Show Notes

• Camilla Thompson – The Wellness Coach 
• Azra Alagic – BiohackHER
• RELEVANT PAST EPISODE: Dr Christabelle Yeoh: Integrative Approach to Mitochondria
• RELEVANT PAST EPISODE: Brett O’Brien: Adaptive Medicine Reshaping Healthcare

Timestamps

• 00:01 Dr. Ron introduces the Unstress Health Community and podcast theme.
• 03:00 Definition of biohacking and its focus on proactive health.
• 06:00 Key insights from the Biohacking Conference, including longevity claims.
• 14:00 Cutting-edge biohacking tech: Immortal bed, wearables, and more.
• 20:40 Benefits of infrared saunas, cryotherapy, and grounding techniques.
• 36:02 The importance of personalized health baselines and moderation in biohacking.
• 49:16 Foundational health hacks: hydration, quality sleep, and nutrition tips.

Camilla Thompson & Azra Alagic: Biohacking for Longevity and Healthspan Part 1

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:00:01] Hi, Dr Ron. Here it. I want to invite you to join our Unstress HEALTH community. Now, like this podcast, it’s independent of industry and focuses on taking a holistic approach to human health and to the health of the planet. The two are inseparable. There are so many resources available with membership, including regular live Q&A on specific topics with special guests, including many with our amazing Unstress Health Advisory panel. Now, we’ve done hundreds of podcasts over listening to with some amazing experts on a wide range of topics. Many are world leaders, but with membership we have our Unstress Blab podcast series where we take the best of several guests and carefully curated specific topics for episodes which are jam packed full of valuable insights. So join the Unstress HEALTH community. If you’re watching this on our YouTube channel. Click on the link below or just visit unstresshealth.com to see what’s on offer and join now. I look forward to connecting with you. Well, today we are exploring biohacking. Now, biohacking is a buzz word that you might have heard in past. It may have just been called being as healthy as you can be. But in this digital computer age, biohacking is the word that seems to get a lot of attention and it’s going to get attention over these next two episodes. My guest today well, I have the pleasure of welcoming back Camilla Thompson. And I’m joined also by Azra Alagic allegation. Now, Camilla has been a health coach and executive coach. She’s also certified nutritional coach. She studied epigenetics and neuroplasticity. We had her on talking about mould. She co-founded Mould Safe, a company that offers mould testing and remediation. That is a big topic. I’d encourage you to go back and listen to it if you haven’t already. Now Azra’s background is in journalism, apart from being a mother of three, she’s had a keen interest in health and wellness for the past ten years and has put her journalistic hat on and started researching the biohacking world now. Both Camila and Azra recently attended the 10th Annual Biohacking Conference hosted by the father of biohacking, Dave Asprey. Now, I think there’s a lot in this episode, a lot of knowledge that and reporting on that conference. I hope you enjoy this conversation I had with Camilla Thompson and Azra Alagic. Welcome to the show, Camilla. Welcome to the show, Azra.

Azra Alagic [00:02:57] Thank you. Thanks for having us.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:03:00] Listen, Camilla, we spoke a few episodes ago about Molden and all of the implications of that. But since then, you have both attended a biohacking conference in the States. And I know biohacking is a buzzword in health care. I wondered for those that weren’t familiar with the term, what is biohacking?

Camilla Thompson [00:03:25] That’s right. You’re going to go ahead.

Azra Alagic [00:03:26] And try to make it. So biohacking is very much about taking control of your own health and looking at your unique biology, because we’re all set by our individual. The way I like to look at it is that you’re you’re taking control of your own health to optimise your health by implementing unique bio hacks that are specifically for your body type. It’s really important to understand, you know, what your what your blood works are, what your baseline is, what your foundation is. But it really is proactive health management. That’s what it comes down to instead of waiting to get sick. It’s about trying to be proactive and prevent any chronic diseases. We all want to live well longer, and it’s really important that we optimise our health in order to do that, because none of us want to end up in an aged care facility deteriorating away, becoming frail, losing mobility. So biohacking very much focuses on optimising your health.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:04:26] It’s a real sign, isn’t it, of our health care system that and it’s probably and it’s a really good thing that we’re being encouraged to. It is an opportunity to take control of our own health. What an idea. I mean. Yeah, because really, our health care system isn’t really about health, is.

Camilla Thompson [00:04:45] Not it definitely isn’t about preventative health. I think there’s Dave Asprey, who’s conference we went to in Dallas. He he calls it the art and Science of becoming superhuman, which is an interesting angle. And I think the whole theme of the conference we went to was how to live to 180 an answer. And I’ll talk a bit more about that because pretty bold and courageous statement. But a lot of the biohackers genuinely believe, I’m not sure if you’ve seen much in the media recently, Brian Johnson, who has reversed his age to 18, apparently, and I wouldn’t want to be 18 again. But anyway. Yes. Very interesting.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:05:21] I have seen him. I have seen him. Yeah. I’m not sure when I see an image of him, I feel all that inspired. But I mean, I think he looks like a man that’s obviously got a lot of money and has spent a lot of money. I think he’s got a very young son to a 17 or 18 year old son. And I think when I look at his face, there’s something quite frightening about it. And when I with all due respect to Brian, of course, I’m sure that’s something a lot of people aspire to. What was you actually why don’t we talk about that? I mean, when you’re 180, it is big claim. We’ve done a program recently on health healthspan versus lifespan.

Camilla Thompson [00:05:59] Great.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:06:00] Yeah. And I and I like that concept. I’m not sure I want to live to 180 unless all my friends and family live at 180 is as well. But I’ll healthspan is a good thing to aspire to. What what was the I mean, tell us about the conference. Let’s start with that and what what was it about? I mean, biohacking. I know, but tell us more.

Camilla Thompson [00:06:24] That’s what you want to start with, your spin on it. And. I think, you know, after.

