The mission of The Quantified Body is to seek out the best new tech, tools and tactics for body and mind optimization – and then ‘investigate’ them through self-experiments, and other quantified evidence, to see if they really can deliver the desired benefits we seek.

This page is a summary of the tools and tactics we’ve looked at so far. You can jump to the different areas of tools and tactics via:

Which tools or tactics would you like us to investigate next? Let me know on twitter (@DBlenkinsopp).

Diet & Nutrition

Ketogenic Diets

What It Is: Diets that put you in a state of ketosis (typically defined as blood ketones of 0.5 mmol/L or higher). This dietary approach is based on high fat, low carb and a low protein macronutrient intake.

Potential Benefits: subtracting fat, adding muscle, improving blood sugar regulation, reducing diabetes risk, increasing mental performance.

Featured in these Episodes:

Intermittent Fasting

What It Is: Also known as IF. Includes fasts of between 16 and 24 hours in duration. Only water and other zero calorie drinks are taken for the period (e.g. tea, coffee). IF can be practiced one day per week or more. Typical approaches are to do it one day per week or 5 days per week.

Potential Benefits: subtracting fat, adding muscle, improving blood sugar regulation, reducing diabetes risk.

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Prolonged Fasting (known as PF)

What It Is: Also known as PF. Includes fasts of over 1 day or longer. The most typical are 3 day (72 hours) to 5 day (120 hours) fasts, however they can extend to up to 40 days or longer. Only water and other zero calorie drinks are taken for the period.

Potential Benefits: subtracting fat, improving blood sugar regulation, immune system improvement, reducing cancer risk, reducing diabetes risk.

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Wahls Protocol / Diet

What It Is: A diet and nutrition approach designed by Terry Wahls to combat the damage done to the body by autoimmune conditions. One of the principle actions for which it is designed is to repair and enhance mitochondrial function.

Potential Benefits: reducing autoimmunity, repairing mitochondria.

Featured in these Episodes:

Increased Brassica Vegetable Intake

What It Is: Brassicas contain compounds known as sulforaphanes and indoles that boost the body’s detoxifying abilities. Broccoli, kale, cabbage, collard greens and mustard greens are a few of the many brassica vegetables.

Potential Benefits: reducing body’s toxic burden.

Featured in these Episodes:

Supplementation

Lipid Replacement Therapy (LRT)

What It Is: Using supplementation of lipids compatible with the mitochondrial membrane to replace the lipids, and as a result repair lipid damage to the membrane.

Potential Benefits: repairing mitochondria, increasing energy.

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Exogenous Ketones

What It Is: Exogenous ketones are direct beta hydroxybutyrate (blood ketone) supplements in either salt or ester form that have started to become available since late 2014. They allow you to increase blood ketones, and reduce blood glucose via supplementation.

Potential Benefits: weight loss, endurance performance improvement, reduced oxygen consumption, neuroprotective effects, inflammation reduction and potential mental performance enhancement.

Featured in these Episodes:

Oxaloacetate

What It Is: Taking a metabolite of the Krebs Cycle named Oxaloacetate with a minimum effective dose of 100mg up to 6000mg in some specific applications.

Potential Benefits: improving blood sugar regulation, improve energy levels, increase endurance, protection from brain glutamate toxicity.

Featured in these Episodes:

Walsh Protocol (Brain Chemistry Optimization)

What It Is: Using targeted supplementation of micronutrient and methylating supplements to balance brain biochemistry (neurotransmitters) and methylation.

Potential Benefits: stabilizing mood, improving attention & focus, reducing stress, eliminating headaches.

Featured in these Episodes:

Curcumin

What It Is: Supplementing curcumin, in particular in its more bio-available forms, has been shown to induce a wide range of hormetic benefits to us.

Potential Benefits: reduce inflammation, improve memory, reduce cancer risk, reduce cardiovascular risk.

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DMSA (Dimercaptosuccinic Acid)

What It Is: DMSA is a supplement that binds particularly well to Mercury (a heavy metal) and removes it via the bile (stool) and the kidneys (urine). Taking it can help to reduce the burden of Mercury in the body and the brain.

