CHAPTER 5

The Accidental Biohacker

Sharpening Your Mind with Nutritional Supplements

“What? We’re stranded in Canada for over a month?” I angrily retorted to the immigration agent over the phone. What was meant to be a ten-day trip to the West Coast—Los Angeles to San Francisco and then back to Canada—was about to turn into a five-week unplanned stay. Everything had been mapped out months in advance for my experiments with nootropics, wearables, and supplements. Some interviews had taken several months to lock down; now, it was all about to be thrown into disarray. We had just learned that even though we had received the paperwork we needed to live and work in the U.S., we didn’t have the required paperwork to reenter the country. With a backlog of meetings at the U.S. embassy in Vancouver, we had to wait one full month to secure an interview and then several more days to receive our passports. Due to the delay, I also had to make an expensive round-trip flight to Ottawa to update my Australian passport, in hopes that it would come in time for the immigration meeting in Vancouver. We suddenly had to be prepared for a white Christmas and New Year’s in Canada. However, that wasn’t my only concern.

One month before our trip, my partner and I had decided to foster Mitch, a beautiful little Yorkshire terrier in need of much love. He was the last of 40 neglected Yorkies rescued from a house in Florida. His shocking rescue story had been featured on the local news a month prior to us meeting him. He was the last one left in Pet Pal’s Animal Shelter in Saint Petersburg, and he was petrified.

As soon as our plans were set for our trip, I asked our close friends Debbie and Rich to watch over little Mitch. Suddenly, a week later in Canada, I had to call to see if they were OK keeping him for another five weeks or so. Although I knew he was in amazing hands with our friends, my blood boiled as to how this was throwing a major curveball at us, financially and emotionally.

If I had Botox, I would have cracked it because I was so ANGRY!

I spent the first week in Vancouver angry. I believed I had done everything required to ensure something like this wouldn’t happen. It had already cost a fortune to book my itinerary, and now I was about to take another major financial hit for a five-week unplanned stay in Canada.

On top of this, my laptop went on the fritz. How was I going to write my book and finish all my research and experiments? The 90-day clock was ticking down, and I was reaching a critical level of stress!

As I sat in the airport watching people board the flight to Ottawa, I decided enough was enough. My 90-day mission to become unstoppable wasn’t just about feeling great and closing my identity gap; it was about achieving a level of emotional control that would enable me to work through any challenge—including getting stranded overseas. My energy had improved greatly after the treatment of antifungals and dietary changes. Now it was time to upgrade my thinking, memory, focus, and motivation. This was an opportunity for me to test everything I had uncovered so far. Would it work? I decided to opt for a little extra help.

In the past, I had handled stressful life events through mental rehearsal and EFT, otherwise known as the Emotional Freedom Technique. This time, however, I was going to heighten my mental state prior to applying these two strategies and amplify their effects to make a lasting impact. I realized later that I had become the “Accidental Biohacker” out of necessity, to heal and rid myself of fatigue, depression, and memory loss once and for all.

The flight to Ottawa was the perfect time for my first experiment: the nootropics and nicotine Dave Asprey had introduced me to. My first taste of nicotine was in Dave’s personal Bulletproof lab in the Canadian mountains, where he gave me my first taste of Bulletproof Coffee, a unique blend of grass-fed butter, MCT oil, and Dave’s own coffee beans. In addition to this, he added a brand-new sweetener that he plans to bring to market. Dave told me he was going to light my brain on fire with a hit of nicotine and round it off with a nootropic chaser.

Within seconds of him spraying nicotine under my tongue, I got the hiccups. We both burst out laughing and had to pause the interview while I regained composure.

Are you crazy? I thought, as Dave explained that nicotine is a well-known, well-researched nootropic popular for its cognitive and performance-enhancing abilities. It tends to get a bad rap from its association with cigarettes. However, when nicotine is separated out from the 5,000-plus other chemicals in a cigarette, the research is surprisingly positive, as seen in the following results:

  It makes you more vigilant. For example, nicotine patches allow some people to focus longer on a mentally exhausting task.

  People who took nicotine had better memory recall of a list of words.

  Nicotine sharpens short-term memory.

  It heightens your ability to pay attention.

  It speeds up your reaction time.