Azra Alagic [00:06:28] I agree with you in terms of the notion between and the differences between lifespan and health span, because none of us want to live longer unless we’re actually healthy. So, sure, trying to achieve the the target of of 190 years of age, as was alluded to at the conference, you know, might be a pie in the sky target, but he would not want to live to that age unless you are actually healthy and have all the facilities and mobility and so in place. The biohacking of conference was, you know, a really great opportunity for us as as two leading female biohackers in Australia and to the only female biohackers in Australia to connect with like minded people from around the world who who are interested in in proactive health management. And certainly there is the concept of, of extreme biohacking. But there’s also I think it’s important to note that one of the key takeaways from from most of the keynote speakers was that the foundational by hacks of, of getting a good night’s sleep, you know, having good nutrition, getting exercise, managing stress to lower your cortisol levels. It was really important and highlighted at the conference that we ensure that we get the foundations right, because if we don’t have the foundations right, anything above and beyond that. So if you look at a three phase approach from from a biohacking perspective, Phase one’s foundations, Phase two was about looking at stepping up through supplementation perhaps, and then phase three looking at optimising through using AI or through technology. And but essentially, you cannot achieve optimal health if you don’t have the foundations, right? Because whatever supplement you take, you’re actually not absorbing that as a nutrient level and you just end up with expensive parents. So it’s pointless. You really, really need to get those foundations right. So I think the biohacking conference, you know, we had over 3000 people attend lots and lots of keynote speakers, which was great. Looking at as far as the holistic health management from from mindset through to, you know, exercise to sleep to looking at MF and so on. So really lots of great technology as well that’s coming out that we can do a bit of a deeper dive on later. But I think that it was a really great opportunity to learn from other people right across the world and also leading people in that field.

Camilla Thompson [00:08:54] So yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I think one of the key things was around, around longevity was around oxytocin and the need for us to have more play in our lives and more love and cuddles and community and connection and sex and all these things that help. And what’s interesting, I sort of recently learned this, but when our nervous systems are really disregulated, it’s very hard for us to produce oxytocin and serotonin and all the good dopamine. So I think coming back to what Asra was saying and those biohacking basics, those foundations are so important. And you can have all the technology in the world, but you have to get those basics right. And I think for me, I think we’re moving away from in Australia now where wellbeing is wellbeing fatigue is the thing. I think the word wellbeing, people sort of roll their eyes at it now. It used to be mindfulness and it would be the eye roll in corporate definitely, but I think biohacking is exciting here in Australia because it is new, it’s backed by science. Some of it’s very cutting edge, some of it’s, you know, you’ve got to it’s about self experimentation. That’s what biohacking is about, coming back to that bio individuality that you know what works and may not might not work for you wrong. So it’s about finding what works and experimenting. And, you know, I normally get my clients to try something for a month and if you feel better and it’s working, then great, go for it. If not, we can course correct and try something else. But some of the extreme biohacking. I came away from the conference a bit overwhelmed by some of it. I was kind of thinking it’s almost become such an obsession for some. And you know, you do. You lose the art of actually living day to day when you’re constantly striving for health. And I think there’s a real tipping point around that. And so as much as it was amazing to hear all of these incredible speakers and doctors and scientists and look at these incredible technologies, it did. I came away thinking, you know, there’s got to be a balance with actually living and not becoming so obsessed and anxious and neurotic about our health because that creates stress in the body, too.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:10:54] Yes. I was going to say, you know, we could be so stressed out about are we biohacking optimally or not? You talk about individuality. And I think that is a really interesting move in health care, you know, personalised medicine. Yeah. How do we how do we personalise our needs?

Camilla Thompson [00:11:15] That’s what you want to answer?

Azra Alagic [00:11:16] Yes, certainly. I’ll jump in there. I attended a really interesting longevity conference at the National University of Singapore this year, which was focussed on on supplements and the role that supplements has in personalised medicine moving forward. And again, one of the key takeaways from that conference was the future of personalised medicine. And I think it comes down to what I alluded to earlier about really understanding what is your baseline and make sure that we’re dealing with the facts in terms of our unique biology. So it’s really important to get those bloodwork done, having that baseline data to work from and from there you can understand, well, what am I deficient in? What do I need support in and work from there rather than guesswork, which a lot of biohackers tend to do. And it is part of the biohacking game that we do experiment with different types of supplements and different techniques and so on. But as a as a health coach, my advice is certainly that you need to work with data to understand what is your body doing because it changes constantly depending on epigenetics, depending on what we’re eating, depending on what stress levels were experiencing at any given time. So that personalised medicine approach is certainly about the future, and that’s certainly what all the longevity experts are saying at these conferences.

Camilla Thompson [00:12:39] Yeah. And I think the US as well, you can actually get targeted supplements. So they’ll do lots of data and then they’ll actually put together a pack of what you need monthly and then you sort of that gets reassessed every 3 to 6 months, I think. Was it via I think that was the guys that were there in Dallas. But yeah so that’s I think that’ll be a big thing. I think that’s where we’ll start moving forward in Australia. It’s interesting in Australia because we’re only really talking about biohacking in the last 2 to 12 months, but the conference we went to was the 10th annual conference, right? And in the space of two months there’s been six biohacking conferences globally. There was Singapore, Dallas, Austin, Japan, Helsinki and London. So we are really behind in Australia. So I mean. Ezra and I are trying to sort of become the sort of forefront in that sort of thought leadership piece around biohacking. But I think we’re going to start seeing a lot more happening in Australia, particularly around using AI in this personalised health and supplementation.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:13:38] I know that personal devices is a great way of people gauging well, their heart rates, how well they’re sleeping, their heart rate variability, which is also a pretty good measure of how you respond to stress. What are some of the what was some of the devices that were standouts in in this conference in Dallas? And as I say that I have to I have to disclose that I have my O-ring right here and I’ve tried a Woop thing and I’m done. Tell me what what.

Camilla Thompson [00:14:13] You have done that you are one of the OG biohackers I set this last time. I was like, You’ve been biohacking for years. Like, Yeah, well.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:14:20] It’s funny you should say that, because when when I said, you know, we’re doing a program on biohacking, I said, what’s, what’s I. Well, I said, I think we used to call that being healthy. But you know, it’s got a little more zippy time now. Right? So there is a lot more out there and a lot more available. Yeah.

Azra Alagic [00:14:38] That’s something that making three years without really chance that we’re doing it. That’s right. Yes.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:14:44] Yeah yeah but but it’s but it is become very very well I wouldn’t say trendy but but it is trendy and you know we’ve got a lot of toys that we can play with. What are some of the toys that are useful that people could be playing with and what would they learn from them?

