InsideTracker recently teamed up with the fine folks over at Quantified Self Labs for the QS15 Forget Normal Challenge. What on earth is that, you ask?
Let us explain: Quantified Self Labs asked people to fill out a questionnaire explaining what kind of self-experiments they wanted to conduct, and how unlocking the answers in their blood using InsideTracker’s platform would help them do that. The selected winners would receive two free Ultimate panels, and would be asked to present their data and initial findings (in person or virtually) at the QS15 Conference & Exposition on June 18-20th in San Francisco.
The responses were nothing short of amazing.
They were so amazing in fact, that while QS initially intended to select just two winners...they ended up picking three! Here at InsideTracker, we were so inspired by the scope of ideas across the board, we decided to put together a post to highlight them.
Let’s begin with the winners, selected by Quantified Self Labs. Here is QS founder Gary Wolf announcing them:
- Dana Greenfield has PCOS: “I want to learn if certain foods I eat –such as spearmint tea, or omega-3 supplements–have actual effects on free testosterone or other altered biomarkers associated with my Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome diagnosis…”
- Mary Eggers is a veteran Triathlete: “I’ve been a triathlete for 20 years. Multiple Ironman races and and high volumes of training have left me with anemia, high levels of cortisol and some other issues. In August after age group nationals I’m going to switch my focus to swimming, with the goal of competing at USMS nationals. When I return, what will happen then? I am also switching from a paleo based diet to plant powered for this journey. What will that effect? This would be a fantastic chance to properly measure change…”
- Felipe Gerhard wants to see what happens when he consumes only Soylent (no, not people): “I want to study how a diet based only on Soylent will affect my overall health, hormones, and energy levels. How will I do it? I will switch to an almost exclusive Soylent diet for at least two months with one cheat day per week (~85% caloric intake from Soylent). One InsideTracker Ultimate Panel will be performed in the beginning to establish baseline value and a second one towards the end, 6-8 weeks into the diet. During the experiment, I will supplement with creatine, vitamin D, and any additional supplements recommended by InsideTracker after the first blood panel. I will continue ongoing tracking of basic QS stats such as body weight, body fat percentage, Fitbit data, daily and weekly habits, and sleep. I will start to track compliance with the diet and my energy levels through a subjective rating scale….”
Of course, there were scores of other entries that made picking the winners the most challenging part of the entire challenge. Ideas ranging from hormone balance and weight loss to performance improvement and healing illness, made us even more excited about the endless possibilities that “unlocking your blood” offers.
We’d like to share some of these incredible responses with you. The excerpts that follow are a sampling of the broad scope of ideas we received:
Anemia: “I was diagnosed with severe anemia in 2010. I had a hemoglobin level of 7.3. Through the years, I have managed to get my hemoglobin level up but not my ferritin. I also "relapsed" into anemia when training for a marathon, even though I was supplementing. I'm a distance runner and believe hat anemia has held me back for years. I'd love to find some answers as to why...”
Weight control: “I don't lose weight despite eating healthy. I weigh 250 & honestly don't know why.”
Huntington’s Disease: “I was diagnosed with Huntington's disease (HD) in 2009. One of the of the "features" of this incurable degenerative neurological disease is I am hungry ALL THE TIME. My strategy to deal with my constant hunger is to eat a lot of good-quality food frequently... People with neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease are hypothesized to benefit from ketogenic diets because ketones are an alternative source of energy for the brain (the main source of energy is usually glucose). Along with the energy and metabolism biomarkers from the Ultimate Panel, urinary testing at home with ketone urinalyis reagent strips will provide feedback on how this diet is working.”
Allergies: ”I am allergic to everything -- animals, plants, dust, chemicals, food (all meat, all beans, almost all fruit except melons, milk, rice, coffee, anything and everything). However, my identical twin sister is not allergic to anything. My bones hurt and I am always exhausted. I've seen many doctors and they can never tell me why -- they just know something is wrong. I am not overweight … so my doctors say it is not a thyroid issue … I know something is wrong (how can I possibly be allergic to practically everything in the world) and that my immune system is just completely out of whack. I want to know what is causing all of this and why my twin sister with the exact same DNA has never had any issues like this at all.”
Vitamin D: “I'd like to learn how fast my vitamin D levels respond to 1. sunlight, and 2. supplementation. I've been tracking former using a SunSprite wearable device, and latter manually.”
Performance Optimization: “Monitor my ferritin, hemoglobin and other iron markers and correlate to my marathon + ultra race performance. Measure my creatine kinase to see how it fluctuates with 60-90 miles per week of running and on different surfaces such as roads, track and trails.”
What would you do if you had the opportunity to conduct a self-experiment using InsideTracker’s tools to monitor your blood? Tell us in the comments, below!
