Between science, self-experimentation & lifestyle

The knowledge of all relevant body data makes biohacking programs so effective.

BEST OF | Issue 04 | AUTUMN/WINTER 2025/26 | Text: Christian Bonk

Getting older in good health, doing an end run around creeping decline and mental deterioration… biohacking is the lifestyle trend which leads the way from the universal human dream of eternal youth to a scientifically founded sphere of present-day reality. There is no doubt: a harmonious mixture of scientific knowledge, power substances derived from nature and an attentive treatment of one’s own psyche can indeed lengthen life, amplify good health and generate more quality in being alive. When will your own experiment in living-longer-better begin?

Biohacking, as it presents itself today, brings a roller coaster history with it. For example, in the 80s there was the phase known as do-it-yourself biology in the U.S., boasting legendary garage laboratories, an underground movement seeking to optimize one’s own self, postulating a startling democratization of biological research. Even back then, the all-important goal of its followers was to achieve mastery over your own genes, to manipulate and increase the longevity of your own DNA or at very least, to influence all this in positive ways. Critics reprimanded it for biological terrorism, warned against uncontrollable risks from shoddy knowledge based on experiments carried out by non-professionals.

The Brand Base Tunnel in the BIOGENA BRAND BASE 01, located in the heart of Salzburg’s historic old town

In the 90s, LOHAS (Leadership of Health and Sustainability) followed in its footsteps. It was a movement custom-made for prosperous professional performers. Its goal was to live life to the fullest, to the absolute hilt, yet at the highest degree of health possible, but above all to enjoy life’s pleasures without unduly burdening the environment. Here, too, there were harsh critics who admonished LOHAS for camouflaging what was essentially a luxurious lifestyle with a thin environmentally friendly mask… made of organic cotton, it goes without saying.

At the same time, the era of technological body measurements got underway. Fitness-trackers were the hot property of the hour, providing to their wearers well founded data ranging from pulse frequency with the quality of an ECG, documenting individual phases of nocturnal sleep, counting steps taken over 24-hour periods, and even calculating the calories of what was being consumed. For many people, these devices constituted the foundations of a new personal fitness training and a healthy regime of nutrition containing as few perilous foods as possible. Those were the days when carbohydrates, fats, cholesterol got their names written into the No-No black book of nutritive elements. Then at the start of the 2000s, rumours arose that the unbelievable masses of data which had been collected on the wristband sensors and digital chest bands made it possible for the manufacturers of these devices to predict the moment of death down to the precise week, more or less, for all those who wore these devices on a sustained basis… just in case they weren’t struck by lightning before then.

Data-driven health checkups are the foundation of long-term therapy success. / SHA Spain

Biohacking – the dream of living until you are 180

But let’s now turn to the current trend of biohacking, which in the interim has become a deadly serious and often pursued path on how to make life healthier, fuller, happier. There has hardly been anyone who left a greater imprint on the concept of biohacking than the former Silicon Valley nerd, Dave Asprey. His downright “Olympian goal” is to appear at a celebration party (presumably with his 100-year-old grandchildren) on his – wait for it – 180th birthday. It seems more realistic to understand this as a serious attempt to optimize his daily lifestyle, as he has been doing since 2010, in order to slow down the aging process to the greatest extent possible. “Bulletproof coffee”, mitochondrial optimization, neurofeedback, light therapy, all these things belong in the repertoire of essentials on the hunt for ongoing youth and health for Dave Asprey. “I don’t simply want to grow old, I want to stay young while I am growing old,”
is the mantra of one of the very early adherents of the present-day biohacking scene.

His legendary morning coffee, so-called bulletproof coffee, consists of highest quality coffee beans, butter from pasture-fed cows and MCT oil. It guarantees not merely his personal launch into the day but has become a worldwide top seller among supplements. Apart from the purely organic support he supplies to his body by this means each and every day, the highly successful entrepreneur and pod-caster also praises (and wagers his destiny on) medical technology and high-tech solutions. He is unshakably of the opinion that he can become old enough for the threats which currently plague all aging people such as cancer, dementia / loss of memory and life-threatening metabolic illnesses to be made treatable and curable. Apart from his diet of bulletproof coffee, he also swallows dozens of supplements daily, places his bets on cryotherapy, neurofeedback, meditation, respiratory exercises, as well as continuing with permanent check-ups of his fundamental bio-markers, accompanied by periodic fasting in order to promote quicker regeneration of his body cells.

The connection to nature is an integral part of many biohacking concepts. / Kamalaya Thailand

Have you got what it takes to attempt biohacking?

It goes without saying that attempting biohacking does not mean imitating the daily biohacking schedule of Dave Asprey. Nevertheless, each and every one of us does have the possibility to try out certain finely-dosed measures based on knowledge which is already established and accepted in order to participate in biohacking benefits ourselves. Specially selected supplements and carefully chosen techniques to keep the psyche buoyant, sufficient amounts of quality sleep and reinforced mental composure and dispassionateness lead imperturbably to heightening individual quality of life. For beginners, that means starting out gently, i.e. integrating two or three biohacks per week into your normal mode of life, amplified by a balanced diet which includes high-quality supplements, is the recommended way to launch it.

