For 7+ years, I’ve experimented with fasting for a variety of reasons:

• weight gain
• muscle strength
• improved immunity
• increased longevity
• better focus

While fasting offers incredible benefits, it’s not without its challenges. The

• hunger pangs
• low energy levels and
• potential loss of lean muscle mass

can make the fasting journey quite difficult, especially for a newbie.

[ Read to the end for the easiest fasting alternative. ]

That’s where the concept of “biohacking” comes into play.

By strategically using certain supplements during a fast, you can essentially hack your body’s natural processes to minimize the downsides and maximize the upsides of not eating for an extended period.

But wait a sec…

What is fasting?

Let’s start by understanding what fasting actually is:

Fasting is a period of voluntary abstinence from food and caloric beverages for a set amount of time.

There are various types, including:

• intermittent fasting (time-restricted eating)
• alternate day fasts
• multi-day fasts

The problems fasting aims to solve are numerous:

• high cholesterol and triglycerides
• insulin resistance and diabetes
• neurodegenerative diseases
• excess weight and obesity
• immune disorders
• digestive issues
• inflammation
• cancer

It’s an incredibly powerful tool for improving overall health and longevity.

However, for many people, fasting can be extremely difficult due to:

• hunger
• fatigue
• muscle loss
• other side effects
• difficulty concentrating

Intro to Fasting: Biohacked.

This is where biohacking takes center stage.

By incorporating specific supplements into your fasting regimen, you can propel yourself past these obstacles.

Biohacking, in essence, means optimizing your biology by strategically utilizing:

• science
• technologies, and
• dietary approaches.

When applied to fasting, certain supplements help:

• mitigate hunger
• boost energy levels
• enhance cognitive function
• preserve precious lean muscle mass

So what are these magical supplements that can make your fasting journey easier and more effective?

I’m going to delve deep into each one, exploring their benefits, ideal timing for consumption, and how they can directly address the common challenges of fasting based on personal experience gathered over the last 7 years.

Whether you’re a fasting veteran or just starting out, biohacking with supplements has the potential to be a game-changer.

By the end of this article, you’ll have an arsenal of knowledge to approach your next fast with confidence, energy, and the best chances of success.

How Biohacking Makes Fasting Easier

One of the biggest hurdles to successful fasting is dealing with:

• hunger pangs
• fatigue, and
• brain fog.

That’s where supplements can play a crucial role in biohacking your fast to make it much more manageable.

Here are some powerful options to consider:

1. Modafinil

This “smart drug” is often used by students, professionals, and militaries to enhance focus and cognitive performance. During a fast, modafinil can be a potent weapon against mental fatigue and brain fog. By promoting wakefulness and attention, it allows you to power through your day without feeling lethargic or fuzzy-headed.

2. Nattokinase

Derived from a popular Japanese food called natto, this enzyme has amazing anti-inflammatory and anti-clotting properties. When fasting, inflammation levels can spike, leading to potential issues. Nattokinase helps keep inflammation at bay. Plus, its blood thinning effects may enhance nutrient delivery during your fasted state.

3. Ketone Esters

These exogenous ketones provide an instant source of energy without breaking your fast. They help refuel your body with ketones, which are the fat-burning molecules produced during ketosis. By sipping ketone drinks, you’ll feel more energetic and less likely to experience energy crashes.

4. Essential Amino Acids (EAAs)

Since fasting inevitably means no protein/amino acid intake, EAA supplements can help prevent muscle loss. They provide the necessary amino acid building blocks to preserve lean mass. EAAs can also boost energy levels and reduce appetite during a fast.

5. Creatine

This popular supplement is a staple for bodybuilders and athletes. But it can also be incredibly beneficial during extended fasts. Creatine helps recycle ATP (energy currency) in your muscle cells, preventing muscle breakdown. It’s an easy way to maintain strength and lean mass.

6. Glycine

As an amino acid with anti-inflammatory and anti-aging properties, glycine is another supplement that shines during a fast. It can help regulate energy levels, boost mental clarity, and even aid in gluconeogenesis (making new glucose).

