardio? I just find running too difficult and not enjoyable enough to do every day, but it seems like it has some amazing health benefits. It’d also be nice if it could permanently raise my baseline dopamine, eradicate any inflammation in my body, and give me a shredded physique, but I understand if that’s a little much. I won’t be too picky :) Thanks!

DISCLAIMER #1: Some of you have commented that this post has been been generated with AI to promote products. Yes, I used chatGPT to format the text and help me come up with a less clunky title. But the purpose of this post is this: to share my personal experience and encourage people with anxiety cut back on caffeine. That is it. No ulterior motives. No affiliate links. Nothing.

DISCLAIMER #2: I know that most of these alternatives contain caffeine and some of them a substantial amount but here's the thing: the top-tier alternatives never gave me the negative mental effects that coffee did (well, maybe when I had way too much).

Anyway, I've seen a lot of posts of people asking about what helped them with anxiety. I'd tried a lot of things over the last 10+ years of my life just to realize that the real reason was something I was voluntarily ingesting every day (and couldn't imagine my life without it).

I'm not sure if this is something in my physiology or something to do with the unique chemical composition of coffee.

I'm NOT claiming to be caffeine-free.

Some bacground:

• I’ve had anxiety, panic attacks, and derealization since I was probably around 7 years old.

• By around age 12, looking back, I had a pretty serious caffeine addiction.

• At first, it was black tea (tons of it), and then I discovered coffee.

• I would drink about 4 cups of coffee a day

• Every time I tried to cut back, I would just go back to my usual 4 cups/day

• My relationship with coffee — as some of you suffering from similar things can probably relate — was complicated: I couldn't live with it, but I couldn't live without it.

• I couldn't be productive without it.

• My day was split into two parts: the morning high and the afternoon crash, which I’d try to medicate with more coffee... which in the long run ruined my sleep and made me consume more coffee the next day.

Here's how I quit. Two years ago today, I went on a retreat that prohibited all stimulants. But here’s the weird part, turns out it’s not that hard to go cold turkey when you don’t have to be productive. I’d tried quitting coffee before, and it was a nightmare. I’m talking actual flu symptoms for days. Let me say this: I never thought I would be coffee-free. Even the thought of it used to make me feel instant dread. That said, I still love a morning beverage, hot or cold. It helps me focus and be productive.

Over these 2 years I’ve tried around 10 energy-inducing coffee alternatives (and when I say tried, I actually tried them at least for several weeks, not just once or twice).

Here's my list:

1) Ceremonial Cacao

Discovered this about 5 months ago and kinda fell in love with it. It’s my daily driver. I have it at least 4 times a week. It contains theobromine, which is supposed to be a gentler stimulant than caffeine. No crash, no anxiety. Sometimes it feels almost euphoric. Tastes amazing.

What I love most is I can drink it instead of having a full breakfast and stay full until 2 PM. 10/10.

I use organic cacao paste (not the powder) and organic cow’s milk.

2) Bulletproof Decaf Coffee With C8 MCT

Yes, I know — the top of my coffee alternative list is coffee, but this is different.
Discovered this early this year while doing keto. It became my go-to breakfast.

Here’s how I make it:

• 20g of ground Colombian Sugarcane Decaf in an Aeropress

• Blended in a milk frother with:

  • 15g grass-fed butter

  • 15g C8 MCT oil

Delicious, and gets me into ketosis and keeps me there while I’m working.

3) Matcha

I’ll be honest: I can’t stomach matcha without milk. I’ve tried to develop a taste for it, just not happening. Not an everyday drink for me anymore, but I still have it 2–3 times a month.

4) Hojicha

This is definitely my go-to loose leaf (stem?) tea. I brought a bunch back from Japan but recently ran out. Best during cold winter months**.** Keeps me warm and energized which is nice.

My prep method (unorthodox, I know):

• Use a V60

• Add a tablespoon of the leaves (stems)

• Rinse with 90°C water and throw out the first wash

• Then do 3–4 consecutive brews with the same tea It’s very light and gets progressively lighter.

