Bulletproof Conference 2016 Takeaways
Just got back from Dave Asprey’s “Bulletproof” Biohacking conference. Woah! (Ok, I wrote most of this back in September, but never published.)
First off, many thanks to the Bulletproof gang for delivering a production that, quite frankly, blew me away. I was expecting cool gadgets and to bring home some better insight and tips to live a bit better, and a peek at some crazy futury tech that will probably be commonplace in 5–10 years. Y’know… things like butter coffee. ;)
I was not expecting the showmanship, professionalism, and outright amazing vibe that turned this show from education to a real pleasure.
Now, the unlimited, perfectly foamed bulletproof coffee (choice of butter, ghee, or colagen) may have had something to do with it too. I was really glowing.
Or maybe the IV drip of energy boosting vitamins with a glutathione push at the end. Yea, definitely still glowing a bit.
Or that could be the UV lights. Or the IR lights from the Reddenator. Maybe the pulsing lights behind my eyelids from the virtual float tank. Maybe just a dose of clean, fresh air.
Ok, you get the idea. Lots of interesting stuff, people having fun, friendly vibes, cool stuff to talk about everywhere, and everything was hands on. I was a bit worried going in to this, to be honest, that I could read all this stuff on the internet, was just paying a lot of money to sit in chairs (not very bulletproof) listening to the same old talks and pitches.
But that lasted literally 30 minutes. I showed up, there was a bit of a line, so by the time I got in Dave was already talking. (shrug) Whatever, I’ve heard a lot of words out of Dave Asprey’s mouth, love the guy but he’s definitely wonderfully prolific, so I skipped the rest of his talk and went straight to the tech booths. Within 30 minutes I was well on my way towards Thetaville in a spinning pod that looked a little bit like a Hungry Hungry Hippo.
Ok, so, I’m not going to try to record in detail every moment, nor am I going to try to convey anything here too rigorously. What I’d like to do is outline a few key points that really resonated me, largely so that I can remember to come back and dive in in detail. But if anybody is reading this, and wants to hear more in particular on any of these, please do let me know in the comments, I intend to come back and dive deeper into each of these topics myself in the coming months.
Same thing if you have insight to share. These are all things that came out of this weekend higher on my radar than when I went in, so lots of validation and counterpoints yet to be heard on all of them.
1. Mitochondrial Health is the Holy Grail, and Oxaloacetate is Indy’s Lucky Hat.
Mitochondria strip electrons off stuff and stick them on something called adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to provide energy to your cells. If ATP is the battery that most of your cellular processes run off of, the mitochondria are the billions of battery chargers located in most of your cells that recharge the batteries when they are depleted.
In addition to recharging, mitochondria play an important part in signaling gene expression and lifecycle. This is particularly interesting because mitochondria have their own genetics which is passed in whole from your mother, so a fundamental driver of your cells health and life isn’t even tied to your own traditional genome.
Lots of good stuff about hacking mitochondria (see IR stuff below, for instance) but one of the talks I found most interesting was on Oxaloacetate (OAA). By supplementing OAA, researchers have been able to mimic many of the longevity effects seen in low calorie diets in laboratory animals, and in general seen a lot of positive effects associated with healthier mitochondria.
Definitely an area I intend to research and experiment with this year.
2. Theta waves for fun and profit
I ran into two technologies that claimed to induce theta waves in a waking state.
Theta waves typically occur in your brain during REM sleep, which is associated with dreaming and general “mental cleanup.” Interestingly, extremely experienced meditators are able to induce a waking theta state. For the rest of us, tools like a float tank or a system like NuCalm can help us drop into a waking Theta state. Trying these technologies left me rejuvenated, invigorated, and inspired.
Or, if your budget is up for it, you could sign up for Dave’s 40 Years of Zen program, which is designed to give you the mind of that experienced meditator through a week of intensive neuro-feedback training.
3. Light and Color Matter
This was one of the most important introductions to me this year. Dave repeatedly said that he has been afraid to talk about this type of hacking, because he considers it so powerful that he wasn’t sure it was safe for general consumption. This is a guy who regularly writes about and recommends all manner of controversial techniques, so this piqued my interest.
Like many of us, I’ve already taken step one in the light game by managing my blue light consumption in the evening. However, Dave and other talks went far deeper than this.
Of particular not was the signaling effect that light has on mitochondria directly. Apparently, these cells use light to communicate directly with each other, opening up a fascinating pathway for hacking. Strong IR LEDs, for example, have been used to achieve dramatic improvements in wound healing.
Much more to come here.
4. Stem cells are apparently now a thing.
A few of the more interesting talks were about stem cell therapy happening around the world, including in the United States.
There are two generally safe sources of your own stem cells, bone marrow and adipose fat. Bone marrow has a bit more history and consistent results, although the fat technique has seen some results above what has been achieved with bone marrow.
Dr. Harry Adelson, who spoke at the conference, prefers to use a combination of both. The downside is that both harvesting procedures are relatively uncomfortable, so doing both increases the stress of the procedure. However, he has seen great results. You can hear more about his work here.
Short story, this is now a thing worth paying attention to, and a viable treatment for some things which have historically been very difficult or impossible to treat.
5. The Bulletproof and Biohacking community is spiritually healthy.
This is really just an observation of mine. As a software engineer, I’m deeply connected to the scientific and technical mentality, and all of the strengths it offers.
As a longtime yoga, martial arts, and meditation practitioner, I’m also fairly well acquainted with the spiritual, “new age” mentality, and a big believer that there is deep wisdom in seeing the world through that lens.
I’ve never been in a room or community that so seamlessly blended the two. Every idea was presented with an honest, if optimistic lens, and met with an open minded skepticism. I could sense the room opening their minds to every presenter, no mater how outrageous the claims, and suspending their disbelief to allow the idea to take root.
But what grew in the conversations after the talks was not fanaticism, but rather an open minded discussion, exploring the new ideas, looking for ways to begin to introduce these concepts, and how to rigorously evaluate which ideas were working, all with an acceptance that we are all where we are, and that the only goal worth pursuing is the relief of suffering in ourselves and those around us.
Really wonderful time, thanks Dave and Rebecca and all the Bulletproof staff, coaches, and attendees who made this weekend an insanely powerful and transformative experience.
Happy Hacking!