Azra Alagic [00:15:01] Well, you’ve named one of them the Aurora Ring. And I think that the wearables are very popular and will continue to to grow and the technology will continue to improve. Our whip, which is another one that you mentioned, and three, that I was able to improve my sleep school significantly when I first started wearing the work, my sleep was terrible. I was scoring, you know, in the in the NBA numbers. Now I regularly get 100% sleep score as a result of implementing certain bio hacks like, you know, looking at my melatonin levels, having a regular sleep routine, making sure that I’m reducing my impact to blue light, turning the lights off in the evening and really signalling to the body that it’s time to shut down. But some of the other technologies were just really mind blowing over there. You know, there were there was one that was called a molecule, which was this great bed that of lie on. And it’s sort of being designed.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:15:57] It was what sorry, as a say that I missed that.

Azra Alagic [00:15:59] It was more chill is what it’s called. So immortal.

Camilla Thompson [00:16:03] Immortal.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:16:04] Immortal.

Azra Alagic [00:16:05] This bed that’s designed like the NASS astronaut beds, you know, in terms of the way it’s designed and had red light therapy and you had getting the better brainwave music coming through as well. And so it was this holistic approach to really managing cortisol levels and biohacking your body. There were other EMF technologies there, wearables that you would wear around your neck or like a scarf and so on that you could use to to limit your MF exposure. There were obviously, you know, there’s ozone therapy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy. There was new when new technologies in terms of exercise as well that really target the muscle groups enabling you to reduce the amount of time that you exercise right down to as much as 15 minutes. The things I’ve asked for, he was saying that he does in order to be able to stay toned and muscly. I can’t remember the exact number of of siblings that were there, but.

Camilla Thompson [00:17:11] There was a lot there was brain type. That was an interesting one that was I think I don’t know if you’ve caught up with Adam yet and talked about Shockwave Run. No, no. Okay. So that was.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:17:23] What tell us about Shockwave. What was that?

Camilla Thompson [00:17:25] Well, so that was an interesting one. So that was the Wasabi method, which is something that Dave Asprey and a friend of ours have have partnered together, and that’s shockwave therapy. So that’s sort of attacking different pain in the body and inflammation in the body. I mean, you had a treatment on that, didn’t you, as people were saying that? It was amazing. They’ve been in pain for years, a woman with frozen shoulder and then, you know, she was fixed after one treatment. So, I mean, that was pretty amazing. How was your experience as well?

Azra Alagic [00:17:55] Yeah, you’re spot on there. I had a shoulder issue which I’d been struggling with for a few weeks leading leading up to the conference. And, you know, the long haul flight over exacerbated that. And so Adam kindly gave me a treatment, you know, one treatment off the bed and the pain was gone. I had greater movement in my shoulder. It definitely works. And it’s, you know, a great opportunity to be able to get on top of pain. Quickly and and resolved that rather than having to sit there with it for weeks and trying other treatment times.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:18:30] So it was some form of radiation or some form of vibration.

Camilla Thompson [00:18:33] It’s sound. So it’s sound, Yeah. So it’s it’s shockwaves. Nothing new like it’s been around for a long time. Like a lot of these technologies, a lot of them aren’t new, but they’re being kind of repurposed, rebranded. There’s more research and science behind them. So some of them are a little bit we were before and now they’re going actually, no, they’re very credible. There’s been a lot of data, there’s a lot of data and a lot of science behind them. We love the was it the hydrogen one, the Nano V? That was amazing. That was that. You really felt a difference with that?

Azra Alagic [00:19:03] I felt a huge difference with that. It’s like a protein folding method that they have through inhaling the oxygen. And I came away from that feeling so mentally sharp, so mentally we had such a great night’s sleep that night and energetically as well. It, you know, it was just mind blowing how how much more energy I had over the coming days as a result of that. So for me, that worked really well. And, you know, I think it’s about, you know, oxygenation in the blood as well and really getting that through. And you can do that through, you know, hyperbaric oxygen treatments as well. So there’s a number of treatments out there and different technologies that you can utilise. But that was certainly one of the best that I’ve had.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:19:50] But I know.

Camilla Thompson [00:19:52] I was going to say the hype about Chamber was weird. That was the first time I did one, and that was it was like being in an aeroplane, like you’re the popping. And it was a really interesting experience. But I mean, the reason why I got into biohacking was because, as we talked about before, I lived in mould for so many years and got told by every doctor that I was, there was nothing wrong with me and it was all in my head. And so I had to start looking all these alternative different therapies and technologies to help me heal. And soreness was probably infant Sauna has been life changing, potentially life saving, actually, that just incredible. And at the conference that was a big theme on soreness, wasn’t there? As rather everyone talks about it, a lot of the doctors talked about sauna as doctor will call who we absolutely loved. He was, yeah, really the benefits of soreness and cryotherapy and yeah.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:20:42] What tell us about this and this and music to my ears because literally outside my office he had one and I have an ice bath and the other end I have an infrared sauna. So I’d love to hear more about the beauty and the benefits of infrared sauna.

Azra Alagic [00:20:57] Love that. Well, you know, I’ve got infrared sauna as well. And, you know, the studies show that it can reduce your mortality rate by, you know, anywhere between 40 to 70% if you’re having an infrared sauna four times a week. It really helps with metabolic disease. It helps improve mitochondria, it helps improve circadian rhythms. Unfortunately, so many of us live in a in an urban environment who are not getting enough vitamin B, we’re not getting enough infrared light. And this is an opportunity to use infrared sauna to be able to balance that out and and leverage off the health benefits in the long term.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:21:33] It’s what temperatures were they suggesting at and for how long?

Camilla Thompson [00:21:38] It’s around. I think 30 minutes is your minimum and I think it’s around 60 to 65, isn’t it, from a temperature perspective?

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:21:46] Yeah.