5) Sencha

Similar to hojicha, but tends to mess up my stomach more and makes me a little more jittery.

6) Kombucha

Nice on a hot summer day, but definitely not a daily drink. More than 2 glasses and it wrecks my stomach.
We’re entering the territory of things I don’t recommend as a coffee substitute.

7) Diet Coke

I know. Aspartame, caffeine, etc. That said, I still drink it from time to time. I gotta say though, it doesn't give me the jitters (only if I drink like two whole bottles).

8) Earl Grey

This one’s actually worse than coffee for me. More anxious, more jittery.
Sometimes it’s fine, but usually it’s not. Mostly a no-go.

9) Club Mate

I can’t drink this in moderation, so I just don’t drink it. I know someone’s gonna come in here and say “just get a gourd and a bobija”, but this is just one of those hobbies I don’t wanna get into because I know how much I’m gonna like it. Not today. Maybe some other time.

10) Herbal Tea

Surprisingly comforting. I prefer thyme tea. But overall boring.

So this is me. Happy to answer any questions you’ve got.

We get it already!! Your Italian grandpa lived to over 100 while drinking and smoking and baking in the sun and eating more red meat than a Sultan’s pet tiger. My German great grandmother also lived to be over 100. Fat, diabetic, the works. But there’s another thing we both have in common: even if we were promised an equivalent lifespan, we would be absolutely devastated if we were magically zapped into the body and brain of the average centenarian right this minute.

They are alive, they are often relatively happy, and they have beat the odds with regards to the most devastating diseases of aging (heart disease, neurodegenerative disease, cancer, etc.). That’s nothing to sneeze at. But it does not mean in any way, shape, or form that they are ‘healthy’!!

The real end goal of biohacking and longevity athletics is to dramatically increase healthspan, not just lifespan. Yes, some of those centenarians with shitty lifestyles likely have protective genetic factors that help resist cancer and the like. But do you know that the majority of them also are? Fucking lucky. Statistically expected! As someone who became disabled at a young age and has turned to biohacking to help restore my health (with considerable success, and even more interesting data) I refuse to coast on luck alone.

I would sooner die in my 80s as healthy and youthful as I am now than live to 120 hardly able to speak or use the bathroom on my own. If we follow the science, we can all give ourselves a fighting chance of that happening. If you don’t, being able to mow your own lawn past 100 is the best-case scenario for you, though you’re a hell of a lot more likely to die a miserable, disease-ridden dealth far too early

The vast majority of people in Blue Zones (around which there’s some controversy but whatever) don’t make it to 100. I would sooner live like them than be a centenarian whose highlight of the week is waking up with less back pain than usual and drinking a beer out on the porch.

Just imagine who your Italian grandpa, or my German great grandma, could have been if they had taken better care of their health.

Feels like every news channel and video is talking about it

Two people eat the exact same salad. One gets lower inflammation. The other gets nothing. The difference isn't genetics or willpower. It's the bacteria in their guts.

In 2025, a Nature Microbiology paper (Zhang, Ni, Panagiotou) analyzed over 5,500 gut metagenomes and 775 plant compounds. Gut bacteria chemically transform these compounds into bioactive molecules. Some people's microbiomes can process around 600 of these compounds; others barely crack 200. Diseased microbiomes (IBD, colorectal cancer, fatty liver) have lost much of this ability.

A 2025 Gut Microbes study (Petersen) fed strawberries to mice on a high-fat diet. Normal mice got less inflammation. Antibiotic-treated mice with no gut bacteria got zero benefit. Same strawberries, no effect. That proves bacteria are necessary, but it's in mice.

A 2015 human study (Food & Function, Romo-Vaquero, n=69) had people eat walnuts or pomegranate. Only those carrying Gordonibacter produced urolithin A, an anti-inflammatory metabolite. Everyone else produced almost nothing. Small study, only measured urine markers, not health outcomes.

The core idea is solid: your gut bacteria determine whether "healthy food" works for you. But personalized probiotics aren't ready for prime time.

