IS BIOHACKING THE ANSWER TO YOUR PROBLEMS?

Tine Hertz, founder of One Thirty Labs

Biohacking is an exciting new movement that can help you improve your health and well-being. It’s all about using technology and science to modify and optimize your body, mind, and environment to increase energy, mental clarity, and overall performance. The goal of biohacking isn’t just to become healthier but to reach your highest potential. It involves various techniques, such as diet and exercise, supplementation, sleep optimization, and more. With biohacking, you can make small changes that can have a massive impact on your life. Biohacking is worth exploring, so I talked with Tine Hertz, the founder of One Thirty Labs, the leading biohacking studio in Denmark.

By Johanna Christensen

Biohacking is fundamentally about taking responsibility for your health and well-being. Understanding, supporting and optimising the body’s natural ability to heal, regenerate and rejuvenate itself. Something we have unfortunately largely forgotten in the society we live in today. Too many do not consider that the body’s natural functions are reduced due to lifestyle, environment and age.

I learned about biohacking in many different places, all connected to the United States. One of the first people to introduce me to the concept was Lauren Berlingeri, founder of Higher DOSE (which supplies the saunas and infrared blankets we have in One Thirty Labs). My friend and I were in New York City to write an article about new trends in beauty and wellness - there, I met Lauren for the first time and tried her infrared saunas and local cryo treatments. It was also my first introduction to wholebody cryo. I practically flew out of the machine after 3 minutes in minus 130 degrees, full of energy and with a massive smile on my face. It was a fantastic feeling to feel so different after just 3 minutes. It made me even more curious about what else you can do to stimulate your body’s natural processes. It turned into

One Thirty Labs, Palægade 2, Copenhagen

“ Our mission is to offer our clients the leading, most effective and wellproven treatments on the market.”

na Steiner Photographer I

many conversations with the owner of Quick Cryo in NYC, biohacker and former athlete John Hoekman (who is now on my Advisor board), and countless trips around the world testing different treatments, machines and combinations thereof.

I’ve been self-employed pretty much my whole life. With a background in IT, sales, and later advertising and media, I had to deal with extremely high-performance pressure. It was when I turned 40 that it dawned on me that there could be even more significant benefits to looking after yourself rather than just pushing yourself harder. I still have my digital advertising and media agency - OMI - in addition to One Thirty Labs. But, I am also starting to focus more on clients acting in the health and sustainability space with my agency for a more holistic approach.

The driving force behind the founding of One Thirty Labs was my desire and my need to access the various treatments we offer. They did not exist in Denmark at the time, but even more a desire to share the many benefits I experienced from the treatments. There are so many illnesses and diseases - mental as well as physical - that we don’t have to live with if we understand how to support our body’s own natural ability to heal and regenerate.

The name One thirty refers to the minus 130 degrees that the whole body cryo machine cools down to - and Labs refers to the constant innovation, research and testing behind both one thirty labs and our various treatments. But it’s also a reference to the longevity aspect of our approach to health and optimising your health. It may be a while before we turn 130, but there is no doubt that we are quietly moving in that direction with greater awareness, insight and modern technology. It can be challenging to navigate the enormous jungle of health and wellness treatments and products available today. We have done all the legwork for you. Our mission is to offer our clients the leading, most effective and wellproven treatments - so you can feel that the products and treatments we have assembled are the best, safest and most effective on the market—all in one place.

People have been very welcoming, but it’s still often driven by some concrete issues/challenges that people want to solve - pain management, sports injuries, weight loss, stress, etc. My vision is to inspire others to take more responsibility for their health and well-being and think more preventively than just symptom treatment.

Quality of life for me is balance. I don’t believe in a fanatical lifestyle where you cannot have a glass of wine or eat a piece of cake, just as I don’t want a life of too much structure, where I have to sleep every day at 9 pm and can’t be impulsive. I travel a lot and am very social, so for me, biohacking is a tool to create balance and surplus so I can live the life I want - without harming my physical or mental health. But I am still learning to combat my weaknesses. I push myself too hard, often ignoring the signals my body sends - and although I’ve become much more aware of this, I still ignore it far too often. I’m generally good on the

“Biohacking is fundamentally about taking responsibility for your health and well-being. Understanding, supporting and optimising the body’s natural ability to heal, regenerate and rejuvenate itself.”

physical part, so I put a lot of effort into working on the mental part - making meditation a priority - not being so hard on myself etc.

A typical day for me starts with an awareness of what state of body and mind I wake up with, so I can best support what I need that day. I spend the first few minutes checking in with myself mentally and physically after waking. And setting my intention and focus for the day. One of my key hacks is to ensure a good night’s sleep, which starts with the right morning routine. Just 10 minutes of natural sunlight or light therapy in the morning has a critical effect on our sleep rhythm and helps the body adjust to a healthy circadian rhythm. I ideally combine the light with breathwork or meditation, but I often end up with emails or calls I need to deal with in front of the light wall. It is not always perfect. Exercise, yoga or another form of movement is also an important priority for me in the morning. It helps the body to reduce harmful stress hormones and creates an energy surplus for the day. But cold therapy is my absolute life hack. Preferably in the morning, especially on days when I feel I lack energy. When I’m away, I replace it with an ice-cold shower, something I usually also start the morning with, regardless. It kickstarts the body.

I love all of our treatments and am more or less addicted to them all. Still, Whole body cryo has completely changed my immune defences and eliminated many of the ailments I previously suffered from, ranging from migraines, allergies and hormonal eczema. But a more robust immune defence, in general, has also meant that I’m never actually sick anymore. Previously, I almost had a chronic cold or cough for half of the winter. But the combination of light therapy, cryo and infrared sauna has also been a significant game-changer for me after years of poor sleep and a body in constant fight-orflight mode, which is one of the most destructive things to the body. Sleep is the most important thing you can optimise to improve your health, so if this is a challenge, I recommend starting there. I don’t think there is anything in biohacking I wouldn’t try. I spend a lot of time researching and testing new treatments worldwide - and I am curious about new things that come along.

I started the One Thirty Biohacks podcast because I felt the need for a platform focused on biohacking and a holistic approach to health optimisation. Many of the health podcasts out there today focus either only on the mental or the physiological. Still, we humans are complex entities, and you can’t isolate one from the other. So One Thirty Biohacks focuses, on the whole, you - both from a mental, physical and spiritual perspective. But most importantly, it is a platform where I can gather the many extraordinarily talented and exciting people I have met and share some of the tools, knowledge and hacks I have learned from them without any commercial purpose.

Biohacking is fundamentally about listening to your body - and understanding that we are all different. What works for me may be disastrous for others. So first and foremost, it’s about listening to yourself and being curious to try out various hacks and see how they affect your health, energy and well-being. Many things are happening in biohacking all the time. Still, the lead and direction will be even more focused on preventative health optimisation and longevity and how we can better minimise disease, live longer, and feel better while we live. Both physically and mentally.

“Whole body cryo has completely changed my immune defences and eliminated many of the ailments I previously suffered from, ranging from migraines, allergies and hormonal eczema.”