You can track and test every aspect of your body with technology, but monitoring your health doesn’t have to be complicated, says Sophie Morris
I know that biohacking sounds like a sci-fi concept. Extreme fans pursue a hi-tech approach to every aspect of their lives, from diet, sleep and exercise to taking unknown quantities of crazysounding supplements, all in the belief that they will discover how to live longer and live better.
Some of them, like the infamous Silicon Valley biohacker Bryan Johnson, the subject of the Netflix documentary Don’t Die, believe they will live forever. He is known for exchanging blood plasma with his son and spending millions on his technologically curated existence.
But the benefits of basic biohacking are available to everyone, including basic midlife women like me. How? I’ve tried expensive, affordable and free health hacks, and you may be surprised by what worked.
Sleep tracking There are many ways to do this, from apps such as Apple Health, Sleep Cycle and Pillow to devices including Fitbit and the Oura ring. But are you tracking to make changes, or just to make yourself feel bad?
After years of tracking my sleep and steps, I spoke to experts about my habits, and the recommendation was to focus on how I felt and not on the numbers. I still look at my sleep data once a week or so, but for interest more than anything else, and am often surprised when the numbers don’t correlate with how I felt at the time. The bio “hack” here is to listen to your own biology.
Guess what improved my sleep? Getting into bed an hour earlier. Though there was another, more surprising, hack. When I stopped drinking water a few hours before bedtime, it carried me through the four am wake-up that’s been frustrating me for years.
Discover your biological age One of my favourite TV moments of last year was watching Kim Kardashian find out that Khloe, her younger and far less successful sister, scored much better than her on the “biological age” blood test.
I did the GlycanAge test, which uses inflammation as a marker of ageing, and didn’t mind being told
I was four years older - in “biological” terms - than my real age, as apparently that’s close enough not to panic. It also suggested my lifestyle was broadly fine, along with some signs that my inflammation levels were improving, which I interpreted as a gold star for my efforts with sleep.
The interesting part was the advice. Despite the hi-tech nature and exciting premise of the test, I was told to improve my fitness regime, manage stress and “be mindful about the hidden dangers of fast food”. Wonderful, yet entirely generic, advice for all of us.
The fact I am desperate to know the results of adding some very light weight training to my life says everything about my desire to come top of the class and nothing about whether this test is worth £600.
Reset your metabolism This was hands down the best thing
I have done for myself in many years. It took three weeks of hard work - some things can’t be fixed with an expensive blood test - but the results remain eight months down the line. Resetting means becoming more metabolically flexible so that your body is better at switching between using fat or carbs as a fuel source.
Anyone can access the £30 Artah reset I followed, and I strongly recommend the week-long prep period founder Rhian Stephenson advises, rather than jumping into it tomorrow.
It is sold as a “nutrition programme” - I’d call it a word I really hate to use: diet. There have been some tricky adjustments. For example, letting go of a craving for sweet stuff might be welcome during weekday afternoons when the biscuits beckon, but is harder to navigate at your favourite restaurant.
But the results really have lasted.
I haven’t put any of the weight back on. I put on none this Christmas, which is a first for me, and still eat what I want to. I’m not going to pretend I never deny myself anything, but when I do it is usually breakfast to give myself an intermittent fasting window. Nor can I pretend there are foods I don’t miss or how odd it feels not to desire them, but that’s a different piece.
Test your vitamin levels I’m not a fan of supplements. What’s wrong with food and fresh air? But I’ve been meaning to take vitamin D for a few years because it’s impossible to get enough in the northern hemisphere during the winter months and the NHS recommends taking 10mcg daily between October and early March. Surprise, surprise, a blood test revealed I was low in vitamin D and I finally started taking a supplement.
This is the only blood test I have done that I found worth the money, and I plan to do it again at the end of winter. Low levels of vitamin D can affect bone density, which is already at risk in midlife women. It can also cause tiredness and muscle aches and pains, which so many of us struggle with. I took Medichecks Advanced Well Woman test for £159, but vitamin D-only tests are available from £39.
