November 9, 2023

In the vast digital ocean of cutting-edge health tech, it’s easy to feel like optimizing your life is synonymous with emptying your wallet.

Yet, some of the most impactful health upgrades don't demand a billionaire's budget – or even spending more than you would on a nice dinner out.

Navigating through the noise, I've distilled the essence of practical, budget-friendly biohacking in a special compilation episode. The following seven carefully selected episodes feature insights from experts who have shared their knowledge on optimizing health without emptying your wallet. For a deeper dive and more comprehensive strategies, I encourage you to explore the full episodes:

• The Superhuman Protocol That Declumps Cells, Hyperoxygenates The Body, Restores Cellular Wellness & Much More, With Gary Brecka.
• 377: The Big Vitamin D Mistake, How Ben Reads A Book A Day, Cold Therapy vs. Cryotherapy vs. Cold Thermogenesis & Much More!
• Ben Greenfield's Favorite Workouts, Building a Generational Legacy, Biohacking On a Budget, & Much More: Part 2 of Ben's Talk at the Health Optimisation Summit.
• Dirt Cheap Performance Enhancing Hacks You’ve Never Heard Of, The Best Bottled Waters, Cold Thermogenesis Pre-Post Exercise Tips, & Much More With Dr. James DiNicolantonio, Author of WIN.
• Q&A 441: Methylene Blue Madness, Gut Healing Mega-Newsflash, Homemade Morphine, Cheap Blood Sugar Hacks, Training 2 Vs. 4 Times Per Week & Much More!
• 1 Cheap & Easy Underground Training Method For Growth Hormone Release, 5 Biohacks to Increase Strength in 60 Seconds, 7 Exercises for the Eyes to Radically Enhance Stamina & Speed
• 363: The Best Time Of Day To Exercise, How To Be The Fittest Old Person, Top 5 Cheap Ways To Train For Altitude & More!

This episode is about democratizing wellness. Discover how to make your own performance-enhancing solution, regulate your blood glucose, train for altitude, and more—all without breaking the bank. Today, it's time to redefine health wealth.

-Top 5 daily health tips when you're on a budget…02:00

• Ben’s tips:
  • Eat organ meats – some stores will sell them for cheap, ask the butcher if they sell organ meats
  • Get cold – cold showers can do the trick. There are also ways to make your own cold tub at home
  • Get hot – Get outside in the sun, sweat, and workout with layers to get a good sweat
  • Walking 10.000 steps
  • Make someone feel really good
    • Podcast with Will Ahmed:
      • A Day In The Life Of Ben Greenfield: Ben’s Exact Morning, Afternoon & Evening Routines.
• Gary’s tips:
  • Breathwork – There are lots of free breathwork videos online available to anyone
  • Walking
  • For losing weight, walk 30-45 min. in a fasted state
  • Wim Hof’s breath work routine
  • Preferably at first light

 -Best budget-friendly strategies for teens…04:04

• 40 min. a day for 30 weeks to improve nutrition and exercise habits
• Low socio-economic, teens, 11 to 18 years old
• What would Ben’s curriculum look like?
• Insight from the Blue Zones
  • The Blue Zones by Dan Buettner
• Growing and eating whole foods
  • Learning how to eat from nature and grow in nature
• Teaching teens how to properly read a nutrition label
• Having a home that is an environment simulating nature as much as possible
  • WiFi off on the phones
  • Replace the light bulbs in your study room
  • Check apartments for mold
  • Podcast with Dr. Matt Cook:
    • Killing Mold & Mycotoxins For Good, The Craziest IVs You Can Get For Energy, Fixing Knees & Back Without Surgery & Much More With Dr. Matt Cook.
• Teach them about the importance of fasting
• Teach them to think about exercise as a habit
  • Engaging in low-level physical activity all day long
  • Walking, use of standing workstations, taking the stairs instead of elevator
• Teach a course on breathwork
  • Enhance the body's ability to be able to withstand stress
• Teaching the importance of family relationships
  • The importance of forgiveness
  • Anger can cause chronic disease
• Nature immersion
  • Camping
  • Fishing
  • Hiking
  • Be comfortable in nature in cold and heat
  • Learn to start a fire, cook on fire, hunt
  • Podcast with Tim Corcoran and Jeannine Tidwell:
    • Educating The Next Generation With Ceremonies, Rites Of Passage, Nature Immersion, Wilderness Survival & More With Tim Corcoran & Jeannine Tidwell.