7. Coconut Cider Vinegar

This vinegar contains acetic acid which may help increase ketone production and fat burning during a fast. Some people also find it helps curb hunger and sugar cravings. Just a few tablespoons can make a big difference.

8. Salt (Sodium/Potassium/Magnesium)

Electrolyte imbalances are a common issue during prolonged fasts. Supplementing with sodium, potassium, and magnesium can prevent headaches, fatigue, muscle cramps and other adverse effects. A pinch of salt in water can work wonders.

Synergy of Supplements

By strategically combining some or all of these biohacking supplements, you’re essentially creating the optimal internal environment for a successful fast. Each one serves a purpose – beating fatigue, fighting inflammation, providing energy, preserving muscle, and mitigating hunger.

As someone noted, EAAs and Ketone Esters taste awful – which is a good reason to add glycine (for sweetness), vinegar and salt to the mix to help mask the taste. A better option is to take EAAs in pill/capsule form and find ketones that don’t taste like rocket fuel!

For me personally, after 7 years of experimenting with various fasting protocols, I’ve found that incorporating these types of supplements has made fasting easier – and more effective to meet my own personal goals.

How Biohacking Makes Fasting More Effective

While making fasting easier is a huge benefit of strategic supplementation, the real magic happens when you biohack your fast to actually enhance and amplify the results.

One of the biggest concerns people have with extended fasts is the potential loss of precious lean muscle mass.

After all, your body needs protein to maintain and build muscle. Without that dietary protein intake, your body can start breaking down its own muscle tissue for energy – the opposite of what most folks want!

This is where supplements like essential amino acids (EAAs), creatine, and glycine can be incredibly effective for preserving lean body mass during a fast. Let’s dive into how each one works:

Essential Amino Acids

By providing your body with EAAs like leucine, isoleucine, and valine, you’re essentially giving it the raw muscle-building materials it needs. Without dietary protein, your body has no choice but to break down existing muscle to obtain these aminos. But if you supply them via supplementation, your muscles get preserved.

Not only that, but EAAs also help regulate muscle protein synthesis (muscle-building) and prevent excessive muscle protein breakdown. They can “trick” your body into holding onto muscle, even in a fasted state.

Creatine

This popular fitness supplement pulls double-duty during a fast. First, it helps recycle ATP, the energy currency that powers your muscles. By maintaining better cellular energy levels, there’s less need to break down muscle tissue.

Second, creatine also helps pull water into your muscle cells, giving them a fuller, more anabolic (muscle-building) environment. It creates a “muscle-sparing” state that can counteract the catabolic (muscle-wasting) effects of fasting.

Glycine

As an amino acid with anti-aging properties, glycine provides antioxidant effects to reduce oxidative stress during a fast. This protects your precious muscle fibers from being damaged or broken down.

Glycine also plays a role in creatine synthesis and gluconeogenesis (producing new glucose). Both of these functions help preserve your hard-earned muscle mass when fasting.

And, as mentioned above, glycine is sweet so it makes the entire concoction taste better!

But wait…there’s more (modafinil, ketones and vinegar):

But that’s not all – biohacking a fast also enhances mental energy and metabolic efficiency beyond just protecting muscles. Supplements like modafinil, ketone esters, and coconut vinegar can:

• Sharpen focus, alertness and cognitive performance
• Increase energy levels by elevating ketones
• Boost fat burning by enhancing lipolysis (fat release)
• Curb hunger and cravings

So not only are you hanging onto lean body mass, you’re firing on all cylinders mentally and metabolically for maximum fat loss. It’s the best of both worlds!

For me, being able to preserve my hard-earned muscle while still experiencing the incredible rejuvenating and health benefits of fasting has been invaluable. If you’re going to put in the effort of an extended fast, why not strategically supplement to truly biohack and enhance those results?

My 37-Hour Fasting Biohack Experiment

After years of experimenting with fasting protocols and supplementation strategies, I recently put together my own personalized biohacking routine for a 37-hour fast.

Here’s a breakdown of exactly what I did:

I started my fast just before 7pm after my last meal.

