June 27, 2019

Two years ago, in the post, “11 Indispensable Lessons I Learned From The Biohacker’s Handbook Of Exercise,” I introduced you to my biohacking friends from Finland – a pioneer of holistic medicine in Finland, human technology and self-quantification specialist, Teemu Arina; superfood hunter and nutritionist, Jaakko Halmetoja; as well as Dr. Olli Sovijärvi, MD.

Then, just a few months ago, in the article “14 Biohacking Secrets I Discovered In The Brand New Biohacker’s Handbook,” I announced that their entire, 544-page “Biohacker’s Handbook”—an absolutely stellar read jam-packed with tips, tricks, and hacks I’d never before seen—had been released in the English language and is the ultimate addition to any health, fitness, and nutrition enthusiast’s coffee table or bookshelf (if you're in the US, you can pre-order here and use 10% code BEN to save).

In that article, I shared with you 14 biohacking secrets I gleaned from the brand new beautiful hardcover book, which my guests on today's show – the authors of the book – describe as the “definitive guide to upgrading yourself and unleashing your inner potential.” Five years in making, Biohacker’s Handbook: Upgrade Yourself and Unleash Your Inner Potential has more than 540+ pages, 1560+ references, and hundreds of illustrations. It is “the missing manual of the human body” and an essential addition to the library, work desk, kitchen, gym, suitcase, and bedroom of anyone with a genuine interest in optimal human performance, health, and well-being. You can click here to get the new book, and use code: BEN for a 10% discount.

The same guys who wrote the book also put on the extremely popular Biohacker Summit in global hotspots such as Helsinki, Stockholm, Estonia, London, and Toronto—summits where I've personally spoken and where many brands have hit it big for the first time, including Four Sigmatic, Oura, Goodio, and Ambronite. Biohacker Summit is one of the top optimal human performance & health conferences on the planet that focuses on combining ancestral living with modern biohacking practices.

The upcoming Biohacker Summit 2019 is the 5th year anniversary edition that will be organized on 1-2 November 2019 in Helsinki, Finland with the theme “Optimize Your Day 24/7” and includes a wild-plant foraged VIP dinner, upgraded parties, a fantastic expo floor to play with new biohacking devices, and much more. You can click here and use code: BEN for 10% off tickets to this upcoming summit in Helsinki, Finland.

You can also get a bundle of videos from all previous summits by clicking here (use 10% discount code: BEN). 

My first guest on this show, in which we take a deep dive into Biohacker’s Handbook, is Dr. Olli Sovijärvi. He is one of the pioneers of holistic medicine in Finland. In 2006 he graduated from the University of Helsinki with a Licentiate degree in Medicine. In 2010–2011 Dr. Sovijärvi completed an integral theory degree at John F. Kennedy University, focusing on psychology and philosophy. For the first five years of his career as a physician, Dr. Sovijärvi was employed by Finland’s first medical recruitment agency. He has worked at nearly 50 different clinics and ERs around Finland. Dr. Sovijärvi has also acted as consultant to various companies and service providers operating in the fields of wellness and health technology. Between 2013–18, Dr. Sovijärvi practiced medicine at a private clinic that specializes in nutrition and holistic health care. At present, Sovijärvi focuses primarily on the production of scientific content for preventive health care and wellbeing. He is a co-author of the Biohacker’s handbook and co-founder of Biohacker Center. He also runs training sessions and presentations on the topics of biohacking, performance optimization, nutritional issues, and maintaining the intestinal balance. In his free time, he is an exercise enthusiast and an electronic music DJ.

Teemu Arina, my other guest, has a professional career of two decades as a technology entrepreneur, author, professional speaker, and biohacker. Mr. Arina is one of the forefront thinkers on the digital transformation of learning, work, leadership, health, and—eventually—the future of humanity. His work focuses on studying the intersection of man and machine and ways to improve productivity, health, and wellbeing with biological and technological tools. He is a co-author of the Biohacker's Handbook, co-founder of Biohacker Center and curator of Biohacker Summit. In 2015 he received the Leonardo Award under the title “Humanity in digitization,” in 2016 he was selected as Top 100 Most Influential People In IT, in 2017 Speaker of the Year by Speakersforum, and in 2018 Leadership Trainer of the Year by Turku School of Economics. In his free time, Teemu enjoys foraging, photography, and hiking.