Potential Benefits: reducing body’s toxic burden.

Featured in these Episodes:

EDTA (Ethylenediaminetetraacetic Acid)

What It Is: EDTA is a supplement that binds particularly well to Lead (a heavy metal) and removes it via the bile (stool) and the kidneys (urine). Taking it over an extended period can help to remove lead from the body including the bones and heart where it tends to accumulate.

Potential Benefits: reducing body’s toxic burden.

Featured in these Episodes:

Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA)

What It Is: Alpha lipoic acid is used as a chelator for mercury in particular, and is also used to improve blood sugar regulation and promote muscle uptake of glucose.

Potential Benefits: reducing body’s toxic burden, subtracting fat.

Featured in these Episodes:

Glutathione

What It Is: Glutathione is one of the body’s natural antioxidants that it uses to reduce oxidative stress and to bind to unwanted toxins in the body.

Potential Benefits: reducing body’s toxic burden, reduce oxidative stress load.

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N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC)

What It Is: N-acetyl cysteine is a precursor to the creation of Glutathione in the body. As such, it can help to increase levels of glutathione in the body, and provide glutathione’s associated benefits.

Potential Benefits: reducing body’s toxic burden, reduce oxidative stress load.

Featured in these Episodes:

Tech & Devices

EEG Based Meditation Devices

What It Is: Using a head band EEG device to analyze your brainwaves via EEG (electroencephalogram) and provide neurofeedback to support meditation practice.

Potential Benefits: increasing attention & focus, improved consistency of meditation practice, accelerated learning of calmness benefits from meditation.

Featured in these Episodes:

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS)

What It Is: Using devices mounted on the head (non-invasive) to run a week direct current (DC) across specific brain regions.

Potential Benefits: accelerating learning, increasing attention & focus.

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Brain Training Applications

What It Is: Using gaming applications to train specific mental abilities.

Potential Benefits: accelerating learning, increasing attention & focus.

Featured in these Episodes:

Heart Rate Variability Breathing Feedback

What It Is: Using a specific slow rhythm of breathing you are able to increase your heart rate variability via boosting the parasympathetic response. This has benefits for reducing stress primarily and teaching you how to better control your nervous system. A range of devices from different companies target this functionality including HeartMath and Sweetwater HRV.

Potential Benefits: reducing stress, stabilizing mood.

Featured in these Episodes:

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT)

What It Is: Use an oxygen chamber to raise the levels of oxygen in the blood to higher levels. The chamber uses increased atmospheric pressure and 100% oxygen to achieve this.

Potential Benefits: accelerating healing, increasing endurance, anti-cancer therapy, immune system enhancement.

Featured in these Episodes:

Water Filtration

What It Is: Using filters on drinking and other household water to eliminate pathogens, heavy metals, chemical toxins and the added fluoride and chlorine in many public water systems.

Potential Benefits: reducing body’s toxic burden.

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Exercise

High Intensity Training (HIT)

What It Is: An approach to weight lifting that emphasizes high intensity (using heavy weights) with a constant load as opposed to traditional weight lifting which involves reps that are made up of cycles of rest and exertion. This approach also limits the time spent training considerably compared to other approaches (e.g. under 20 minutes in gym, less visits to gym).

Potential Benefits: adding muscle, increasing strength, increasing endurance.

Featured in these Episodes:

Other Activities

Meditation

What It Is: Using one of the forms of meditation (e.g. focused attention, mindfulness, mantra-based) to enhance attention, mental resilience, satisfaction and mental performance.

Potential Benefits: increasing attention & focus, reducing stress.

Featured in these Episodes:

Cold Thermogenesis

What It Is: Using cold treatment (e.g. cold showers, cryotherapy, ice baths) as a hormetic to promote a variety of positive changes in the body.

Potential Benefits: increased heart rate variability (HRV), subtracting fat, adding muscle, increasing testosterone.

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