The first thing in the morning before 7am, I took 50mg of modafinil (1/4 of a pill) and 4000FU of nattokinase (2 pills).

Modafinil is my go-to for combating morning grogginess and brain fog.

The nattokinase helps control inflammation.

A couple hours later around 9am, I had a “super drink” consisting of:

• 10g of essential amino acids
• 1 full serving of ketone esters
• 3g of creatine
• 3g of glycine
• 1 tbsp coconut cider vinegar
• 10 drops of pink himalayan sole salt
• Water

This dense nutrient cocktail provided my body with all the raw materials to preserve lean mass, while the other ingredients helped boost energy, ketone production, and salt to prevent electrolyte imbalances.

In the late afternoon around 6pm, I had another round of the super drink to keep those nutrients topped up – and as a replacement for my usual dinner.

Throughout the entire 37-hour fast, I made sure to consume lots of water, as well as one mid-day black (yet weak) coffee. The caffeine helped curb any hunger pangs.

So what was the experience like overall?

I have to say, it went smoothly thanks to the supplement regimen.

I had a big boost of energy in the morning after the first super drink and then my energy levels dropped in the afternoon; but overall they were higher when compared to many prior fasts I’ve completed.

My cognitive abilities were sharp and “switched on” the whole time.

The biggest challenge was probably just psychological – preparing a delicious chicken and beef green curry for my boy. (I did lick the spoon!)

But I was able to easily power through thanks to the supplements.

Overall I was impressed with how well this fasting strategy worked for me.

By combining smart supplementation with my years of fasting experience, I was able to enhance the entire process for maximum effectiveness.

Would I Recommend Biohacking Your Fast?

After experiencing the (relatively) smooth sailing of my 37-hour biohacked fast first-hand, I can absolutely recommend trying this strategic supplementation approach to others looking to make their fasting journeys easier and more effective.

The advantages I experienced were numerous – sustained energy without crashes, razor-sharp focus and cognition, appetite control, anti-inflammatory benefits, and most importantly, preserved lean muscle mass. By addressing all the major hurdles people face when fasting, supplements allowed me to sidestep the pitfalls.

Choose Your Own Fasting Adventure: Biohacked

However, it’s important to note that this isn’t a cookie-cutter protocol. Someone new to fasting may want to start with a smaller subset of supplements and work their way up.

It’s also crucial to get blood tests done to ensure your liver, kidney and other biomarkers are in the optimal range before embarking on a regimen like this. Medications or underlying conditions may also make certain supplements unsafe for some individuals.

My recommendation would be to start with some of the more straightforward and well-researched options like:

• Essential amino acids
• Creatine
• Sodium/potassium/magnesium
• Coconut cider vinegar

Get accustomed to a basic stack before branching out into other supplements like modafinil which require more caution and consideration.

It’s also wise to start with shorter fasting windows like 16 or 24 hours to assess your response before graduating to longer multi-day fasts while supplemented.

The beauty of this biohacked approach is that it’s essentially customizable to your specific needs, goals, and tolerance levels. You can mix and match supplements, increasing or decreasing dosages to dial in what works best for your body.

For me, the addition of strategic supplementation has been helpful. I’m able to fully experience the powerful benefits of fasting without the typical drawbacks.

If you’re willing to self-experiment responsibly and gradually find your ideal supplement stack, I truly believe biohacking your fast can open up a new level of results. Just be sure to start slow, do your research, and work closely with a professional if needed.

The Alternative: Fasting Mimicking Diets

For some people, the idea of a full water-only fast seems daunting or perhaps even unsafe depending on their specific health status.

In those cases, there’s an intriguing alternative that provides many of the same benefits as fasting, but with a built-in “metabolic trickery” that allows you to eat food.

I’m talking about fasting mimicking diets (FMDs) like the popular ProLon 5-day meal program. These meticulously designed plant-based meal plans involve severe calorie restriction and very specific micro/macro-nutrient targets. Despite consuming food, they are formulated to induce the same beneficial physiological effects as a fast.