  It suppresses appetite.1

Nicotine is currently being analyzed for possible therapeutic benefits for a host of issues ranging from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s to ADHD, schizophrenia, and obesity. In addition, it’s an inexpensive and mostly safe option.²

Never having so much as held a cigarette, I was nervous at the effect it might have on me. After Dave sprayed the nicotine under my tongue and I drank the Bulletproof Coffee, within minutes I felt flushed, and then the coffee kicked in. I hadn’t touched coffee for almost a year. Hello, world! What followed was a fast-paced and productive interview that ranged across all areas of biohacking strategies. I was getting a firsthand look at how this revolutionary neuroscience field was merging with hacking our own health.

A week later, just before boarding my flight to Ottawa, I sprayed the nicotine under my tongue. I wanted to observe the effects on my cognition in a controlled environment, free from distractions and interruptions. This time, my reaction was completely different. I became dizzy and came close to fainting. As I anxiously watched the other passengers board from the safety of the airport lounge, I began to wonder if I should get on the flight at all. I opted to board last and tried desperately to keep my shit together. Did I look like a paranoid drug addict? I felt like one. What had I done to myself before boarding a five-hour flight that still had to go through Toronto and then on to Ottawa?

I sheepishly boarded the plane, took my seat, and put on my headphones. Listening to a powerful mental rehearsal I had created for myself when I was in New York a year ago, I visualized how the rest of my stay in Canada would unravel and how great it would be to complete the project. After that, I continued my research for the book. Five hours later, I arrived in Toronto. I barely remember the flight.

Have you ever been so focused you lost an entire day immersed in your work? You look up and suddenly realize hours have flown by. It had been years since I had experienced this level of focus. Not only did I read an entire book on gut microbiomes on the flight over, but I also wrote more than 3,000 words, which I subsequently lost due to an intermittent internet connection. However, that didn’t bother me in the slightest, because I could easily remember what I had written.

My focus was dialed in, my alertness was at an all-time high, and I was experiencing a strong sense of calmness. My anger had dissipated after the mental rehearsal, and the nicotine had helped narrow my focus to what was in front of me. This cleared the path for me to enjoy not just this short trip, but also the rest of the stay in Vancouver. Later I would trial nicotine while meditating with the Muse headband and was floored by the results. I now had tangible evidence to quantify that the nicotine had enhanced my results.

Time to Bring My A-Game and Become “The Catalyst”

To become a Catalyst on my 13-week mission to becoming unstoppable, I had to drive a level of awareness that I had failed to achieve previously in my state of fatigue and exhaustion. This first required me to identify who I currently believed myself to be: Defender, Guardian, Synergist, or Catalyst. Then I had to incrementally remove foods and medications that had a negative impact on my emotions. After that, I had to position myself for success by switching fuel sources, eat anti-inflammatory foods, and focus on healthy fats to help recharge my brain after high levels of psychological output. Once the brain fog began to lift, I could focus on unleashing my full potential with nootropics and additional supplementation to light my vision of my true self.

When you’re in Defender or Guardian mode, change is massively harder because you have further to travel. And, as we’ve learned, your cognitive abilities become the sacrificial lamb, limiting your ability to focus, make decisions, research a solid plan, take action, and sustain any type of change. We need to kick-start whatever can give us enough mental clarity and focus to effectively assess our options to make easy, incremental changes. I call this “progressive overload.”

Progressive overload is when you start small yet make consistent changes on a daily basis until, 90 days later, you have evolved easily into the person you knew you could become. You’ll get more on this later in my 90-day plan.

Nutritional deficiencies will amplify your worst emotions and make you your own enemy.

My objective at this point was clear. I needed to boost my energy and dial in my focus for change to occur. To do that, I needed to find supplements and nootropics that would help stack the deck in my favor long enough to gain some momentum.

As we have seen, a healthy diet alone is no longer sufficient for all our nutritional needs, given the changes in modern agriculture. But it isn’t just farming practices that are a problem. In a 2004 article by John Heritage, a then senior lecturer in microbiology at the University of Leeds, Heritage shared a study by Netherland et al. that shows “when humans digest genetically modified foods, the artificially created genes transfer into and alter the character of the beneficial bacteria in the intestine.”3 It’s already an uphill battle trying to maintain a healthy gut microbiome within our body without having to worry about how the quality of our food is being genetically compromised. This study demonstrates the dire consequences that are occurring environmentally and nutritionally by genetic engineers accidentally altering organisms that affect the trans-kingdom genetic flow.⁴

We must understand that a diet that may have been more than adequate 50 years ago isn’t today. Global populations are becoming nutrient deficient, which can lead to brain fog, obesity, fatigue, depression, anxiety, memory loss, weakness, brain function abnormalities, behavior changes, and more. It’s the next unspoken global epidemic.