Camilla Thompson [00:21:47] Yeah, yeah. So at a minimum, three times a week if you can. I mean, I’ve got one in my garage, I’ve had one for years because it was the only thing that made me feel better when I was living a mould because obviously it was helping my body to detox. So it’s brilliant for your skin, for detox, but also your moods. And it’s, you know, I mean, there’s so much research now into cold therapy and how that helps with mental health. There is a caveat with cold, sorry, but we’ve got to be careful with these ice baths. And this is something that Asra and I are really passionate about as well, is that, you know, yes, we try these different things, but we’ve got to come at it with a safety lens as well. Certain times of the month, women shouldn’t be doing ice baths because of their hormones. Also, if you’re running really high on cortisol, an adrenaline, particularly women, they can actually trigger a lot of issues. So we need to be careful with going into really cold temperatures and it should be guided, really. But there are, you know, people hyperventilating if you’re not breathing properly. So, you know, you turning up on the beach and just jumping in an ice bath, sometimes it’s not the best unless you’ve done some training in it. I love a cold shower. Like it’s like put your shower on cold every morning. I do it every morning. You know, it’s a really great option that’s really safe. And so, yeah.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:23:00] And temperature of that depending on the season of course is, is like it might be down to about ten degrees. The cold water coming out, it might be in the summer up to about 18 degrees. But when you think body temperature is 36 point something, then it’s still still quite short. Yeah, it’s still not.

Camilla Thompson [00:23:20] Strong. Yeah. Just getting in the ocean and winter. That’s true. That’s your ice bath. We’ve got a permanent biohacker in Australia. Mean, we’re so lucky. We’ve got, you know, we really do. And I think because we get more vitamin D than a lot of other countries, that really helps. Except we’re also scared of the sun now.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:23:36] Well, I was going to say, part of the problem there was the demonisation of this wonderful thing called sun. Sun. Yeah. I mean, I’m sure that was covered. What did they talk about there in terms of sun exposure?

Azra Alagic [00:23:48] Yeah, that it was definitely raised around the concerns that we’re not getting sick and sufficient sun exposure. It was also raised around the risks of constantly lathering our bodies in sunscreen. Toxic. And the detrimental health benefits associated with that as well. And certainly most of the keynote speakers that talked to that particular topic were advocating to not use sunscreen because of the toxicity associated with it and the potential cancer links with it as well. It’s about being sensible about your exposure to the Sun and and the times that you’re out being exposed to the sun. There’s a really great app called D Minder. So the letter D minder, which can track your exposure to the sun and ensuring that you’re getting adequate levels of vitamin D, Of course you can supplement as well with vitamin D, but it’s much better if you can get it naturally. Actually get the real deal.

Camilla Thompson [00:24:48] Yeah.

Azra Alagic [00:24:48] And you write in a line that you do.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:24:51] Everybody does, don’t they? I mean, you know, you’re out in the sun. It’s energising. I mean, it’s this whole thing. And actually, I think the science is pretty clear that it actually improves all cause mortality significantly.

Camilla Thompson [00:25:05] And take me back to mood again. It makes you feel better. But I think there are some great natural sunscreens out there now that really are like, there’s no reason for us. I mean, I it does upset me and this is controversial, but people like the Cancer Council providing sunscreens that are full of so many chemicals and that they cause cancer. And it’s so it’s completely and utterly counterproductive. So I think, you know, just using natural sunscreen is is a really good option.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:25:31] But we need what’s an example? What’s an example of a natural.

Camilla Thompson [00:25:34] I use one. There’s a great brand in Perth that I use, which I can’t remember the name now, and this is called Perimenopause. That’s another podcast we can do on it’s on menopause, on the brain, and remembering it will come to me. I’ll feel good, feel good, feel good. Something. Anyway, we’ll put it in the notes. But yeah, that’s a great brand. I use that one and that’s, that’s really low talk. So it’s about trying to there was a big thing on environmental toxins that was that was huge of water, you know, and I know that’s been in the media quite a bit in Australia as about certain areas. I know on the Central Coast our water is awful. It’s just so chlorinated because we’ve got so many bugs. So I have a whole house water filter on my house. I have reverse osmosis on my sink and alkaline water and yeah, my showers, my bars, everything’s filtered because it’s, that’s really important.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:26:28] Yeah. No, look, the water issue is one that we’ve talked about on this program before. And you know, the whole story around, I mean, water fluoridation is another story, which I’m, I think is a shocker.

Camilla Thompson [00:26:41] Well, you are not going to a dentist.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:26:42] And I’m a dentist. But but, you know, but that’s just the least of it, because there are a lot of other chemicals that are of concern in the water are similarly to you can have a whole house water filter and reverse osmosis on the on the sink and then try to put I just put a few grains of Himalayan rock salt into that because you are almost drinking like distilled water. Yeah. And I’m not sure that’s a good thing in itself.

Camilla Thompson [00:27:13] Yeah. I had Celtic same Celtic.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:27:15] So yes but yeah.

Camilla Thompson [00:27:17] But yeah the environment was a big focus especially the, you know how polluted our air is even inside our homes to make sure that we’re filtering our air properly and we’re ventilating. That was a big focus of mould. So a lot of the US are so far this US is so ahead of us when it comes to mould and biohacking and all these things. They’ve they’ve been there, done it, multiple t shirts, but they so they talked a lot about mould, the environment, toxins. I mean women we’re exposed to 168 chemicals a day. That’s double what men are exposed to. I mean, that’s an average number. And I don’t know, I’m sure you’ve just seen the recent thing around tampons and the fact they found arsenic and all these chemicals in tampons. So women, we are just being constantly, whether it’s makeup or sanitary, you know, whatever it might be, we’re just being exposed to toxins all the time. So we really do need to think about how we reduce them down.

Azra Alagic [00:28:10] And again, there’s that really great apps that you can use as well to be able to scan the product and understand well, what is the what’s in it. So it’ll give you either a green, you know. Results indicating that it’s okay to use or, you know, or an amber or red result indicating that it’s got too many toxins and then it will list out what are those, those toxins in the product.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:28:36] D Do you have a suggestion or name for that kind.

Azra Alagic [00:28:39] Of why you okay my. And it’s a.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:28:41] Carrot.

Camilla Thompson [00:28:43] A random carrot. Why is it a carrot?

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:28:45] So hang on. Say that again. Slowly as when you cute.