During our discussion, you'll discover:

-Why Olli doesn't use an alarm clock to wake up…12:30

• Olli went years sleep-deprived working on his practice
• No technology after waking up
• Barefoot outside; ground with the earth (summer and winter)
• Vibration plates and squats
• BioMed Green Plus cubes
• Don't eat until early afternoon (1 meal a day + supplements throughout the day)
• Morning drink:
  • Structured water or well water
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • Dash of ginger juice
  • Lemon juice
  • Apple cider vinegar

-Why Teemu is fascinated by birch and maple sap…20:30

• Birch Sap
• Sprout Powder
• Ambronite meal replacement
• FourSigmatic Chaga (15% off with code: BENGREENFIELD)
• FourSigmatic 10 Mushroom Blend Mushroom Extract (for Agaricus mushroom) (15% off with code: BENGREENFIELD)
• Ceylon Cinnamon
• Pu Erh “titanium tea”
• Wild herb fed butter is better than grass-fed
• “The best stuff isn't branded” re: natural salt cave

-Dynamic coffee blends, chocamine powder, the best way to make ghee and more…32:00

• Olli's coffee blend:
  • Organic Cayenne Powder
  • Omica Organic Stevia
  • Ceylon Cinnamon
  • Madagascar Vanilla
  • Drunk over the course of 8 hours
• Ghee hack: make it at high elevation due to different boiling point of the water, results in less oxidized compounds
• Chocamine powder (concentrated chocolate) allows you to get more anandamides, or internally produced cannabinoids, in the system
• Bemer PEMF mat
• Clearlight Sauna followed by 2-minute cold shower

-The efficacy of slapping one's self with birch leaves in the sauna…45:30

• Heat sauna to 100º Celsius
• Tie birch, oak, stinging nettle leaves together
• Hit into kidneys
• Increases circulation while under the heat
• Can eat; high in iron
• Ben's wild plant pesto:
  • Stinging nettle leaves
  • Olive oil
  • Parmesan
  • Pine nuts
  • Rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper
  • Ferment the nettle leaves if cheese doesn't agree with you

-Some unique hacks for the workplace…51:40

• Stand, move around as much as possible
• Hydrate often
• Eating disrupts the flow (no casual social contact)

-Evening and sleep routines…53:00

• Deep sleep enhancement article Olli wrote for the Ben Greenfield Fitness website
• Whole body, lower level vibration therapy
• Neurosonic vibration tool
  • More subtle than the Powerplate vibration plate
  • Balances stimulation between sympathetic and parasympathetic tones
• Infrared sauna
• PEMF treatment with Bemer device
• 5-minute session with JOOVV mini (use code: BEN for a free gift at checkout)
• Eat 2 green kiwis every night
  • Kiwis contain nutrients for melatonin pathway: folate, zinc, etc.
  • Natural levels of serotonin
• Olli's evening supplement stack: magnesium, zinc, taurine, phosphatidylserine, theanine, fish oil, curcumin, selenium, resveratrol, and EAAs
• Sleepstream app
• Pzizz app
• Brain.FM
• NUCalm (discount applied at checkout, 65% off the first month of any new monthly subscription)
• “Moment” feature on The Oura Ring
• Deep breathing exercises (found in the Biohacker's Handbook)
• Sadhguru
  • Youtube Meditation
  • Inner Engineering book
• Black LED light blocking tape
• Acupressure spike mat for sleep
• Roll a towel and place it inside the pillow (while traveling)
• Ben's podcast on the NeckNest
• Air humidifier
• Airinum air mask
• O2O2.com Facemask

-“Stacks” that Olli and Teemu use…1:14:05

• Optimal mental recovery “stack”: Red light/infrared therapy + spike mat/spike pillow + PEMF or Bemer mat + binaural beats with noise-cancelling headphones + meditation + certain supplements (reishi & lion’s mane) + essential oil of lavender, power naps to maximize mental recovery
• Optimal business man’s workout “stack”: Vibration plate + electrical muscle stimulation + X3Bar + elevation training mask + “biohackers chocolate” cacao/coffee/cordyceps/beetroot juice for business man’s workouts during breaks
• Self-quantification “stack”: Tracking recovery with morning resting heart-rate, morning saliva cortisol, urine test strips, Ketonix for evaluating state of ketosis & fasting, night-time HRV (Oura), day-time HRV and periods of recovery (Garmin Vivomove HR), blood sugar fluctuation with Freestyle libre (combined with application of agaricus blazei, berberine, cinnamon, Jarrow Formulas Glucose Optimizer, etc.), pulse oximeter (ihealth Air), blood pressure (ihealth Clear), quick sampling of hsCRP / homocysteine in the future (portable Eurolyzer Smart 700/340)
• Sauna “stack”: Niacin, FourSigmatic 10 Mushroom Blend, cinnamon, vanilla, curcumin, ginger, holy basil, oregano

-And much more…

Click here for the full written transcript of this podcast episode.