[ You can check out my full review of the ProLon 1-Day Reset and get 10% off here. ]

The genius behind FMDs is that they are low enough in calories and protein to trigger similar pathways as fasting, like:

• Promoting cellular clean-up processes (autophagy)
• Increasing ketone production
• Reducing inflammation
• Improving insulin sensitivity
• Boosting stem cell production

Yet at the same time, you are consuming micro-nutrients and minimal protein to protect lean muscle mass and prevent the energy deficits/hunger of a water-only fast.

In essence, your body remains in a fasted, ketogenic state while still having a minimal calorie intake to avoid intense hunger or potential muscle wasting. It’s a strategic hack to reap the rewards of fasting without complete food deprivation.

I personally have experimented with the FMDs and had positive experiences. Despite consuming around 800 calories per day, my ketone levels were elevated into optimal fat-burning ranges.

For many energy levels, focus, and physical output remained relatively high (compared to water fasting).

Yet on average, people report losing over 5 lbs of body fat while preserving lean mass.

Additionally, ProLon and similar FMDs are designed to be easy to stick to and can potentially be done indefinitely a few times per year for long-term benefits like longevity, cognitive enhancement, and disease prevention.

For people who want to experience the power of fasting but aren’t ready for prolonged water-only periods, FMDs are a phenomenal option. You get to eat delicious, scientifically-formulated food while still flipping the metabolic switch.

And for seasoned fasters, FMDs can make for a great “break” between extended water fasts or an incredible way to sustain long fasted periods by cycling FMDs every 5 days or so.

Whether you want to dip your toes into fasting or are a full-on veteran, methods like ProLon provide another “biohack” in your toolbelt to experience all the benefits while still eating food.

Conclusion: Unlocking the Full Power of Fasting

After years of self-experimentation with fasting protocols, I’ve come to realize that strategic supplementation is a game-changing biohack.

By thoughtfully combining compounds like essential amino acids, creatine, ketone esters, and cognitive enhancers, you can essentially reprogram your biology to make fasting easier, more effective, and more sustainable.

No more will you have to white-knuckle through hunger pangs, energy crashes, muscle loss, and brain fog.

With the right supplements in your arsenal, you can power through extended fasts with consistent energy, razor-sharp focus, and most importantly, preserved lean body mass.

As we discussed, supplements like modafinil, glycine, and nattokinase help mitigate the common pitfalls of fatigue, inflammation, and hunger.

While aminos, creatine, and ketone esters enable you to retain hard-earned muscle and crank your fat-burning furnace into overdrive.

By addressing both the physical and mental challenges of fasting, you open the door to experiencing its full range of powerful benefits – enhanced longevity and disease prevention, improved insulin sensitivity, reduced inflammation, and effortless fat loss.

However, it’s crucial to approach supplemented fasting responsibly. Start slowly, get comprehensive blood work, and consider working with a medical professional, especially if you have any underlying conditions. The right dosages and compounds will be highly personalized to your particular goals and biology.

My recent 37-hour fasted experiment showcased just how powerful and smoothy a supplemented fast can be when executed correctly. I sailed through with high energy, mental clarity, and most importantly, preservedlean muscle mass.

For those unwilling or unable to do extended water-only fasts, methods like ProLon‘s fasting mimicking diet provide an incredible alternative. You get to eat food while still flipping the metabolic switch for many of the same fasting benefits like autophagy, stemcell production and insulin sensitivity.

I’ve personally experienced the power of FMDs and can attest that it’s an extremely viable option, especially when cycling between extended fasts

[ You can check out my full review of the ProLon 1-Day Reset and get 10% off here. ]

At the end of the day, the magic lies in using a custom blend of supplementation and diet strategies to biohack your personal biology. With some self-experimentation and dedication, you can experience the incredible benefits of fasting without the typical drawbacks holding you back.

Whether you’re a seasoned faster or just starting out, I highly recommend exploring supplementation to elevate your fasting game. When coupled with discipline and patience, the right nutrients can unlock a whole new level of results for health and longevity.

What’s been your fasting experience?

Leave a reply and let us know!