-Biohacking gear for less than $100…14:53

• Ben would spend the money on stuff that would improve his walks:
  • Hand weights
  • Relaxator
  • Blood flow restriction bands

-Dirt cheap performance-enhancing hack…15:55

• Ben’s story about Gatorade and a football team
• Making a high-salt solution without creating gut issues
  • Add the amino acid glycine to the solution
• The saltiness of blood is 3200 milligrams of sodium per liter – 0.8% salt
• IV of saline is actually slightly saltier than your blood
  • 3500 milligrams of sodium per liter
• When you go above that, you risk diarrhea
• How to avoid diarrhea?
  • Add glycine to the solution
• Glycine at a ratio of 2:3:1 
• Adding glycine to a very high salt solution – 4300 milligrams of sodium per liter 
• A recipe for performance-enhancing solution
  • 4300 mg of sodium (just under two teaspoons of salt)
  • 1 teaspoon of salt is 2300 milligrams of sodium
  •  1 liter of fluid (around 33 oz)
  • Preferably cold – refrigeration temperature
  • 6 grams of glycine
• Glycine or spirulina for mitigating some of the oxidizing or inflammatory effects of vegetable oil
• Glycine by Bulk Supplements
• The glycine in bone broth
• Start at least 90 minutes before exercise consuming the solution
  • The rate you consume these solutions is very important because of the absorption
  • Consume slowly at an equal rate over 45 minutes
• Sodium bicarbonate about 2 hours before performance improves performance
• The problem – acute doses are so high that you can cause more gastrointestinal issues than performance benefits
• Slowly build up your bicarbonate stores over weeks by simply drinking bicarbonate water
  • 1-1.8g per liter
• Hydrogen ion buildup
  • Hydrogen ions accumulate as a result of lactic acid
• Bicarbonate-rich mineral waters
  • Pellegrino
  • Gerolsteiner 
  • Magnesia Natural Mineral Water

-Dirt cheap ways for lowering your blood glucose…31:27

• Two recent studies related to reducing your blood glucose
  • A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the hypoglycemic efficacy of the mcIRBP-19-containing Momordica charantia L. fruit extracts in the type 2 diabetic subjects
  • Glycemic response, satiety, gastric secretions and emptying after bread consumption with water, tea or lemon juice: a randomized crossover intervention using MRI
• Ben doesn’t take metformin
  • Alternatives are
    • Bitter melon extract
    • Dihydroberberine
• Kion Lean
• A recent study on bitter melon extract showed significant hypoglycemic effect
• Another study monitored various parameters after people eating bread
  • Glycemic response
  • Appetite satiety
  • Gastric secretions
  • Gastric emptying
  • Bread notoriously increases blood sugar levels
• People were also given lemon juice
  • Lemon juice proved to be very beneficial
• Lemon juice + Kion Lean + walking combo for managing glucose

-Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) and vestibular enhancement on a budget…36:45

• A biohack to increase strength within 60 seconds
• Blood Flow Restriction bands:
  • BFR bands
  • Kaatsu bands (use code BEN to save 10%)
• Exercise with the elastic band works the body
• Exercise for the inner ear is enhancing your brain's map
• By enhancing your brain's map, you can enhance strength output
• VOR – vestibular ocular reflex exercise
  • Recalibrating your brain in terms of visual integration and vestibular integration
  • Vision system and our inner ear vestibular system are the fastest information sources
• Doing an exercise for the eyes gives input to the brain
  • Brock strings
• Today, our eyes and ears don’t get enough stimulation
• The description of the exercise

-Gathering more oxygen with cheap methods of altitude training…40:43

• Mark is training to climb Mt. Denali
• Asks Ben for advice, ideas, and strategies
• Ben’s top 5 ways to train for altitude
• Static apnea tables
  • Free divers use these a lot to increase their tolerance to low amounts of O2 or high amounts of CO2
• The Oxygen Advantage by Patrick McKeown
  • Bear Grylls did breath-restricted swim training
• Sauna
  • Studies show that training in the heat increases blood plasma volume
  • Elicit physiological adaptations that allow you to replicate much of what you would get if you were going to do altitude acclimation
  • Odd crossover between exercising in a hot environment and altitude training
  • Sauna training is just as efficacious as altitude training
• Echinacea
  • Podcast with Craig Dinkel:
    • Recovery For Aging Athletes, Cross-Patterning, A New Kind Of High Intensity Interval Training, An Oxygen Boosting Supplement Called “Oxcia” & More!
  • Craig's BioTropic Labs (use code BEN to save 20%)
  • Use of Echinacea shows massive increases in oxygen availability
  • You can use Echinacea  as a way to increase your blood cell counts
• Training Mask
  • Resisted breath training
  • Increases the amount of CO2 when you breathe
  • Improving your ability to be able to withstand lower amounts of oxygen availability
  • Relatively cheap and easy way to train for altitude
  • Be careful that you're not doing extremely complex, heavy-loaded exercises
• Treadmill (use code BEN to save $150 off on a purchase of $1000 or more)
  • EWOT (Exercise With Oxygen Therapy)
  • Hypoxic training
  • Generators:
    • LiveO2
    • O2CRS
    • Hypoxico
• Obstacle Order Podcast: E. 76 Ben Greenfield: Altitude Hacks, Minimalistic Training, Advanced Recovery Tactics and More
• How to prepare the body for the cold?
  • Cold showers and getting out in the cold
  • Going on shiver walks
• Nutrition
  • What to do during a long – Boy Scout trip podcast
  • What to do for about two weeks of training in Mongolia podcast
  • Macadamia nuts (use code BEN to save)
  • Pemmican
  • Aminos
  • Spirulina and Chlorella
  • Supergreens (use code BENGREENFIELD to save 15%)

-And much more…

Upcoming Events:

• Elements of Vitality: December 8th, 2023

Return to the Elements of Vitality—this will be the second time my good friend Dr. John Lieurance, and I collaborate to bring you the most effective and cutting-edge health and wellness advice, protocols, and some of our favorite tools. If you’re into health and wellness, and you want to stay on top of all of the cutting-edge, latest, and greatest innovations and protocols, you don’t want to miss this event. Learn more here.