Below is a starter-list of tried and tested biohacks for the quick-start of your own rejuvenation programme:

• Optimizing your sleep (blue-light filters plus taking magnesium)
• Interval fasting (16:8 method, raising the amount of healthy fats consumed)
• Physical workout (jogging, swimming, biking or other sports activity)
• Mental training (meditation, yoga sessions)
• Digital detox (periods without internet/telephone screens, ideally spent out in nature)
• Cold-warm effect (sessions in the sauna, cold showers)
• Reflections & Planning (consciously engaging in rounds of feedback, communication, planning with a focus on measures to improve health)

For all those who have the appetite to try it out, even a very few sessions a week are sufficient. It frequently turns out for many biohackers that these miniature efforts quickly become routines, hard-and-fast components of daily life. In order to sift them out and come up with the right composition of such measures for you, it is important to keep track of what brings the most positive effects. What made you feel better, really better? That is the way to gradually build up and continue your own feel-good routines.

At Palazzo Fiuggi, workouts are part of the personalized daily program.

Which supplements really help?

Generally speaking, non-medical, freely available supplements live under a dark cloud, they are suspected of having no basis in proven science. Nonetheless, there are numerous active ingredients in nature which are indisputably a positive addition to human health, whether for cell structure, blood values, digestion or the overall organism. These supplements can provide significant contributions to biohackers, reinforcing the very things they are attempting to accomplish in their own health and well-being. It goes without saying that any and all of these things need to be tried out in moderation, never in expectation of a silver bullet as a cure-all. Regardless whether that is magnesium to achieve improved sleep, vitamin D3 and K2 for fortifying your immune system, omega-3 fat as an inhibitor of inflammation, L-Thenine for reducing stress or zinc preparations to generate a better hormonal balance, the effect of these supplements is scientifically proven, particularly when they are purchased from proven qualitative suppliers.

To sum it up: a small amount of biohacking cannot damage or do any harm to the design of your life. Healthy food, exercise in the fresh air, attentive treatment of your own psyche and a skillful, all-round mixture of supplements and natural preparations are not a guarantee for reaching a biblical age, but can provide indispensable building blocks towards greater satisfaction, composure and a more fulfilled life.

Yoga is equally beneficial for the mind and body. / Lanserhof Sylt

Biogena – scientific research meets quality of life

Biogena is an Austrian company which specializes in high-quality micro-nutritive preparations, developed on the basis of scientific research and produced in accordance with the principle of pure substances, in other words, without any artificial additives, colours or preservatives. In the highly transparent manufacturing headquarters near Salzburg, products result which view human health from the birds-eye perspective, seeing all aspects working together: crystal-clear, sustainable and individual. Regardless whether that means pure magnesium citrate for supporting muscles and nerves, omega-3 for heart and brain, or vitamin D3 & K2 for increasing bone density and strengthening the immune system, Biogena supplies well-founded solutions for modern biohackers who wish to further their own health, based quite consciously on the best knowledge available to us. This brand stands for a new kind of health culture combining awareness, prevention and pleasure in being alive.

Biohacking hotels: top addresses for a smart launch

Integrating new routines into your day is often a difficult process, especially when your days are full anyway. It is no different for personal biohacking ambitions and projects. Of course, it is simpler when your days are free to plan without constraints and the stress from home is kept within bounds. That is when the prospect of a few leisure days can really be inspiring. Here are a few first-class addresses for your biohacking dream, to turn it to reality at a premium hotel.

Lanserhof (Germany, Austria, Sylt)
Europe’s leading medically oriented retreats focus on prevention, cellular health and optimizing metabolism. Biohacking elements such as fasting protocols, spermidine treatments, NAD+ intravenous drips, metabolic diagnostics all form componential parts of the overall concept. Particularly valuable: Varying packages of metabolic beverages and Longevity-Sets for reinforcing vitality in individually specific ways.

SHA LONGEVITY RESORT (Spain & Mexico)
A trailblazing pioneer in longevity medicine with tailor-made individual programmes for cell rejuvenation, stress reduction and performance enhancement. The SHA Method combines Western medicine, natural healing methods with herbal medicine and the latest technologies, such as cryotherapy, NAD injections and photo-bio modulation. Particularly valuable: Advanced Longevity Programme with biologic age-analysis and personalized concepts of regeneration.

Palazzo Fiuggi (Italy)
Luxury meets science within the walls of a historic palace with its own source of healing waters. The biohacking retreat offers IHHT training, neurovision tanks, vagus nerve massage and personalized DNA analysis. You are guided culinarily by 3-star Michelin chef Heinz Beck with mitochondria-friendly meals meticulously tailored to metabolically supporting your path. Particularly valuable: Mindset Biohacking^® with a focus on cognitive performance and emotional resilience.

Kamalaya (Thailand)
A wellness sanctuary with an emphasis on spirituality, merging Eastern traditions of healing with Western diagnostics. In the brand-new Longevity House, ozone therapy, intravenous drips and hyperbaric oxygen treatments are offered. Particularly valuable: Cognitive House for generating mental clarity and emotional balance, embedded deep in tropical nature and Buddhist energy.

Chiva-Som / Zulal Wellness Resort (Qatar)
The very first holistic resort in the Near East, concentrating on traditional Arabian-Islamic medicine (TAIM). A variety of approaches to biohacking such as DNA tests, infrared therapy, Shirodhara and colon-hydrotherapy are combined with highly modern diagnostics. Particularly valuable: Vital & Longevity DNA-Tests to achieve the most precise lifestyle approach which is individually possible.