Azra Alagic [00:28:48] Why you k I so I went through my all my whole house with this app and scans everything that had a barcode on it and if it wasn’t quite scary it went out and I threw a lot out. Yeah. Yes, he. Yeah.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:29:06] Hi, Dr. Ron  Here it. I want to invite you to join our Unstress HEALTH community. Now, like this podcast, it’s independent of industry and focuses on taking a holistic approach to human health and to the health of the planet. The two are inseparable. There are so many resources available with membership, including regular live Q&A on specific topics with special guests, including many with our amazing Unstress Health Advisory Panel that we’ve done hundreds of podcasts over listening to with some amazing experts on a wide range of topics. Many are world leaders, but with membership we have our Unstress LAB podcast series where we take the best of several guests and carefully curated specific topics for episodes which are jam packed full of valuable insights. So join the Unstress health community. If you’re watching this on our YouTube channel, click on the link below or just visit Unstress health.com to see what’s on offer and join now. I look forward to connecting with you. We kind of make assumptions that if it’s on this on this shelf in a supermarket. Of course it’s being tested. You know, how could it possibly get there?

Azra Alagic [00:30:27] We put our faith in the fact that whatever is being sold to us is safe for us. And that is not necessarily the case. I walk into a supermarket now and I cringe because I think, well, there’s probably 95% here that I would not put into my body or put on my body because most of it is, you know, is full of toxins. It’s bad for us. It’s, you know, manufactured, it’s processed. You know, I aim to always make sure that I go to the local farmer’s market and purchase, you know, Whole Foods, organic whole Foods to reduce my toxic life because, you know, you’ve got epigenetics, you’ve got environment, you’re getting exposed to. MF So we really need to work hard these days to reduce our toxic ideas. Miller well knows and I had mercury poisoning, which, you know, not long after, after Covid, after I had Covid and became really quite unwell and ended up finding out that it was due to that. And I had no idea where it was coming from. I didn’t have mercury fillings. I don’t eat too much seafood because I don’t like a lot of seafood. So it was really baffling to me as to where where it came from, which is why I started to look at all the products in the house. Yeah.

Camilla Thompson [00:31:41] We are being poisoned, I have to say.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:31:43] Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, that’s part of the health system.

Camilla Thompson [00:31:47] They want you to be sick. They don’t really want us. Yeah, I mean.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:31:49] Good health, good A theme we have on this podcast. Good health may make sense, but it doesn’t make dollars. And sadly, it is a business. I love that you and Demander Reminder, they have really useful things. You mentioned DMF as well. Boy, that’s that’s a challenge. How how would you advise people what are some bio hacks there to minimise your.

Camilla Thompson [00:32:12] MF Well, I might just jump in on this one as well because it’s one I’m so passionate about. When you have mould poisoning or sirs, you’re very susceptible. EMF can actually cause a lot more damage in the body when you’re being when you’ve been exposed to mould. So it’s a big thing to hang on.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:32:28] Camilla’s sirs is c i r. S. Yes.

Camilla Thompson [00:32:31] Chronic inflammation. Yeah. Response syndrome. So that’s that’s. Yeah, it’s a bio toxin illness. So you become your body becomes so sensitive to the energy and EMF like if I so I have always have my wi fi off at night not non-negotiable whole house. have a whole house every night and then my phone’s always on aeroplane mode. I make sure everything like printers like, anything that could be emitting any Bluetooth. A white sci fi is turned off in the house when I sleep. If it isn’t, I can wake up and I’m tingling and I know something’s been left on. That’s how sensitive I am. My son thinks I’m like, tinfoil hat weirdo, But. But it’s. It’s real. No, it’s. It’s real. And I think yet this comes into an interesting one with biohacking. And this is something that, as you and I have talked about as well on her podcast, is, you know, some of these wearables and things that we’ve got on us, they are also Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and and Yes. Or rings great. But I’ve actually watched a YouTube video with the guy doing the testing on it. And it’s and at times it is it’s chucking out quite a lot. So I always recommend do it for a month. You don’t need to wear these things all the time and you don’t need to sleep with them all the time. Like do it for a few weeks or months, do some get some data, do some testing, and then give your body a break. Yeah, because there was some interesting things at the conference was necklaces, as I think you mentioned, as well as with scarves and blankets that help protect us from EMFs. But yeah.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:33:58] Yeah, no, I, I agree with you about those devices because I love gadgets and I’ve had them all. You know, I like them, I buy them all. And I know that with the aura ring, you know, we got to the point where my when I would wake up in the morning, my wife would say, How did you sleep? And I’d go, just hang on to sick. And I had to go. She’s no, no, no, no, stop.

Azra Alagic [00:34:19] Just How did you sleep?

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:34:20] Just tell me how you slept, you know? Yeah. So? So I agree with you. I think they’re great for a short period of time to get a baseline back to your original point as they’re about finding your baseline, but to wear them constantly, I, I think they’re stressful. Yeah.

Camilla Thompson [00:34:38] And even.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:34:38] For many.

Camilla Thompson [00:34:39] Even the Apple Watch like, I mean, I know I don’t know if you got one out so I know that people. you’ve got common. Yeah but with the Apple watch when it’s buzzing and phoning people and texting and calling and it’s on your wrist and you can’t get it, Not only is it constant spiking of adrenaline and stress because you’re constantly being pinged, but also it’s. Yeah, like others. Yeah, there’s a real balance I think.

Azra Alagic [00:35:00] That your own all the time as well when you.

Camilla Thompson [00:35:01] Wearing.

Azra Alagic [00:35:02] Variables. Yeah this.

Camilla Thompson [00:35:03] Is certainly contactable like.

Azra Alagic [00:35:05] I know it’s part of a gym challenge that I did. That’s when we got our works and there are a number of people that within the first couple of weeks decided that they would not wear a week anymore because it. I found that it made them more stressed because of the results they were getting. They were agonising, agonising over their results. They were so concerned about the fact they were stressing about the fact that they couldn’t sleep because the work was telling them that they weren’t sleeping properly, so that it was just as vicious. Yeah. And so I just opted to say no.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:35:37] But I think to Camilla’s point, and I agree with you on this, I think they have a place as a way of personalising your health and creating a baseline. I agree with you. Do it for a couple of weeks. Record what you found. Take it off. Make the changes for six months and maybe put it on again for a week or two and see how you’re going. But don’t take it seriously because it’s so stressful.

