Why Paleo f(x)?
People join Paleo f(x) for many reasons. Things like:
- Improve your health (for fat loss, energy, strength, immunity, detox, etc)
- Learn about health and wellness
- Connect with friends and meet new people
- Sample (clean!?) food, supplements and other services
- Escape the everyday and have some fun
My reason for joining Paleo f(x) in 2022
Although the Paleo f(x) event was on my radar because I get emails about it, I didn’t think I would really make it until I had made plans to visit the USA from Thailand in March.
I wanted to get to Austin to meet up with my friend, Kevin, and it seemed that the timing would work for me to visit him and go to the conference.
So I bought a plane ticket for a week-long trip to Austin, as well as an Expo pass for Paleo f(x) 2022.
I was looking forward to connecting with Kevin (of Freedom Lovin) and other similarly like-minded (health and freedom loving) people at the event.
What is Paleo f(x)?
If you’re not familiar with the event, you may have heard about the Paleo (lifestyle) movement and, in particular, the Paleo Diet.
Despite participating in Paleo, I often have trouble explaining succinctly what Paleo entails. For your benefit, I’ll go ahead and distill things down for you…
The Paleo Lifestyle centers around living the way our bodies were designed to function best, through optimal sleep, exercise…
https://thepaleodiet.com/lifestyle/living-the-paleo-lifestyle
That’s a broad (and vague) explanation of the Paleo Lifestyle. To me, defining Paleo is much like trying to define “biohacking” (which, because I run biohacking meetups, I do often)…
I think one of our biohacking members summed it up quite well when he said about biohacking
It’s what we used to call “health nut”!
– Zar
I think the same applies to Paleo: despite all having varying views, we are all health enthusiasts.
What about the Paleo Diet?
…the Paleo approach to eating is based on the notion that for optimal health, modern humans should go back to eating real, whole
https://nomnompaleo.com/paleo101unprocessed[and optimally processed] foods that are more healthful than harmful to our bodies.
Again, you get a definition that sounds good – but doesn’t give you any details (edits are mine).
Here’s what’s included in the Paleo Diet:
…vegetables, fruits,
https://thepaleodiet.com/paleo-101/what-is-paleoleanmeats, fish, eggs and some nuts and seeds…
What is Paleo f(x)?
Paleo f(x)™ is STILL the world’s premier holistic wellness event, covering health, nutrition, fitness, sustainability, self-development, spirituality, relationships, entrepreneurship, & everything in between.
https://www.paleofx.com/
Paleo f(x) has brought together some of the biggest names and trends in the Paleo arena – including speakers, vendors and thousands of attendees.
What’s good at Paleo f(x) in 2022?
Obviously this is a very subjective question to ask, and I’ll give you my answer…
The people at Paleo f(x)
For me, it’s all about the people. I enjoyed hanging out, meeting up, and catching up with friends, as well as meeting new people and making new friends.
Because of a 3-year hiatus due to restrictions during the COVID pandemic (as well as some BIG controversy you’ll learn about later), I wasn’t quite sure what to expect in terms of turn-out at the Paleo f(x) conference.
It was great to catch up with Kevin and meet some of his friends. And I was pleasantly surprised to bump into Sarah Turner (the “Rebel Scientist“).
I also had a chance to see Holistic Hilda who I met at a previous event. She’s the (amazing!) host of the Weston A Price Wise Traditions podcast.
I was also happily surprised to see the PrimalHacker booth and eventually chat with Thaddeus, a fellow biohacker and Bulletproof / Human Potential Coach.
I spoke to many of the vendors and was fascinated to hear about their products and how they can help improve our health and wellness.
The food at Paleo f(x) 2022
Sadly there were very few options for food – especially when compared to previous Paleo f(x) events in which I could easily skip lunch and instead fill my belly with all the food samples on offer.
Instead in 2022 it seemed there were just a few snack vendors offering samples (of fruit and nut bars), as well as a concession stand offering a Paleo dish with brisket and sweet potatoes.
There wasn’t even any vendor with coffee! That was our first intention at the event: Get coffee. But the only vendors serving coffee (at Vasayo) was instant coffee with mushrooms and supplements that did not taste good. It wasn’t really coffee.
I had the Paleo dish twice – and both times they were out of sweet potatoes. This was okay for me because they simply added more meat!
And, on that note, during my entire week in Austin I think I had some form of BBQ just about every day – and sometimes two times a day. I ate a lot of meat! (And coincidentally my digestive issues I’d been experiencing – with gas, pain and bloating – disappeared.)
The Vendors at Paleo f(x) 2022
Magical Imprinted T-shirts – Intelligent Threads
The most fascinating vendor I found at Paleo f(x) this year was selling T-shirts to relax your muscles and body.
I watched as they demonstrated their push test…by pushing on different points of someone’s body before putting on the magical shirt…and then pushing again after. Apparently there was less pain after putting on the shirt.
I was curious how it worked so I started asking questions. They were coy with their answers and left me thinking they did some magical imprint to the fabric that gave it these seemingly magical qualities – to relax, recover and align your body.
I was thinking I might buy one to give it a try – and I needed some new shirts anyway. But, at $300 a t-shirt, I decided to hold off.
