My whole life, I’ve been told that the first year of parenthood will be the hardest year of one’s life...
That you’ll be badly underslept all the time.
That the hectic overwhelm will devour every spare moment.
That you get not a spare second of “me time” to devote to staying sane.
That you get “new mom” or “new dad” brain: happy yet forgetful, irritable, and foggy.
That your productivity in your career or extra-curricular pursuits drops off a cliff as you muddle through each day.
But with almost four months under my belt as a brand new 40-year-old dad, my experience has been very different. Being a parent is easier than I expected.
This year, I’ve managed to write two books, my income has increased while my working hours have decreased, and I manage to work out and make love to my wife a few times a week.
This has got a lot to do with the productivity hacks I’ve had in place for years, but it’s also due to my stack of health habits and the Nootropics almost constantly flowing in my blood. The obsessive Biohacking and self-care stuff that can seem, perhaps, self-indulgent becomes a 1000% validated when one embarks on the grand adventure of parenthood.
And this should have you questioning the other thing you’ve been told a thousand times: that with advancing age comes inevitable decline. Might that also be something that was once the non-negotiable human condition, but now - hackable?
I think so, and today, I’m talking to a man who has made that his mission, Edward Van Harmelen of Youth and Earth.
About Youth and Earth
Some of you have told me you are sick of taking pills and capsules. The Nootropic/longevity stack I’m currently on has almost none, thanks to Youth and Earth’s powdered adaptogenic herbal mixes...
In the mornings, I drink their AM Blend
In the midday, I drink their V14 longevity mix with 14 powerful anti-aging agents (tastes - kinda/sorta - like a girly cocktail)
Before bed, I sip their Sleep Dust
They take the flavor engineering seriously. Everything I’ve tried from them has been a flavorful pleasure to consume. Check out my recent unboxing video of their stuff.
Y&E serves Biohackers from distribution centers in both the US and EU/UK, so there’s no shipping or import brain damage to deal with. Pick up $300 worth of their stuff, and you can get a free Biohacking consultation with me.
Mentioned in the interview
Supplements and anti-aging
Nicotinamide Mononucleotide: The epigenetic vitamin for smarter genes - from Youth and Earth. Case report: This man biologically aged BACKWARDS from 70 to 44-years-old in 8 months, here’s how...
Adaptogens for fatigue: Eleuthero, Rhodiola, Schisandra
Piracetam - A gram or two outperforms most of the Nootropics stacks out there
Nicotine - My favorite addictive smart drug
Self-quantification
Whole genome sequencing - more expensive, gives you an ocean of data about yourself, but only needs to be done once
HRV tracking (best explained by Dr. Torkil in this Limitless podcast interview and his book, The Pulse Cure)
Gut-microbiome testing via Viome - I haven’t tried this yet
Books & informational resources
You Are The Placebo - Explaining Dr. Joe Dispenza’s approach to reprogramming your story on an epigenetic level
EMF*D by Dr. Mercola - Breaks down what you need to know about the toxicity of EMFs and how to hack it.
Ed’s recent article on Melatonin and MELATONIN MIRACLE by Walter Pierpaoli - About mega-dosing Melatonin
Jonathan’s new books: Hourglass and its sequel, The Trident, The Tachyon & The Temptress
Scott Carney’s investigation of AG1 (formerly Athletic Greens)
Nomad resources
My article about living in Berlin, Germany
OptimallyMe - Ed’s practitioner-facing AI platform
Support me on Substack? For $7/monthly?
