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Biohacking is a broad term that can mean different things for different people. At its core, it is a do-it-yourself health and wellness movement that emphasizes the adoption of interventions to improve one’s health, wellness, longevity, and performance.

The concept

Biohacking involves making small, conscious changes to habits and daily behaviours to improve brain function and weight management. The term may seem new but there are many tried and tested bio hacks, such as consuming less refined carbs and moderating caffeine.

“You can easily add mild forms of biohacks or lifestyle modifications to your daily routine that lead to eating healthy, exercising more, and managing stress and lowering your risk of heart disease if that is your focus. Biohacking involves optimising hormonal balance through diet, exercise, stress management, and targeted supplementation. It involves returning to the original way of life that our bodies are built for eating mindfully, fasting, exercising, feeling the cold, the heat, the ground beneath us,” says Dr. Piyusha Bhagde, Founder and Chief Dermatologist, Skin Ethics Clinic.

There are also therapeutic biohacks like Pulsed Electromagnetic Field (PEMF) Therapy and Red Light Therapy with a wide variety of applications in pain management, anti-aging, and wellness.

Variants

Biohacking comes in many forms from nutrigenomics, DIY biology, and grinder all aimed to achieve a specific health outcome. Biohacking is about tweaking habits to improve your wellbeing, which could include better sleep, mindful eating, occasional fasting, and utilising technology to track and monitor your health metrics.

Dr. Niti Gaur, Founder, Citrine Clinic explains, “nutrigenomics focuses on how the food you eat interacts with your genes, and how different nutrients affect how you feel, think, and behave. DIY biology are biohackers that share tips and techniques to help non-experts conduct structured experiments on themselves outside of a controlled experimental environment, like labs or medical offices. Grinder is a biohacking subculture, which works by optimising bodies with a combination of gadgets, chemical injections, implants, to make the body work in a certain way.”

Do it right

Biohacking your body involves adopting simple lifestyle changes that contribute to your overall health. You can start by focusing on nutrient-dense whole foods and experimenting with intermittent fasting, but it’s important not to overdo it—do what's sustainable for you.

“Prioritise quality sleep over quantity, as deep sleep is more restorative. Managing stress is key, and practices like meditation or breathwork in the morning can be incredibly effective. Staying active, getting sunlight exposure, and listening to your body’s needs all play a role in optimizing your health. Small, consistent changes over time can yield significant long-term benefits. When it comes to nutrition, focusing on anti-inflammatory foods and experimenting with fasting are common approaches. In terms of lifestyle, grounding (like walking barefoot on grass), optimizing sleep, and even taking cold showers are popular biohacks”, says Payal Rangar, Certified Nutrition Coach, Holistic Wellness Expert & Women’s Health Advocate.

It is all about finding what works best for your body and integrating these changes gradually for maximum benefit.

Holistic wellness

Genetics based biohacking indeed includes diet, nutrition, supplements as your genes impact how various foods are metabolised, and the foods you eat impact your gene expression in return.

But biohacking goes even beyond other aspects like exercise, sleep, stress management, and yoga. “For example, some forms of intensive exercises like High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), are not at all suitable for individuals with certain genetic variants, as it can cause heart attacks or even sudden death. So, genetics based biohacking solutions draw up sets of suggestions like personalized diets, personalized exercise regimens, personalized yoga etc. These are epigenetic in nature, which means they can even override your genetic risks for developing various lifestyle diseases,” says Sajeev Nair, Founder and Chairman, Vieroots.

Be aware

It is easy to get caught up in the excitement and push too hard. Overtraining, extreme diets, or excessive use of supplements can lead to burnout, injury, or negative health effects. Balance is crucial.

“Consistency is the key here and to observe how you individually respond to the changes, also not to copy paste what has worked with someone else as each body is individual. Biohacking often focuses on physical gains, but mental well-being is equally important. Stress, lack of sleep, and anxiety can undermine your efforts. Don’t forget to prioritise mental and emotional health alongside physical optimization. Work with a nutritionist, fitness coach, or doctor to ensure your biohacking methods are aligned with your personal health goals and conditions,” says Shirin Kapadia, Wellness Coach and Nutritionist & Founder, Parama Wellness.

The ideal way to biohack is to embrace fully science based methods, and to shun unproven and potentially unsafe hacks.

The best way to go about this is to check the credentials of the healthcare organisation offering such biohacking solutions. Is it headed by a medical team led by doctors, geneticists, researchers, dieticians, fitness specialists, yoga gurus etc? This is an important question to ask. So, it is important to understand and do this right.