Latest news with #biohackers
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Hyped longevity pill loved by biohacker Bryan Johnson fails to stop aging, study reveals
A supplement beloved by Bryan Johnson and other biohackers for its age-defying properties might be flawed, new research reveals. Previous animal studies have suggested taurine, an essential amino acid that supports immune health and nervous system function, declines with age. It's found naturally in the body, in various high-protein foods, and it is also added to energy drinks for its potential to enhance mental and athletic performance. It was thought that replenishing it by taking supplements could keep the body young by protecting against damage to DNA and cells. Off the back of the research in 2023, taurine was quickly picked up by those looking to fight the effects of aging and Johnson became one of its proponents, with it added to his daily roster of supplements. But scientists behind a new study claim taurine doesn't actually decline with age; instead it either increases or stays stable and can vary wildly from person to person. Therefore, the amino acid is not a good indicator of age-related changes as originally thought, and taking a taurine supplement may have no effect whatsoever on a person's longevity. What's more, other studies have shown high doses or prolonged taurine intake can actually cause a variety of side effects, including gastrointestinal discomfort, kidney strain, and in rare cases, liver pain or even leukemia. The human body uses taurine for actions in cells, such as energy production, and helps the body process bile acid and balance fluids, salts and minerals. The amino acid also has important functions in the heart and the brain and helps support nerve growth. There are no current recommendations on how much taurine a person should consume or what adequate levels are in the body. However, lower levels have been associated with an overactive thyroid, vision impairment and kidney dysfunction. It may benefit people with heart failure and prevent their condition from worsening by lowering blood pressure and calming the nervous system. It has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and has been studied for its role in energy production and improving exercise performance. Commenting on the findings of the new study, Joseph Baur, a professor of physiology at the University of Pennsylvania, told Live Science: 'The main takeaway is that a decline in taurine is not a universal feature of aging.' Scientists analyzed data from both humans and animals. Included in the research were 1,000 people aged 20 to 100 years old who had participated in several studies from around the world. In animals, the team analyzed blood from rhesus macaque monkeys ages three to 32 and blood from lab mice ages nine to 27 months old. What surprised the researchers is that over time, taurine levels actually increased with age. Thus, study co-author Maria Emilia Fernandez, a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute on Aging, said taurine is 'unlikely to serve as a good biomarker of aging'. Meanwhile Rafael de Cabo, chief of the Translational Gerontology Branch at the National Institute on Aging who was another co-author of the study, added: 'It's not a reliable biomarker of anything yet. 'I think that we need to be digging into the basic mechanisms… before it can be used reliably as a marker.' Vijay Yadav, an associate professor at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School who co-authored the 2023 taurine study, is currently taking part in an ongoing clinical trial to see if it could have any effect on aging in middle-aged humans.
Forbes
29-05-2025
- Health
- Forbes
Why Tech-Savvy Women Are Leading The New Wellness Renaissance
VIENNA, AUSTRIA. (Photo by) Once a playground of Silicon Valley visionaries and male-driven biohackers, the longevity space is being fundamentally reimagined, and this time, it's women who are leading the charge. They're reframing aging not as a race against time but as a vibrant, dynamic and data-driven practice grounded in hormonal intelligence, precision health and embodied self-leadership. In contrast to the male-coded archetype of lifespan extension through performance metrics and cryotherapy chambers, women are designing longevity strategies that incorporate, among others, hormonal rhythms, cycle-based tracking, neuroendocrine balance and emotional regulation. In short, healthy aging and lifespan trajectories differ among genders. Studies have implied that women experience aging through distinct neuroendocrine, metabolic and immune pathways that have long been excluded from research and digital innovation pipelines until now. This gap isn't just historical. It's a biological, structural and deeply consequential threshold at the intersection of longevity, science and women's health. The myth of the "average patient" has long shaped health research and medical technologies, but as the review above suggests, sex-specific biology does play a significant role in how we age. Women, on average, live longer than men globally, but they also face a higher burden of non-fatal chronic conditions and years lived with disability. Conditions like autoimmune disease, osteoporosis and Alzheimer's disproportionately affect women, many of which are tied to estrogen's regulatory role across systems. Yet, the majority of aging biomarkers and biological age clocks (think epigenetic methylation models) have been designed around male physiology. This mismatch implies most tech-enabled longevity tools aren't optimized for female bodies. But the market is changing fast. In 2025, female-led wellness companies are designing biohacking devices, diagnostics and platforms that center sex-specific physiology while rewriting the longevity playbook altogether. Take the Evie Ring, the first smart wearable engineered for women, which measures metrics like HRV, resting heart rate and blood oxygen while accounting for menstrual phase variations. Or which translates metabolic and training data through a cycle-aware algorithm, offering adaptive insights across perimenopause, postpartum and athletic recovery. Meanwhile, platforms like Tally Health are offering at-home biological age tests and behavior-based interventions that allow women to track aging at an epigenetic level. These tools mark a departure from one-size-fits-all models and signal an apparent, optimal shift toward an adaptive healthspan strategy, not just reactive care. Another example is Levels Health, once focused purely on metabolic glucose monitoring, which has now begun expanding its insights to reflect stress-hormone interactions, cortisol cycles and dietary responses tied to hormonal fluctuations. These refinements reflect a more profound truth: female physiology isn't a variation of the male norm but is at the core of its system. Once dismissed or pathologized, women's hormonal rhythms are now being reclaimed as a source of strategic leverage. Today, cycle syncing is more than a wellness buzzword; it is a biologically intelligent blueprint. Women are aligning their training, productivity and recovery protocols with the natural arc of their endocrine system and seeing measurable gains in energy, cognition, performance, emotional resilience and beyond. This is neurobiological precision at its best—Estrogen peaks during the follicular phase, enhancing insulin sensitivity and mental clarity. Progesterone in the luteal phase supports mood regulation, metabolic balance and tissue repair. Women biohackers are leveraging these shifts to fine-tune fasting windows, optimize workouts and adapt recovery, all in sync with their internal tempo. And science is catching up. Emerging research shows that aligning behaviors with hormonal fluctuations can support mitochondrial health, boost neuroplasticity and promote long-term well-being at large. Unlike one-size-fits-all regimens built on male 24-hour cycles, cycle syncing offers flexibility and, most powerfully, sovereignty over one's own biology. Despite recent momentum, the structural gender gap in clinical research and digital health innovation continues to be a key point in the promise of personalized longevity. Research from The Lancet Digital Health suggested that just 6.2% of health tech companies actively disaggregate user data by sex or gender, a critical blind spot when designing tools intended to extend health span with precision. If female physiology represents the biological norm for half the population, then it must also become the default blueprint for next-generation longevity technologies. And certainly, the exclusion of sex-specific variables renders precision medicine fundamentally incomplete, not because sex differences are peripheral, but because they are prominent variables to determine how aging unfolds at the cellular, metabolic and neuroendocrine levels. The wellness renaissance of 2025 is about living longer, with precision, sovereignty and an in-depth biological attunement. Tech-savvy women aren't merely optimizing their health; they're rewriting the protocols. They're opting for tools that respect their rhythms, data that reflect their realities and systems that center cyclical intelligence at the heart of their sustainable health. The future of wellness entails a thorough synergy and allyship with the human body. In that partnership, women are modeling a new paradigm of leadership: one that is data-literate, intuition-led and radically coherent. It's, in the most simple terms, a return to trusting our biology.