Resources from this episode:

– Click here to get the new Biohackers Handbook, and use code: BEN for a 10% discount.

– You can get a bundle of videos from all previous Biohacker Summits by clicking here (use 10% discount code: BEN).

– You can also click here and use code: BEN for 10% off tickets to the upcoming summit in Helsinki, taking place Nov 1-2, 2019 in Finland.

– Olli’s testosterone hacking guide (use 10% discount code: BEN)

– Olli’s deep sleep optimization guide (use 10% discount code: BEN)

– BioMed Green Plus cubes

– Birch Sap

– Sprout Powder

– Ambronite meal replacement (use code: BENGREENFIELD for a 20% discount)

– FourSigmatic 10 Mushroom Blend Mushroom Extract (for Agaricus mushroom) (15% off with code: BENGREENFIELD)

– C8 Caprylic Acid

– Ceylon Cinnamon

– Madagascar Vanilla

– Organic Cayenne Powder

– FourSigmatic Chaga (15% off with code: BENGREENFIELD)

– Omica Organic Stevia

– Chocamine powder

– Neurosonic vibration tool (Use code: BIOHACKER for a 5% discount on the device)

– Powerplate vibration plate

– Jumpsport Mini-Trampoline

– Ben's wild plant pesto recipe from Instagram

– Deep sleep enhancement article Olli wrote for the Ben Greenfield Fitness website

– Bemer PEMF mat

– Olli's evening supplement stack: magnesium, zinc, taurine, phosphatidylserine, theanine, fish oil, curcumin, selenium, resveratrol, and EAAs

– Acupressure spike mat for sleep

– Pzizz app

– Sleepstream app

– Brain.FM

– NUCalm (discount applied at checkout, 65% off the first month of any new monthly subscription)

– The Oura Ring

– Health Meditation (Guided By Sadhguru) – YouTube

– Black LED light blocking tape

– JOOVV Go (use code: BEN for a free gift at checkout)

– MobilityWOD balls

– Ben's podcast on the NeckNest

– O2O2.com Facemask

– Biohacker’s chocolate (use code: BEN for 10% discount)

– Longevity tea

– Book: Inner Engineering by Sadhguru

– Boneco air humidifier

– Airinum air mask

– Eurolyser Smart

– Optimal mental recovery “stack”: Red light/infrared therapy + spike mat/spike pillow + PEMF or Bemer mat + binaural beats with noise-cancelling headphones + meditation + certain supplements (reishi & lion’s mane) + essential oil of lavender, power naps to maximize mental recovery

– Optimal business man’s workout “stack”: Vibration plate + electrical muscle stimulation + X3Bar + elevation training mask + cacao/coffee/cordyceps/beetroot juice for business man’s workouts during breaks

– Self-quantification “stack”: Tracking recovery with morning resting heart-rate, morning saliva cortisol, urine test strips, Ketonix for evaluating state of ketosis & fasting, night-time HRV (Oura), day-time HRV and periods of recovery (Garmin Vivomove HR), blood sugar fluctuation with Freestyle libre (combined with application of agaricus blazei, berberine, cinnamon, Jarrow Formulas Glucose Optimizer, etc.), pulse oximeter (ihealth Air), blood pressure (ihealth Clear), quick sampling of hsCRP / homocysteine in the future (portable Eurolyzer Smart 700/340)

– Sauna “stack”: Niacin, FourSigmatic 10 Mushroom Blend, cinnamon, vanilla, curcumin, ginger, holy basil, oregano.

Episode sponsors:

– Kion: My personal playground for new supplement formulations, Kion blends ancestral wisdom with modern science. Ben Greenfield Fitness listeners receive a 10% discount off your entire order when you use discount code: BGF10.

– Organifi Green Juice: Now you can get all your healthy superfoods in one glass…with No Shopping, No Blending, No Juicing, and No Cleanup. Get a 20% discount on your entire order when you use discount code: BENG20

– Hyperice: Hyperice is offering free shipping on all orders over $99 AND a chance to win the full recovery kit from Hyperice! You’ll be entered to win the full Hyperice recovery kit when you enter code: BEN

– Birdwell Beach Britches: Quality is our Gimmick isn’t just our slogan, it’s a commitment we honor with every stitch we sew. 100% money back guarantee. Get 10% off your order, PLUS free shipping on any order over $99 when you use discount code.

Do you have questions, thoughts or feedback for Teemu, Olli or me? Leave your comments below and one of us will reply!