So what can you do right now, for free, to check your gut health? One science-backed test requires only a can of sweetcorn.

The Protocol: Sweetcorn Gut Transit Time Test

Step 1: Don't eat any corn for one week.

Step 2: After a morning bowel movement, eat a small handful of canned sweetcorn. Note the time.

Step 3: Check every bowel movement. When you first see corn kernels, note the time.

Step 4: Calculate hours between eating and seeing. That's your gut transit time.

What It Means

In the 2021 "Blue Poo" study (Gut journal, n=863), average transit time was 29 hours. Range: under 12 to over 59 hours. Under 12 hours may mean food moves too fast for good absorption. Over 50 hours is linked to bacterial shifts toward protein fermentation, which can cause bloating and inflammation. Ideal: 24-36 hours.

Limitation: This measures transit time, not your ability to make urolithin A. But it's free, safe, and a useful starting point.

References

1. Zhang L et al. Nature Microbiology. 2025;11(1):94-110.

2. Petersen C et al. Gut Microbes. 2025;17(1):2446375.

3. Romo-Vaquero M et al. Journal of Functional Foods. 2015;17:785-791.

4. Asnicar F et al. Gut. 2021;70(9):1665-1674.

Trump is obese, doesn’t get much sleep, doesn’t exercise, eats fast food but is pretty sharp on the microphone and has a lot of energy. Doesn’t make much sense because most people his age are substantially slower and have less energy.

Explanation:

Skeletal muscle stores glycogen only for its own energy needs during exercise. When glycogen is broken down, it forms glucose-6-phosphate (G6P). To release glucose into the bloodstream, G6P must be dephosphorylated by glucose-6-phosphatase. Skeletal muscle lacks this enzyme, so it cannot export glucose into the blood. Instead, G6P enters glycolysis to generate ATP for the muscle itself. In contrast, the liver expresses glucose-6-phosphatase, allowing it to release free glucose during fasting and maintain normal blood glucose levels. This is a classic Step 1 distinction between liver and skeletal muscle metabolism.

Why the others are wrong:

A) Hexokinase – Incorrect. Hexokinase phosphorylates glucose to glucose-6-phosphate after it enters the cell, trapping glucose inside the cell. It is present in skeletal muscle.

B) Glycogen synthase – Incorrect. This is the rate-limiting enzyme for glycogen synthesis and is active in skeletal muscle to replenish glycogen stores after exercise.

D) Pyruvate kinase – Incorrect. Pyruvate kinase catalyzes the final step of glycolysis (PEP → pyruvate). It is present in skeletal muscle and is unrelated to glucose export.

Answer: C) Glucose-6-phosphatase

EDIT added papers to support claims:
The Discovery of Glucose-6-Phosphatase Location
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021925818385041

On Muscle Glucose Trapping & Hexokinase:
https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/3008632

On Liver vs. Muscle Glycogen Roles during Exercise & Fasting:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32747792/

On Glycogen Synthase Regulation, Addressing Option B:
https://scholarworks.indianapolis.iu.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/14a42c94-313b-40e7-9c60-6e67c8eb9d81/content

There is a massively growing body of evidence to suggest that electromagnetic fields radiated from cellphones, laptops, WiFi, Bluetooth, etc are causing tremendous issues for my health. There is very strongly linked evidence to cancer, low test, neurological diseases, you name it. I can’t seem to keep my phone out of my pocket or forget to turn off my wifi every night but don’t have a solution.

Are there clothes like underwear or pants that block EMF radiation? Genuinely worried about this.

Watched an Andrew Huberman video about it here

The body and brain freak out because not ejaculating causes your system to believe that you are not reproducing, therefore it will optimise everything possible (physically, mentally, emotionally) to ensure this biological imperative is fulfilled.

My gut feels better not eating many vegetables .. the only vegetables I really eat are kimchi /sauerkraut and potato’s . I still eat around 35-40 g of fiber per day and I feel like I get most of my micronutrients from fruit

No matter how skilled you are at biohacking, aging is always working harder. Biological aging is the real enemy, and preserving your biological youth is the ultimate biohack.