Detox using Silver Oxide – 3rd Rock Essentials
I mostly ignored this vendor until two people told me I should check them out… Specifically when I said I was recovering from a head cold and sinus infection.
I’d never tried silver but it’s been on my radar for a while as something I might want to try. The opportunity presented itself and I gave it a shot. Literally. I took 2 shots. And I felt better…
…Until the next day when I felt worse than before. So I doubled down (so to speak) and went back for a third shot and bought a bottle to take with me.
Clean, Healthy Water – springaqua
I made frequent stops here to hydrate with their filtration system that delivers structured water – purported to be better absorbed by the body. It’s also infused with hydrogen which has many studies reporting many health benefits – perhaps acting as powerful antioxidant.
I’d love to have one of these in my home…but I currently don’t have a home nor am I ready to fork out up to $5,000 for the system (though I think clean water is well worth the price).
Quail Eggs and Regenerative Agriculture – One Rth / Nature Towns
To me this is a winning combo. The pickled quail eggs were delicious and their plan to build a regenerative and self-sustaining organic community is admirable – and could be the kind of place I’m interested in calling home.
Brain Fitness – Braintap
I discovered Braintap in 2019 when one of my coaching clients told me about it after his time at the Bulletproof / Upgrade / Biohacking Conference.
I’ve been using the app since then and I do enjoy some of the guided recordings. The big difference I noticed upon first using it was about a 300% increase in my REM sleep, as measured by my Oura ring.
Fast forward to 2022 and it’s the first time I used the headset with the flashing LED lights over my eyelids. I think this did make for a deeper experience because I did feel a little “out of it” after my session.
Cellular Exercise – Pulse PEMF
I tried two different PEMF devices at Paleo f(x) and only remember the name of one of them. I think the studies behind the technology show that it really can help your body to heal and recover.
However I’ve only used these devices when I go to these types of conferences – primarily Paleo f(x) and the Biohacking Conference – and I don’t notice any particular effect or benefit.
Red Light Therapy – FlexBeam
There were a few red and infrared light devices at Paleo f(x) and I’m highlighting the FlexBeam based on my biases…
That is, I already own a device and I know the company and founder – because they reside in my (current) home town of Chiang Mai, Thailand.
The general technology isn’t new and the benefits (for recovery, skin, sleep, and more) are well studied. What I like about the FlexBeam that’s different is the flexibility to target different areas of the body.
Boost Stem Cells – Kalyagen
I talked for a bit with the founder of the company, Christian, and was intrigued with his extensive exploration around the globe to find and source the ingredients used in the products.
One question I forgot to ask was how this compares to fasting for stem cell production and recovery. I offer courses on fasting and have studied it quite a bit so I was left thinking that I’m better off doing fasting for stem cell proliferation.
Health Supplements – Vasayo
I was impressed with the ladies at Vasayo in terms of how well they presented and marketed their supplements.
I’ve cut back on supplements over the years (as I focus on simply eating real foods) but decided to give some of their products a try including:
- Premere for “telomere support” / anti-aging
- V3 for “ADVANCED ENERGY + HYDRATION + MOOD”
- Coffee for “A HEALTHY COFFEE BEVERAGE”
Genetics Testing – Apeiron Elementals
There were a few companies offering genetics testing and analysis. Apeiron sparked my interest the most – although I now see that, in order to actually get a report and analysis of results, you have to work with a coach…
…which brings us to the next topic…
Coach Training – Apeiron Academy
I noticed a few vendors offering various forms of coach training – for general life coaching and genomics coaching.
As a certified Bulletproof / Human Potential Coach, I’m always interested to find what other coaching programs offer – so that I can continue to upgrade my own skills and thereby help my coaching clients get even better results, faster.
What’s bad and ugly at Paleo f(x) in 2022?
The turnout for the conference was far less than expected. I think the hope was for nearly 15,000 attendees but I would guess there were far less than 3,000 who made it.
Plus many of the speakers and vendors canceled at the last minute.
Why so little turn-out?
The obvious reason is the pandemic. But there’s a much bigger and polemic reason:
The founders of Paleo f(x) were accused of being racist just weeks before the event started.
I haven’t fully researched the accusations, their bases, and the take-down efforts, but you can research the Paleo f(x) 2022 take-down for yourself here.
Despite the controversy, I was impressed by the positive spirits of almost all of the people and vendors I encountered during my 3 days at the Paleo f(x) event in 2022.
The only negativity I heard was from Wade Lightheart (of supplement company Bioptimizers) who told me how hard it is for many of the vendors when you consider how much money they spend for a booth expecting to have thousands of prospects. He clearly wasn’t happy about the situation.
There was also a friend of a friend who claimed that 80 percent of the Paleo f(x) conference was “snake oil” and “woo” – without science. I thought this was an interesting claim coming from someone new to the Paleo f(x) event. I didn’t follow up with him to find what he meant by it but I think it’s understandable when there are new things that question your own values and beliefs – to simply discard them without investigation.
The Fun in and around Paleo f(x)
Of course there’s more to it than just the conference. There was a burner-theme party, visiting restaurants and Lake Travis…
Summary
Overall it was another great Paleo f(x) event! I learned a lot about health, wellness, myself and, most important, connected with some amazing people.
I look forward to the next event!