Camilla Thompson [00:36:02] Yeah. It takes over and it’s always on thing as well and always tracking. And I think that’s something we came away from. The conference that Dave Asprey takes about I had was like 170 supplements a day, right? And I’m like, okay, you eat the best food in the world. You’re eating amazing beef, grass fed beef steak, which is what he eats pretty much his staple diet and nitrate free bacon and a few other bits. But he’s eating a really good diet. He’s doing all these amazing technologies. He’s got all this stuff in his house and all in his labs and stuff. So why do you need to take 170 supplements if you’ve got all those basics and foundations? Right? I think it’s extreme. Tim Gunn is the same. So if we bring it back to Australia and Tim Gunn, who’s Melbourne guy, he owns Gunn, He’s a lot in the media at the moment. He’s suffered longevity space in Melbourne, but he’s spent so much money and so much time and these millionaires and billionaires, they have all the money all the time in the world and they can spend six hours a day biohacking and I love our circles at the cereal bowl of supplements. But it you know, it’s like, what is it, Cheerios or like Froot Loops. It’s like a bowl of it. But I don’t get it. If you’re doing all the foundations and you’ve got those biohacking basics, right? Yes. Some supplements we absolutely need. You know what? Asra and I take very supplements and we’re massive fans and supporters of them. But it’s extreme again, and it’s an it cannot be good for your gut. How will we.

Azra Alagic [00:37:26] I don’t know, 100%, you know, it’s another biohacker. Nick I can’t remember his surname, but he was on that recent the.

Camilla Thompson [00:37:33] Channel nine.

Azra Alagic [00:37:34] Nine program and he went overseas to Mexico, if I recall correctly, correctly to spend $700,000 on getting gene therapy, which gave him, I think it was something like a 7% improvement in in muscle overall muscle, his body empty. You can achieve that through just exercise $100 If you can chew that through.

Camilla Thompson [00:38:01] It doesn’t make sense. Some of it. I think the stem cell piece is really interesting one, and we had some we had some good chats about that at the conference. We met a few doctors there and we talked about it. And there was a company there called Stem Regen and they’ve created actually I’ve got it on my desk because I’ve finished yours Azra.

Azra Alagic [00:38:18] I know we’re going to show it.

Camilla Thompson [00:38:21] So this is called release and this. Yeah, this helps the bone marrow to release new stem cells. So it’s using our own body to do that. And there’s colostrum in there and I think it’s buckthorn. Berry And a few other elements to that. So rather than having to go to Mexico or Thailand or Dubai or Japan or wherever it is and do the stem cell therapy, this is something new that people are trying. So it’s using a supplement to help produce more stem cells. So it’s it’s interesting, but I think that’s a really extreme practice out there.

Azra Alagic [00:38:52] But I also think that the stem cell therapy and peptides have a place in regenerative medicine in particular. So my husband has been suffering from a bad knee for months and months and months, had tried everything. The next option, according to Western medicine, was to get surgery. And I said to me, you know, go to this functional medical practitioner, try some peptides. Let’s see if that works first. And sure enough, it’s working, you know. And I have another friend who had major shoulder issues after a gym injury and went to Bangkok to get his stem cell therapy there. He came back thinking, has it worked? It was sitting, look, give it some time. It’s only a couple of months. And, you know, it’s been, what, four, four months or so? And it’s kicked in and and he’s coming back to us.

Camilla Thompson [00:39:40] It’s incredible and peptides but we’re being you know there’s been another peptide banned by the TGA in Australia like they just don’t they don’t want us to have access to some of these things. And these, these peptides are amazing, like some of what they do. I actually had a friend that went to Thailand to do Stem, so full body replacement and she has the double Alzheimer’s gene. Both her parents had it and she’s like, they were like, You’re guaranteed you’re going to get it. So she went and did stem cell and she’s managed to reverse. So she’s reversed all of this, Jane. So it’s it really does have its place, you know, as faecal transplants, which is another. Mazing thing. I mean, the science behind that is just incredible with what that’s doing.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:40:22] Yeah, I talked about that there as well. Faecal transplant.

Camilla Thompson [00:40:25] I didn’t. But it’s something I just. Yeah, I’ve been sort of see people I’ve, I know have had them and it’s just been incredible with what it’s done that can reverse so many different.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:40:34] Because that was Professor Tom Borody here in Sydney has been doing that for some time. And I happen to know he was really at the forefront at the beginning of Covid, not with faecal transplants, but with a a protocol for treating Covid very successfully and very simply as well. Yeah. So yeah, those kind of things, methylene blue is another one that tell us a little bit about metabolism. I have this image, Camilla, of you poking your blood on your website A.

Camilla Thompson [00:41:09] I still think I’m in the methylene blue top. I’m even done dressing for. I felt like a Smurf. They gave us they gave us too much. So they think we took too much of it. So I had blue gums and a blue tongue for three days. And I was. I was wearing blue, which was lovely. So I literally felt like attendants with Smurf. How about you?

Azra Alagic [00:41:30] Yeah, I do think that the dose that we were given was a little bit on the high side. I’ve had I’ve taken methylene blue on and off it for some time now, and there’s various ways that you can take it. You can take it in drops, you can take it as a try, which I prefer to take that dissolves under the tongue when I take it. I take it only if I have got, you know, a big piece of work that I’m needing to focus on or a presentation where I’ve really got to be performing at a high cognitive level. And so I find that that really sharpens my mind. But it’s also shown to improve mitochondrial function as well, you know, enhanced usage utilisation, ATP production. So there’s some significant benefits in this. This is science fact as well. Methylene blue has been around for for many, many years, you know, so last life product and it’s worthwhile trying. But you know, make sure that you take it under the advice of your functional medical practitioner.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:42:28] I think combining it also with red light therapy is is shown to enhance that as well. But I agree. I do take I have taken methylene blue, I have the trophies and I see the chopping board that I cut the trophy in half and is still staining blue. So you do have to be a little bit careful with it. But just yeah, I think it has some other things. Forest bathing is one that I thought I was intrigued by. We’ve done programs on the power of being in nature. Is that what forest bathing is? What is forest bathing?

