Biohack Your Way To a More Resilient Brain

What would it feel like to have maximum energy to fuel your brain, your cells, and your every desire? To be more patient with the people you love, to make the best possible decisions, and to enjoy every minute of it? From the creator of Bulletproof Coffee and author of the bestselling The Bulletproof Diet comes a revolutionary plan to upgrade your brainpower—in two weeks or less.

For the last decade, Silicon Valley entrepreneur and author Dave Asprey has worked with world-renowned doctors and scientists to uncover the latest, most innovative methods for making humans perform better—a process known as “biohacking.” In his first book, The Bulletproof Diet, he shared his biohacking tips for taking control of your own biology. Now, in his new book — Head Strong, Asprey shows readers how to biohack their way to a sharper, smarter, faster, more resilient brain.

Imagine feeling like your mind is operating at its clearest and sharpest, and being able—possibly for the first time in your life—to do more in less time? What if it suddenly became easier to do the very hardest things you do? Or if you could feel 100% confident about your intellect, and never again fear being the person in the room who just isn’t smart enough, or can’t remember something important? How would you treat people if the mood swings, short temper, and food cravings that disrupt your day could simply disappear?

The Head Strong program is based on tens of thousands of hours of research, the latest scientific studies, and years of in-depth interviews with experts around the world to help you upgrade your brain in just two weeks – and the results keep building from there.

In Head Strong, Asprey shows us that all of this is possible—and more. Using his simple lifestyle modifications (or “hacks”) to take advantage of how the structure of your brain works, readers will learn how to take their mental performance to the next level. Combining the latest findings in neuroscience and neurobiology with a hacker-inspired “get it done now” perspective, Asprey offers a program structured around key areas of brain performance that will help you:

• Power the brain with exactly what it needs to perform at its best all day long.
  • Stop blaming yourself for running out of willpower.
  • Reduce the amount of stimuli in your environment.
  • Make the most important decisions first every day.
• Eliminate the sources of “kryptonite,” both nutritional and environmental, that make the brain slower.
  • Eat more good fat (healthy saturated fat from grass-fed butter and meat).
  • Eat less sugar because it reduces your rate of neurogenesis.
  • Have more sex.
• Supercharge the cellular powerhouses of our brains, the mitochondria, to eliminate cravings and turn up mental focus:
  • Eat more polyphenols – coffee, chocolate, blueberries, pomegranates, grape seeds, grape skins.
  • Eat foods with amino acids:
    • L-tyrosine – beef, chicken, turkey, avocados, almonds.
    • L-phenylalanine – wild salmon, sardines, bacon, beef, liver, almonds.
    • L-tryptophan – lamb, beef, chicken, turkey, wild salmon, mackerel, cashews, almonds, hazelnuts.
    • L-carnitine – beef, lamb, pork.
    • Choline – egg yolks (the best source), beef, kidney, liver, wild salmon.
    • L-glutamine (precursor to GABA, which helps anxiety) – beef, lamb, chicken, turkey, wild salmon, eggs, organ meats.
  • Always eat low sugar fruits and vegetables with a healthy fat source like grass-fed butter.
  • Eat more fish.
  • Restrict carbohydrates so your brain has access to ketones.
• Reverse inflammation to perform better right now, then stay sharp and energized well into your golden years:
  • Avoid inflammatory foods.
  • Spend time outdoors barefoot. In winter use an earthing mat and a sauna.
  • Have your inflammation levels checked by a functional medicine doctor – C-reactive protein (CRP) and lipoprotein-associated phospholipase (Lp-PLA2).
• Promote neuron growth to enhance processing speed and reinforce new learning—hotwiring your brain for success.
  • Buy some red LED lights to balance out all of the blue light your eyes are getting.
  • Turn the water all the way to cold for the last 30 seconds of your shower.
  • Jump on a trampoline or do jumping jacks to shake the water in your cells.
  • Get some extra sleep tonight to help your brain form new pathways between neurons.
  • Breath in for 5 seconds, holding for five seconds, breathing out for 5 seconds, and holding the out breath for 5 seconds. Do it 5 times in a row.

Asprey’s easy to follow, two-week program offers a detailed plan to supercharge brain performance, including:

• Which foods to eat and which ones to avoid.
• How to incorporate the right kinds of physical activity into your day.
• A detox protocol for your home and body.
• Meditation and breathing for performance.
• Recommended brain-boosting supplements.
• And how to adjust the lighting in your home and work space to give your brain the quality light it thrives on.

A better brain—and a happier, easier, more productive life—is within reach. You just need to get Head Strong.