Eating a variety of healthy and organic foods is vital; however, it’s no longer enough. We need to supplement our diets to ensure we close the nutrient gap and perform at maximum potential for more focus, energy, and drive. It’s simply not possible to eat the amount of food now required to get the same nutritional value from it as a decade ago.

At a book signing at Tampa, Florida’s, Oxford Exchange, Dr. Steven Masley, author of The Better Brain Solution, stated that up to 85 percent of the population is nutrient deficient. We just haven’t realized it yet because many doctors are still peddling the belief that a healthy diet is enough. The science says otherwise. Tired, mineral-depleted soils grow mineral-depleted foods. It’s up to individuals to educate themselves on the effects this has on our behavior and supplement accordingly.

Reboot Your Brain, Boost Your Energy, and Dial in Your Focus

Nutritional deficiencies slow our cognition and trigger an inability to make healthy decisions across all areas of our lives. To break this cycle, we must break down some of the most common vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Often, as you’ll quickly discover with nootropics, you won’t notice the full effects until you stop taking them.

Have you ever said, “I feel great! I don’t need to take these vitamins anymore?” The reason you feel great is because you are taking them. A few weeks may pass, and you may not connect insufficient supplementation with your poor attitude and performance. Whenever you begin feeling down, this is your go-to list that will help you take immediate action to conduct a course correction.

I have purposefully left out dosage information. Why? This can change according to lifestyle factors, age, diet, and deficiency levels. Talk to your functional doctor or naturopath to advise you on what is right for you. Everyone is biochemically unique based on their microbiome, where they live, daily stressors, and foods they consume. What is right for me may not be ideal for you, and vice versa.

Deficiencies in any of the following areas may present symptoms that are indicative of other disorders or conditions. If you notice any of the symptoms related to the following supplement deficiencies, it’s important to seek proper medical help straight away.

A study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry in 2005 indicates that children who previously were malnourished experience an increased rate of behavior-related disorders and behaviors as they age. Could this be one of the root causes of individuals giving up on their goals, their community, and themselves? Nutritional imbalances distort mental function, mood, and our response to stress.5

Top Six Supplements to Reboot Your Body and Brain

The following supplements are crucial for Defenders and Guardians, who are potentially nutritionally deficient and whose cognitive functions have been impacted. You will need to immediately address any nutritional deficiencies that are preventing you from becoming an unstoppable version of yourself. Your main objective is to rid yourself of any brain fog or fatigue you are currently experiencing.

If you’re a Catalyst or Synergist, the following supplements may help you sharpen your mental sword even further and help increase your tolerance for physical and emotional stress during times of peak activity.

Vitamin D: Mood Regulation, Concentration, and Memory

As we discovered in Chapter 3, some experts have referred to vitamin D deficiency as a pandemic. As it plays an integral role in regulating mood, warding off depression, improving concentration, and memory, supplementation is vital. Sunlight alone isn’t always enough. With the increasing amount of time spent indoors, supplementation, especially during winter months, can help prevent SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), a type of depression related to seasonal changes. However, for you to know how much vitamin D your body needs, have your doctor run a simple blood serum test for your levels. Then you’ll have an idea of where to start. Your ability to absorb vitamin D, age, geographical region, and ethnicity all play a role with this vital vitamin. Don’t guess on your dosage; get your data first.

Form: D3

Time taken: Morning

Recommended brand: Carlson Super Daily D3⁶

Magnesium: Mental Health and Sleep

Magnesium is crucial for the absorption of sodium, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and vitamin D; vitamin D especially cannot be metabolized without it. A magnesium deficiency results in vitamin D being stored as inactive within the body for as many as 50 percent of Americans. Furthermore, one study suggests that up to 75 percent of people are not meeting their daily magnesium intake. Nutritional magnesium intake has decreased due to industrialized practices.7

A deficiency of this vital mineral has been connected to mental disorders, including apathy. Mental numbness or lack of emotion are notable characteristics of apathy.⁸ Studies have shown that low magnesium may also increase an individual’s risk of depression.⁹ Furthermore, studies have speculated magnesium deficiency may promote anxiety; however, more research needs to be done. Another study found magnesium also reduces cortisol, the stress hormone, which can keep you up at night.¹⁰

Forms: Magnesium malate for energy and muscle soreness, magnesium threonate for memory and brain function, and magnesium oxide for bowel regularity.