Avoid UPFs Ultra-processed food (UPF) is the big health story of our generation and increasingly linked with chronic disease such as bowel cancer. I eat everything, and have always eaten crisps, cheese, sausages and pizza whenever I want to, but I don’t eat much ultra-processed food. You don’t have to be a keen or expert cook to avoid UPF, but you do need to find a bit more time to prepare food at home.
I’m afraid there’s no way around that part - unless you have the funds for a private chef - but nor do you need to avoid UPF entirely.
I was so surprised, and thankful, to discover no worrying results from any tests I took, even the £1,200 Tru- Check test that promises to detect over 70 types of cancer, which I’d only recommend if you have genuine anxiety about cancers that run in your family.
You can’t game genetics, but I do believe that not eating crap food really improves your chances.
Test your poo Diet app Zoe made it acceptable to investigate poo samples for health insights, but the GutID test from
Intus Biosciences offers a more indepth microbiome testing service, which aims to identify bacteria that might lead to cancer or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). I am mid- hack with this one, and look forward to reporting the results soon.
Monitor blood sugar levels Wearable continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) are another bit of popular tech. They offer indispensable insights for anyone with pre-diabetes or diabetes, but shelling out for one if you’re not ill takes you into the “worried well” territory. I tried the Lingo app for a month and discovered that my body prefers wine to oat milk.
The diet hack that everyone can do Eat nuts, berries and dark leafy greens. The US doctor and author Michael Greger has sold many millions of his cannily named health books, How Not to Die, How Not to Age, and How Not to Diet. When I interviewed Greger for his top tips among the many thousands of ideas he shares, he promised these accessible diet hacks make a real difference. “Nut consumption is associated with a lower risk of dying from stroke, heart disease, respiratory disease, infections, diabetes and even cancer,” he says.
“Green leafy vegetables match nuts for their potential to decrease the risk of premature death. Eating our greens can boost our immunity and protect our bodies from the effects of air pollution. People who eat berries tend to live significantly longer than those who do not. Berries have benefits for cognition, immunity and eyesight.” It re- a l l y is that simple.
Watch what you track If you watch the Netflix show, you’ll see how Bryan Johnson’s life is ruled by tracking and recording. For those of us without Johnson’s funds or ambition, I’d choose what you want to track carefully, and consider how it may affect your mental and emotional health as well as physical.
Technological insights into cancer screening and early diagnosis are brilliant, but relying on technology to tell us how we feel can be misleading and cause obsessive behaviour. The biggest criticism of all the personalised health apps, from Zoe to Oura, is how easily they lure users into such behaviours.
The documentary director who spent a year with Johnson took three habits from the experience. He now drinks less, goes to bed earlier and wears a sleep tracker. That’s it.
What have I changed?
My real takeaway from a year of biohacking is diet is key. And give or take a portion of oily fish, a slug of extra virgin olive oil and a glass of red, all good diets are the same diet, and none of them fail because you ate a kebab. I’ve investigated the Mediterranean, Atlantic, anti-inflammation and planetary health diets, all of which advocate for a whole-food, plant-forward, relaxed, convivial way of life, and lead me to conclude that less tracking and more chatting is the way to better health.
FAST FACTS LONGEVITY The global biohacking and longevity industry was valued at $18.75bn (£15.25bn) in 2023 and is expected to reach $78.67bn by 2033 Source: Spherical Insights
In 2023, Monaco was found to have the highest life expectancy in the world with locals living to an average of 87. This is thought to be due to their high standards of living, easy access to high-quality healthcare, and the fact their diet, like the Mediterranean one, is rich in seafood, fruits and vegetables.
Source: World Bank
The average life expectancy in the UK is 82.06 years, with the US five years behind at 77.4 years. Source: World Bank
There is no one-size-fits-all diet for improving longevity. The best approach is to eat more whole, minimally processed foods like fruits, vegetables, wholegrains, nuts and legumes, and reduce heavily processed foods. Source: Harvard School of Public Health