Camilla Thompson [00:43:01] That’s right. You can. Yeah.

Azra Alagic [00:43:03] It’s one of my favourites. I love forest.

Camilla Thompson [00:43:05] Hugging.

Azra Alagic [00:43:05] Training. Yeah. We’re both tree huggers by tree with.

Camilla Thompson [00:43:11] Tinfoil hat tree huggers.

Azra Alagic [00:43:13] Again, it’s about utilising nature at its best to be able to reduce cortisol levels. You know, there’s been significant studies and research that’s been done around this that shows that reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, boosts immune function and improves mood. And the reason being is when you go out and you you’re taking a walk in the forest or you’re sitting there in the forest, you are able to focus more on all the senses. And so it brings in that mindfulness practice. You know, the recommendation is to go for to out for a walk for two hours to be able to get the benefits in, you know, in terms of forest bathing. But we don’t all have that that time. So for me, you know, coming home, I’ll just even just go outside and walk barefoot on the front lawn to to ground myself. If I can’t do that or if I can’t go for a walk in the forest, I’ve got a grounding mat that I use as well actually standing on it right now so that when I’m at my desk I’ve got a grounding mat and that helps to ground me as well. So it gives you the similar benefits. But there are so many great benefits out of forest bathing.

Camilla Thompson [00:44:17] But yeah.

Azra Alagic [00:44:18] And the system and yeah.

Camilla Thompson [00:44:20] Yeah. And the Japanese are who kind of first sort of really started doing a lot of this. They they actually have programs so they have forest bathing programs where people go out into the forest. They also Korea are doing a lot as well. They put loads of money into this. And what they do as well, if there’s children of juveniles that are misbehaving, they’ll send them out into the forest, bathe for a week and tents and camping. And that’s part of a rehabilitation program as well that they’ve been doing in Korea. And yeah, and so I think it’s, you know, we’re very lucky in Australia again where we’re surrounded by such beautiful natural beauty. But going back to the senses piece is really important. So when we look at our brain as a network, we’re often just to ING and fro ING from doing and thinking. So we’re in that to do task part of our brain or we’re in that default mode, part of the brain where we’re just constantly internalising, ruminating, thinking. But when we’re in nature, we’re just being and we’re connecting with. Senses. And that’s when we actually that’s the only time we can switch off and thinking and doing so. It’s so important because we’re not spending enough time in that part of our brain in that sensory network. So yeah, really important.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:45:30] No, no music to my ears. I mean, that is really, you know, it’s so true. Yeah. Listen, it’s been good to connect and talk about biohacking and we’ll, of course, have links to both your sites. But if you had to leave our listener with, you know, who’s heard this and Gary, I think this could be something I want to explore. What would you say to somebody getting started? What would be 2 or 3 hints from each of you about how a person can get started in biohacking?

Azra Alagic [00:45:57] You guys can you go?

Camilla Thompson [00:45:58] I’ll go.

Azra Alagic [00:45:59] And put the pressure on me.

Camilla Thompson [00:46:00] First and you’ve got time to think. So look, one of my favourite. I’ve got a couple of shares, some of my top three of my hacks. Maybe that’s you. So one of my ones is is to be a plant, right? That’s one of my favourite bio hacks is plants Photosynthesise. They need sunlight, they need water and they need air. And that’s how they get energy and grow. So as humans, we need the same. So be a plant, take a five minute micro break, get outside, do some breathwork, get some sunshine, drink some water in your water comes my second favourite by a hack which is Celtic sea salt. This is been a game changer for me. When you have mowed anybody, it takes all of your moisture. So when we just drink regular water, we don’t often hydrate properly, so our body is made up of water and salt, which is like the ocean inside. So when we actually hydrate with water and salt and it’s got to be good quality salt, my my recommendation is Celtic sea salt is the cleanest salt or if we’re in Australia Pink Murray is great as well. The pink Murray salt that helps our body to hydrate so it gets the water into our cells. So be a plant, hydrate properly. Start by doing like I think infrared saunas are a really good place to start there. So accessible nowadays so infrared. Saunders and cold showers that would be a good place to start. But looking at your nutrition, I know as we all want to talk about nutrition, I’ll go over here because I know this is all.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:47:24] I have to say. I love that Camilla. I mean, be a plant. I love this. Yeah. It’s not my son on earth. Son on earth. We need a lot more of that water music to my ears. Go on. As he was.

Azra Alagic [00:47:35] Playing with all the ones that.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:47:36] Yes, I do, too.

Azra Alagic [00:47:37] Just said that. I certainly do all of those. But yes, I think nutrition is key to foundational health, that we need to be really aware of what we’re putting into our body, making sure that we’re aiming for Whole Foods organic where possible. Really be aware of where you’re getting your food from because if you’re getting pesticides, you know, and other toxins on your food, then that can have such an impact on your gut health, which then has a further impact on your overall health, right up to cognition and so on. So it’s really important to ensure that you’re aware of where your nutrition is coming from. I’m a big advocate of making sure you get significant protein as well, because women in midlife like myself, getting sufficient protein is really important. So aim for 30g of protein per meal is really that’s the target of what you should be trying to achieve. Sleep is another one because without good night’s sleep and quality sleep and making sure that you are able to heal at that cellular level through regenerative sleep, everything else that you do in biohacking is not going to work perfectly.

Camilla Thompson [00:48:51] Yeah.

Azra Alagic [00:48:52] Absolutely. So it’s really important to get a good night’s sleep. And for me as well, looking at supplements as needed, I take and I mean supplements. I think that Nadi is really crucial for cellular energy DNA repair because you can’t necessarily get that elsewhere. So I think that that’s that’s a really great option as well. And one of my favourite hacks to do.

Camilla Thompson [00:49:16] I love it and I love Animal. It’s absolutely amazing.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:49:21] Well, you’ve mentioned NAD and in a main text. Just tell us a little bit more about those two because actually I did want to ask you about it.