Time taken: I recommend Colosan Capsules (of magnesium oxide), two daily in the morning, 30 minutes prior to eating to get things moving and to prevent toxins from building up in the body due to slow-moving digestion.

Recommended brand: Speak with your functional doctor to find out which type of magnesium is best for you.

Iodine: Energy, Memory, and Brain Health

Your thyroid glands use the mineral iodine to create thyroid hormones, which assist your body with functions like repairing damaged cells, controlling growth, and regulating metabolism. Iodine deficiency is not uncommon—up to a third of the world’s population is at risk for it.¹¹ Iodine enhances the immune function and helps prevent brain damage.

To my surprise, Dr. Garcia told me my iodine levels were at the low end of the normal range. He warned that if they dropped any lower, I could develop thyroid issues if I didn’t supplement. This was another contributing factor to my fatigue, poor memory, and weakness. So although your test results may come back as normal, always ask the doctor a crucial follow-up question, “Is it at the high end or low end of the normal range?” If it’s at the low end of normal, that clearly isn’t optimal health or preventative medicine. Many of our lab values were created more than 30 years ago and based on a normal adult male, and they vary from lab to lab as well. You have to educate yourself on where you fall on this variant range. You may still be experiencing low-level symptoms of a deficiency that can quickly be corrected before it gets worse. Vague answers to test results do little to optimize our health. Remember, you’re in control of your health. Speak up and ask questions and never be afraid to fire a doctor who is unable to provide you with the answers you need.

Physically active individuals are at a high risk of iodine deficiency because you lose it through sweat.12 An abnormal thyroid can be problematic for the body in a variety of ways. For example, it can affect mood and has been linked to changes in both cognitive function and the course of some disorders, such as bipolar disorder.¹³ Important note: If you have thyroid problems, speak to your functional doctor prior to supplementing with iodine.

Forms: Kelp powder, liquid or potassium iodide capsules

Time taken: Tablets taken once daily with food, or liquid placed in a small square patch on your lower abdomen.

Recommended brand: Bulletproof Iodine

Vitamin B12: Improve Mood, Regenerate Cells

Vitamin B12 deficiencies are related to a whole host of symptoms, including mood disorders, bipolar disorder, low energy/fatigue, sexual problems/infertility, depression, anxiety, irritability, memory loss, and even Alzheimer’s, dementia, cancer, and learning disorders. This can be assessed via a simple blood test.¹⁴ A vitamin B12 deficiency is present in 40 percent of adults in ages ranging from 26 to 83, with nine percent of them having a full deficiency and 16 percent with a “near deficiency,” according to the Tufts University Framingham Offspring Study. Disturbingly, many in this group also presented neurological symptoms, including mood swings, sudden outbursts, decreased alertness, difficulty reading and writing, poor cognitive abilities, depression, and delusions.15

There are some connections between the presence of B vitamins and healthy brain chemistry and mood. One study discovered individuals with the highest B12 levels who were also in counseling also experienced the greatest success in managing symptoms of depression in conjunction with counseling.¹⁶

Forms: Capsule and/or lozenge

Time taken: Daily with food

Recommended brand: Bulletproof Methyl B12

Brain Octane Oil: Efficient High-Energy Fuel Source, Brain Boosting, and Crave Reducing

This energy-boosting fat can work wonders for your body and brain. brain octane oil contains MCT oil, otherwise known as medium-chain triglycerides. They are naturally occurring fats found in a small handful of foods. Unlike carbohydrates and sugars, which spike your blood sugar level, leading to a dramatic crash that can seriously influence your mood and behavior, MCT oil is rapidly absorbed by the body and converted into brain fuel, or fat-burning ketones. Ketones can’t be stored as fat, so you get a quick boost of energy that lasts without adding extra weight. Dave Asprey claims that Brain Octane Oil converts into ketones more efficiently than coconut MCT oils that contain lauric acid, and he says it produces four times more ketones than coconut oil alone.

