A blog to help you optimize your full-body and life performance

What do your cravings feel like? Like you’re out of control? Like nothing else will cut it? Do they actually feel like hunger? Sometimes what we think is hunger is really just our body needing a release from a negative feeling. But a new field of study on an ancient technique is showing promise for uncoupling our urges from our spoons. Mindfulness training, specifically mindful eating, might just be the tool we need to kick cravings and emotional eating to the curb.

You hear about it, you read about it, you even talk about it, but for some reason you ignore it… it’s the health advice you know you should follow but choose not to. It's easier and, at times, more gratifying to dismiss it, but have you thought of the long-term implications of continuously ignoring it? In honor of National Nutrition Month this March, we’re reigniting the conversation on the health advice you continue to overlook. In this article, we provide you with the research behind the advice and present tips to help you implement it once and for all.

When Joe Rogan speaks, people listen. But when Joe Rogan's guests speak, people sit up and take note. The renowned comedian and MMA commentator is perhaps best known these days for his wildly popular podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience – which boasts over 4.6 million subscribers and features guests ranging from celeb astrophysicists like Neil deGrasse Tyson to global icons like SpaceX and Tesla founding tycoon Elon Musk. That's why we were thrilled when David Sinclair, PhD, Chairman of the InsideTracker Scientific Advisory Board, appeared as a guest on Rogan's show a few weeks ago to dish on why he tests his blood regularly in an effort to optimize his own healthspan.

In a productivity-centric world, it can be hard to relinquish working hours to fit in time for things we know are good for us – like home-cooking! So hard, in fact, that Americans recently began spending more on restaurant and fast food than on meals they make at home – a first in US history. In other words, we're buying our meals, rather than cooking them, more than ever before. Why does this matter? Well, research shows that restaurant food is higher in unhealthy nutrients like saturated fat and sodium than the meals we cook.¹ Of course, cooking daily can be quite a commitment. So how can we save time and eat health-promoting foods? The answer for many is meal prepping.

While it’s not a new concept, meal prepping (bulk-preparing food in advance) has just recently filtered into mainstream habits – including those of the InsideTracker team. So we've curated some of our favorite meal prep hacks that help us save time and still make enjoyable eats. 

As a consumer in our health-conscious world, you may have come across a current fad: the alkaline diet (which may also be referred to using a combination of the terms acid or ash). Fancy name, but what does it mean?

The alkaline diet holds the assumption that, if we only eat optimal pH foods, the pH level of the fluids in our bodies will optimize in response, thereby protecting our organs and systems from damage and disease and improving our general health.⁴ But how realistic can that be?  Is there evidence that this strategy works, or should we have left the alkaline diet in 2018?

Did you know that people start abandoning their New Year’s resolutions by January 12? And that more than half of all New Year’s resolutions are health-related?¹ Fad diets and impractical exercise regimens often fail to deliver long-term success. After a little investigating, we found that ‘lose fat’ was among the top Google searches in January. Fortunately, the InsideTracker platform covers this very topic! When you choose “Lose Fat” as your goal, we provide you with personalized nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle recommendations based on your blood work. For now, we felt a sense of responsibility to share some top science-based recommendations for achieving sustainable fat loss.

Why is it that some people have an easier time keeping their cholesterol in balance, all else being equal?  How come one person’s inflammation biomarkers are easily managed with relatively seamless lifestyle adjustments, whereas another person needs to exercise regularly, follow a non-inflammatory vegan diet, and also pop turmeric pills three times a day to keep their inflammation biomarkers in check?  

While there may be many possible explanations, one explanation that is now relatively well understood and, in many cases, scientifically validated, is that individuals have unique genetic predispositions – or potential – for various traits. Cholesterol and inflammation markers are just two examples.  

If you’re one of the millions of people who has had their DNA sequenced by 23andMe or Ancestry, then you’re in luck – because we’re here to help you put that genetic information to work! Last year, we were thrilled to announce the launch of our very first DNA-based product. We promised that it was just the beginning of big things to come. This year, we’re even more excited to reveal the next step in that genetic journey: DNA+blood.

Our new product offering is the culmination of many years of effort – the result of countless hours of teamwork, rigorous scientific interrogation and brilliant creativity. And, it’s something that we here at InsideTracker are uniquely positioned to do, combining our expertise in blood biomarker analysis with DNA analysis and the power of personalized nutrition and lifestyle recommendations.

Humans are diurnal animals, meaning we work during the day, and sleep and restore (both physically and mentally) at night. But things like technology, long work days, and even light bulbs have drastically expanded what we consider ‘waking hours’ compared to those of our evolutionary ancestors. For most of history, when the sun went down, our bodies knew it was time for bed. But now, most of us couldn't possibly imagine sacrificing those extra few hours between sunset and bedtime!

So if we're not relying on light as a cue for day and night, what do we use? Well, the overwhelming answer is food! The first bite or sip of anything other than water in the morning kicks your metabolism into gear for the day ahead. But recent research shows that hacking this system by limiting how often we eat can improve multiple different facets of health. Here's how to biohack your body clock.