Camilla Thompson [00:49:29] Yeah, well, an ad is a molecule that we produce and when we hit 40, we unfortunately stop producing as much as we’re jumping. And correct me if I’m not spot on on this, but so, so it’s a molecule. It’s I call it the elixir of youth. It’s what keeps us young. It’s what keeps our memory functioning, our metabolism, doing what it should do and our energy levels at a place and also our cognitive function. So we stop, we start declining and producing an ad as we hit 48 and it just gets sort of more and more depleted. So there’s some precursors to energy. So things like reserves. Well, that’s why we’ve obviously heard a lot about that in the last few years. We find that in red wine. But unfortunately, news flash, we’re not going to get enough reserve of solid drinking wine. And if we do, we’re going to be drunk and it’s not good for us. So, yes, supplementing with some of the. Because it’s an animal and as one knows as another one. Reserve Atoll is another precursor. Women tend to respond better to men for some reason. They’ve just released a lot of that research. I started taking it about 14, 15 months ago, and it’s a game changer. Like, my brain was so alive and my energy and you don’t get that afternoon slump. My metabolism started working much better. As for what else do you want to add on that?

Azra Alagic [00:50:47] Look, you’ve hit all the main points, but I agree in particular on the energy. For me, when I did a little bit of a test because I stopped taking in women for a while in order to see whether it really was the women that was giving me those amazing energy levels. And my energy levels went down significantly. And then and I stopped taking it for probably a couple of months just to make sure it got out of my system. And then I started taking it again. And while the difference that I had energetically with so started taking in women again, it was just mind blowing. I started to take it with resveratrol. And they say also to to mix it with the resveratrol, to mix it with some yoghurt to activate it. Whether that is actually works or not, I don’t know. That’s a little hack that many biohackers do. And as I said, to take the two together, resveratrol and it’s.

Camilla Thompson [00:51:42] It is amazing. I can’t recommend it enough.

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:51:45] Well, guys, thank you so much for joining us today and sharing that that that passion and that that advice about biohacking and taking you know, there’s so much we can do and we’ll have links to both your side. So thank you so much for joining us today.

Camilla Thompson [00:51:59] Thank you. Thanks so good RonIt was lovely to see you. Thanks Azra

Dr Ron Ehrlich [00:52:03] Well, there’s a few things in that episode that I thought I would just remind you of, in case you missed it. One is an app that I think is worth getting. It’s called the Minder D Minder all one word, and it’s a way of tracking the sun and tells you when you can get your most vitamin D. Now, interestingly, that vitamin D comes when the sun is at about 35 degrees up to the horizon. So if it’s higher than 35 degrees, the reason you’re going to get vitamin D now, isn’t that interesting? Our health authorities tell us to stay out of the sun in the middle of the day, and it could go some way to explaining why we have a global pandemic epidemic pandemic anyway. A lot of people are deficient in vitamin D, which is critical to absolutely every cell in our body and implicated in every disease. A vitamin D deficiency will predispose you to cardiovascular disease, too, and that’s heart disease, stroke, also cancer. It will it it predisposes you to every single disease. So the advice to stay out of the midday sun is a way of saying do not try to get vitamin D from nature. And this is a theme that we’ve explored on this podcast and will continue to explore the way we have demonised this thing called The Sun, which literally has given us life on Earth. And yet we are told our our devices and all the why far radiation are perfectly safe. It’s another example of some really poor public health messages. And if you’re a member of the Unstress health community, we go into that in a lot more detail. So the DeepMind app is definitely worth getting and a real eye opener to where you can naturally source vitamin D from The Sun. And another app that I think, as you mentioned, was UK u. Y u k y u k. And it deciphers product label labels and analyses the health of those products. So it’s a really interesting product. All products are included on it, but it is a real eye opener and a really quick thing to do. Now another thing that was mentioned was in a D, which is nicotinamide bene adenine di nucleotide in idea. It’s a co enzyme central to metabolism. It’s found in all cells. It’s important in energy transport in the electron transport chain. Another thing that was mentioned was in M in which is a derivative of B three it stands for and m m stands for nicotinamide mono nucleotide in m n. But it’s also all of these things are very closely related to vitamin B, particularly B three. So B three is implicated in so many. It’s such an important nutrient. Using nicotinamide and the nicotinic acid. Now, when you type B three, is it nicotinic a niacin or nicotinic acid niacin or nicotinic acid, you might get a flush. And when we did that episode with Ross Walker, cardiologist Ross Walker, he mentioned that as a as a useful supplement. And it’s certainly been implicated in a lot of mental health issues used for the treatment of schizophrenia and a few other mental health issues. So this is this in a D in a main B3 story there as well. Look, biohacking, there’s a lot there. There’s a lot of great devices that you can get involved with. But let’s not forget that one of the most important bio hacks you can do is get out in the sun, see the early morning sun with your sunglasses, often with as much skin exposed so that you can get your circadian rhythm switched on, get out in the midday sun so that you can get your vitamin D levels. So if you shadow one way of looking at it is if the shadow is longer than you, then you probably aren’t going to get vitamin D, don’t get burned. Yes, that’s an important that’s an important message. But to demonise the sun crazy. Another one of the examples of being good for a great economic model, but not a very good health model and public health advice seems to be geared towards the economic model rather than the health model. So sleep is another one. The great biotech sleep. Getting out and doing exercise. What a great biotech that is. You know, doing some meditation, resting a whole lot of other great biotechs. But it was good to touch base with Kamila and Asra to get a kind of an insight into this world of biohacking. We’re going to be doing another episode with Dr. Adam Gavin on shock therapy. That’s coming up real soon. I hope this finds you well. Until next time. This is Dr. Dr Ron Ehrlich Erlich. Well, feeling stressed, overwhelmed. It’s time to Unstress your life. Join the Unstress health community and transform stress into strength. Build mental fitness from self-sabotage to self-mastery. And together, let’s not just survive, but thrive. Expert led courses, curated podcasts, like minded community and support and much more. Visit Unstress health.com. Today. This podcast provides general information and discussion about medicine, health and related subjects. The content is not intended and should not be construed as medical advice or as a substitute for care by a qualified medical practitioner. If you or any other person has a medical concern, he or she should consult with an appropriately qualified medical practitioner. Guests who speak in this podcast express their own opinions, experiences and conclusions.