MCT oil is a clean and efficient energy fuel source that is extremely helpful when seeking to boost and keep your energy levels consistent throughout the day. When I added it to a midafternoon protein shake, my cravings for a snack vanished. My body fat percentage naturally dropped, and absolutely no willpower was required when it came to avoiding highly processed food. And, as we have seen, anything that switches our cravings on can render our impulse control meaningless, thereby impacting your ability to stay focused and driving our need for increased willpower.

You’ll read Stephanie’s story in Chapter 10, about her mission to rid herself of brain fog, depression, fatigue, and anxiety, but here’s a quick preview: she lost 8 pounds, or 3.6 kilograms, in five days. The shift to high, healthy fats, including adding MCT oil to her daily routine, helped her manage her cravings without needing to exert willpower. She explained, “I didn’t have to force myself to eat healthy, nor did I feel like I was missing out on anything. The only time I felt the lack was when I forgot to supplement efficiently. The MCT oil, prebiotics, and healthy fat completely curbed and controlled my cravings. It felt easy compared to all the other times I had attempted to get my health under control.”

One study found that consuming 2.7 tablespoons of MCT oil improved cognitive function in people with mild cognitive impairment.¹⁷ Bodybuilders and endurance athletes also use it to increase energy and decrease body fat while increasing lean muscle mass.¹⁸, ¹⁹

Form: Liquid. Start small with one teaspoon in tea/coffee/smoothie, then gradually build up to one tablespoon per day. Having too much too soon may result in an upset stomach. Slowly build up the dosage to identify what’s right for you.

Time taken: I have one serving of MCT oil midmorning and another one midafternoon to curb my cravings and keep me energized.

Recommended brand: I recommend Bulletproof Brain Octane Oil from Dave Asprey. For those of us who are sensitive or allergic to coconut, you’ll be relieved to hear it has been processed so that the coconut proteins are no longer present.

Zinc: Modulate the Brain and the Body’s Response to Stress, Increase Immunity, Balance Hormones, and Aid in Nutrient Absorption

Zinc, a type of metal, is an essential trace element. Zinc is required in small amounts daily to help maintain health and perform other vital functions, including hormone production, growth and repair, improving immunity, and facilitating digestion. It also acts as an anti-inflammatory agent and helps modulate the brain and the body’s response to stress. Zinc deficiency can result in symptoms of depression, difficulties with learning and memory, aggression, and yes, even violence.20 Low zinc levels have been found in the serum of those suffering from depression.²¹ The more depressed a person is, the lower their zinc level will be.²²

Form: Capsule

Time taken: Separately from meals or supplements containing iron, calcium, and phytates, which can decrease absorption of zinc.

Recommended brand: Bulletproof Zinc with Copper formulation

Final Thoughts on Fuel

It’s vital that you do not choose the cheapest supplements; some may be dangerous due to inadequate oversight. Many over-the-counter supplements are of inferior quality. Become informed and read reviews. You get what you pay for when it comes to supplements. While the cost of supplementation may raise your eyebrows, I have found that when I am able to perform at my best, my ability to increase my income grows exponentially. You make better decisions with greater clarity in fast succession, allowing you to achieve more in less time. If you are deficient in any of these areas, life becomes harder than it needs to be. Negative emotions are amplified, and the need for willpower to counteract this deficit will deplete your battery further and land you right back into Defender mode.

In our efforts to oversimplify the complicated problem of falling short of success and condense it to “It’s all in your head, just get over it,” we’ve become unable to treat the underlying causes. Yes, we can think ourselves out of some problems, as you’ll discover in the upcoming chapters. But you cannot will yourself out of nutritional deficiencies and toxins, which present real physical symptoms that hinder creative thinking and effective problem solving. Uncovering the root cause means we end the tug of war between who we are and who we need to become. You suddenly stop having to force yourself to do something because you don’t have the energy, and shift into your true state of being. That tug of war is not just our old identity holding us back from becoming our new, evolved selves; it’s our old biochemistry keeping us trapped in the past because there isn’t enough energy available to make the changes you need to enjoy a successful future. You can’t outperform bad biochemistry for long. Eventually, it catches up with a vengeance. But when we switch fuel sources to clean, sustainable energy, we can meet the demands our grand visions and future selves place on us. And now we also have the option of various nootropics, which can help sharpen our mental state when those demands intensify. They could mean the difference between having enough fuel for the journey or falling just short of your goal.