• Keep up on Ben's LIVE appearances by following bengreenfieldfitness.com/calendar!

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

Resources mentioned in this episode:

– Podcasts And Articles:

• A Day In The Life Of Ben Greenfield: Ben’s Exact Morning, Afternoon & Evening Routines.
• Killing Mold & Mycotoxins For Good, The Craziest IVs You Can Get For Energy, Fixing Knees & Back Without Surgery & Much More With Dr. Matt Cook.
• Educating The Next Generation With Ceremonies, Rites Of Passage, Nature Immersion, Wilderness Survival & More With Tim Corcoran & Jeannine Tidwell.
• Recovery For Aging Athletes, Cross-Patterning, A New Kind Of High Intensity Interval Training, An Oxygen Boosting Supplement Called “Oxcia” & More!
• 7 Easy Ways to Incorporate Breathwork Into Your Life, Plus My Top Recommendation for Making It a Daily Habit.
• The Powerful Health Benefits Of Fasting (Plus The Top 5 Questions I Get Asked About Fasting).
• Why Your Brain Doesn’t Want You To Exercise Hard (& 6 Things You Can Do About It).
• How To Blast You (And Your Child’s!) Physical, Mental, & Spiritual Resilience Through The Roof With Breathwork.
• How To Leave A Legacy: A 6-Step Model For Building Your Family Legacy, Values, Traditions, Mission Statement & More.
• Precepts: 3 Keys To Relationship Success, Soul With A Body & One Rule
• A Surgeon’s Little-Known Secret to Biohacking Your Body With Oxygen Therapy
• The Ultimate Guide To Biohacking Exercise With Oxygen Therapy, Hypoxia, Elevation & Altitude Training.
• Episode #234: How Much Water Do You Really Need To Drink Each Day?
• Episode #199: How Exercise Makes You Fat

– Books:

• The Blue Zones by Dan Buettner
• The Oxygen Advantage by Patrick McKeown

– Other Resources:

• US Wellness Meats Organ Meats
• Glycine
• Salt
• Spirulina
• Glycine by Bulk Supplements
• Kettle and Fire Bone Broth
• Sodium Bicarbonate
• Pellegrino
• Gerolsteiner 
• Magnesia Natural Mineral Water
• Bitter Melon Extract
• Dihydroberberine
• Kion Lean
• Lemon Juice
• BioTropic Labs (use code BEN to save 20%)
• Echinacea
• Macadamia Nuts
• Pemmican
• Aminos
• Spirulina and Chlorella
• Supergreens (use code BENGREENFIELD to save 15%)
• Morozko Forge
• Infrared Sauna
• Hand Weights
• Relaxator
• Kaatsu BFR Bands (use code BEN to save 10%)
• BFR Bands
• Brock Strings
• Training Mask
• Treadmill (use code BEN to save $150 off on a purchase of $1000 or more)
• LiveO2
• O2CRS
• Hypoxico
• Red Incandescent Light Bulbs
• Obstacle Order Podcast: E. 76 Ben Greenfield: Altitude Hacks, Minimalistic Training, Advanced Recovery Tactics and More
• Static Apnea Tables
• Surviving Mold

Episode sponsors:

Anthros: Try Anthros risk-free – return at no cost if it's not the most comfortable posture-improving, performance-enhancing chair you have ever owned. Receive $200 off using the link www.anthros.com/ben

Calroy: Head over to calroy.com/ben and save 20% when you bundle a 3-month supply of Arterosil HP (premier supplement to support the endothelial glycocalyx, the fragile inner lining of the entire vascular system) and Vascanox HP (breakthrough product providing nitric oxide support for up to 24 hours with a single dose).

Timeline Nutrition: Timeline is offering 10% off your first order of Mitopure. Go to timelinenutrition.com/BEN and use code BEN to get 10% off your order.

ZBiotics: The world's first genetically engineered probiotic that helps break down the toxic byproduct of alcohol, Zbiotics allows you to enjoy your night out and feel great the next day. Order with the confidence of a 100% money-back guarantee and 15% off your first order at zbiotics.com/BEN when you use code BEN.

Organifi (Gold): Get the restful sleep you need with the most soothing ingredients! Gold is a delicious superfood tea that contains powerful superfoods and mushrooms to help you sleep and recover so you can wake up feeling refreshed and energized. Go to organifi.com/Ben for 20% off your order.

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