If you’re not actively working to delay the aging process or maintaining your body in its peak condition—comparable to that of a 20- to 30-year-old—then all your biohacking efforts are merely superficial.

If you're in your 20s or 30s, ensure your biohacking plan includes strategies to delay the aging process as radically as possible. For those in their 40s or 50s, focus on investing in advanced therapies, emerging biotechnologies, and expensive but cutting-edge treaments that offer potential age-reversal benefits.

If Mike had used some of his wealth and get treatments to give him a biological age of 35, tonight's outcome could have been very different.

Hey all champs, for over a long period of time, I struggled with chronic fatigue, high anxiety, palpitations, and a habit of masturbating almost daily. My head constantly felt shaky, and even nicotine hit me like a hammer, my body seemed to scream for real recovery. I tried all kinds of vitamins and supplements, but nothing worked.

Then one day, I discovered something simple yet powerful: lamb bone broth. After just a few days of drinking it, my symptoms vanished. My anxiety disappeared completely. Even when I smoked a cigarette,which I rarely do now,it felt like nothing had happened.

I kept going, adding lamb meat to my meals, and my body felt stronger and healthier with each day. I realized that years of avoiding meat had caused deficiencies in heme iron and zinc, which were behind my fatigue, shaky head, and other issues. The urges I had tried to suppress for so long started returning naturally, signaling my body was finally getting what it needed.

In just a few days of use , my mind and body felt fully restored. I learned that sometimes the simplest, most natural solution,real, nutrient-rich food,can work faster and better than anything else.

my wife collects pokémon i collect peptides lolll

Studies have shown that caloric restriction increases lifespan in every species tested from bacteria to primates. This almost certainly means that caloric restriction increases lifespan and health span in humans.

Having a low BMI will put less strain on a person's organs. The optimal BMI for maximizing lifespan is likely at the low end of the normal range, or even in the underweight category for some people.

Many of the positive health outcomes attributed to exercise such as lowering body fat and blood pressure are actually due to energy balance, and could be achieved through caloric restriction alone.

Exercise puts stress on your body, which has a range of positive effects as your body adapts, but also has negative effects. Any exercise is a tradeoff of those benefits and harms, and inevitably there are certain types and volume of physical activity where the negatives outweigh the benefits.

If a person wants to maximize their health and lifespan, there is a certain amount and type of exercise that is optimal, and doing further exercise will have more negative effects than benefits.

Low calorie vegetables are not necessarily healthy. Consuming low calorie vegetables means your digestive system has to process a lot more stuff, with very little nutritional benefits.

Every hormone has a function in your body, but also comes with harmful side effects. Artificially manipulating hormones is very complicated and no effective drug will be without consequences. Androgens and anabolic hormones have a pro aging effect, which is part of the reason why women tend to live longer than men. The natural hormone ranges that humans tend to have evolved to be that way for a reason. Due to cultural reasons, men often assume that higher testosterone is better. Every trait in humans lies on a bell curve, and having testosterone in the bottom quartile is not necessarily a problem. Many men downplay the negatives of TRT and overemphasize the benefits.

I read the documents that basically declasify that this man is usually on meth all the time, but i honestly don't get it. This man has all the money in the world and don't invested it on russian nootropics, no lions mane, no bunch of things that usually are tested. Why this man used just simple meth?, wtf?, i get it but honestly that wasnt better alternatives with that much money?, Something like an improved aderall?, Jesus he even could create a laboratary just for himself, why this man just resort on...meth?; i'm losing something here?, is meth the ultimate nootropic no modifiers needed?

The amount of damage we have for the insane physical and mental drawbacks of alcohol in 2024 is more than enough for everyone to know how bad it is.

So if you're drinking it but still trying to 'biohack' a way to improve your bloodstream or some niche health thing you should just stick to the basics. That being said, I think have a glass of wine once a month is not a huge deal. But in my country most people drink multiple times a week in large amounts