Based on the latest biohacking statistics, advanced health optimization has nearly become a household term.
Are you on a low-carb diet? Did you get enough sleep during the previous week? Do you exercise regularly?
How do you even decide where to begin? Look at the stats—these annual facts and figures highlight what tends to work and what doesn’t.
So in this article, we’ll examine some of the top stats related to the biohacking industry. Then, I’ll share how you can apply them to improve your health & performance.
Preventing Chronic Disease With Foundational Health Protocols
All experts agree on certain fundamentals of human health.
That’s why you’ll always hear about the importance of sleep, movement, nutrition, and stress management, among many others.
Small improvements to any of these core pillars can yield tremendous results.
Plus, focusing your biohacking efforts here helps prevent chronic diseases to begin with.
Let’s explore some of the most important facts you should know to optimize your well-being.
The effects of chronic stress today
Stress isn’t necessarily bad; in fact, it helped shape humanity. It’s one of the things keeping you alive.
However, when you’re continuously exposed to stress for long periods, it becomes dangerous.
So, how do you know if you’re stressed?
The most common symptoms of chronic stress include fatigue, brain fog, and feeling irritable for no reason. It also suppresses your immune system, making it harder to fight or recover from illnesses [R].
Here are some of the top statistics on stress:
- 24% of adults rated their average stress between 8 and 10. This is up 19% from before the pandemic
- 62% of adults said they didn’t talk about their stress to not burden others
- 54% of adults said stress and anxiety were the top reasons they had trouble falling asleep
- 74% of those aged 18-34 and 70% of those aged 35-44 say it’s harder to connect with people today than in the past
- 62% of adults who manage stress by exercising or walking said it’s extremely effective
- Social bonds can protect against stress-related physical and mental illnesses like heart disease and depression, cutting your risk of early death by 50%
- Globally, about 284 million people have an anxiety disorder
- ~200-500 million people worldwide use meditation to fight stress
- 20 minutes spent in nature can significantly reduce stress hormone levels
- Older adults handle stress better than younger people
Long-term activation of your body’s stress response disrupts countless of your biochemical processes.
Causing inflammation and impairing your immunity and cellular health. Eventually, this leads to issues like heart disease, weight gain, faster aging, and many more.
But you have plenty of options to improve your relationship with stress.
First, identify the causes of your stress. Then, you can slowly address each one.
You may not know that social support and strong relationships massively alleviate stress. If possible, reach out to family or friends.
Research shows that mindfulness meditation and similar relaxation techniques are effective against stress and anxiety as well [R].
Aside from those two, you have many options to biohack your way to lower stress long term.
Sources: American Psychological Association, APA PsycArticles, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Our World in Data, DisturbMeNot, Frontiers of Psychology
How poor sleep destroys human health (& how you can optimize your sleep)
Modern sleepers face a wide range of new challenges. Challenges previous generations didn’t.
For example, the rapid growth of technology (in its many forms), presents all kinds of issues.
Blue light emissions from your devices disrupt melatonin production by tricking your mind into thinking it’s still daytime. This hinders your body’s natural process of winding down, preparing for sleep, and staying asleep.
Aside from technology, plenty of other overlooked factors affect your sleep.
Here’s what the latest sleep statistics show:
- People sleeping under 6 hours a night are 27% more likely to develop atherosclerosis, a condition that develops when plaque builds up in your arteries
- Those with inadequate sleep are 2.5 times more likely to have frequent mental distress
- ~50-70 million Americans experience ongoing sleep disorders
- About 57% of men, 40% of women, and 27% of children snore in the USA
- 46% of respondents reported making diet changes in order to sleep better or fall asleep faster
- 56% of adults have consumed at least one sleep aid with 49% using melatonin, the most popular sleep aid
- 44% of respondents used sleep aids. Those who didn’t had the highest rates of being satisfied with their sleep quality
- 88% of melatonin products are inaccurately labeled with some containing 347% more melatonin per dose than listed on the label
- Individuals using red light therapy or that get natural light exposure earlier in the day report better sleep quality
Your body recovers, repairs, and regenerates while sleeping. Short-changing your needs causes major problems immediately and over the long term.
You can use modalities like red light panels or even just fix your nighttime routines to promote better sleep.
I’ve compiled a list of effective strategies to enhance sleep duration and quality.
Sources: Journal of American College of Cardiology, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Merck Manuals, JAMA Network, NHLBI, SingleCare, Frontiers of Psychology
The effects of unhealthy diets & common diet mistakes
As food quality and nutrient levels continue to decline, what you choose to consume becomes even more important.
Produce today has a mere fraction of the vitamin, mineral, and beneficial phytochemical content it had just a century ago.
Diet problems continue to worsen.
The nutrition statistics today show that something needs to change:
- 42% of US adults and 20% of young people (aged 2-19 years) are obese
- Up to 70-75% of adults consume more than 10% saturated fat
- There is a 32% higher risk of death associated with the lowest carbohydrate intakes
- 10% of people attempt a diet without a program or exercise
- 82% of consumers make decisions based on flavor
- 95% of dieters who completely eliminate one food/food group, fully regain their lost weight
- During a diet, your calorie intake can fluctuate by 20-30% which is why the brain gets mixed signals about your appetite
- Americans consume 100 grams of sugar daily, despite the recommended allowance of 45 grams for men and 30 for women
- Average daily glucose levels in America spike to about 108-110mg/dL during Christmas & Thanksgiving
- $18 billion in healthcare costs could be saved annually by reducing sodium intake to the daily recommended level of 2,300 mg
- Even just an extra 100 calories more each day after dieting can result in substantial weight gain
Fats, specifically saturated fats, have long been considered the public villain of healthy diets. Public concern over sugar and sodium now top sugar.
But sodium isn’t the same as salt. In fact, as the book The Salt Fix clearly demonstrates, inadequate salt intake is often more dangerous than excess. It comes down to salt quality and the level of refinement.
I suggest using only clean, high-quality salts.
As those stats show, fad diets promising quick fat loss are detrimental to your overall health. You may lose weight quickly, but you regain it (and sometimes more) quickly after stopping the diet.
The better approach?
Use the biohacker’s guide to rapid and sustained life-long fat loss.
Sources: Dietary Guidelines for Americans, Hopkins Medicine, Science Daily, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Food Insight, Psychology Today, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Nutrisense
The State of Biohacking Today
Biohacking gives you a roadmap to addressing your health concerns and gathering the data to prove your progress.
The booming market of vitamins and supplements has led to increased research and development. Some of the most innovative categories include cognitive-enhancement, weight loss, and improved athletic performance and recovery.
Plus, thanks to the boom in AI and technology, you now have more tools at your disposal to monitor your health and well-being.
Smartwatches, for instance, allow you to track your sleep patterns, count your steps, and more.
From dieting and stress relief to improving cognitive function, you now have opportunities to biohack every day. Without pouring millions into a daily routine.
These latest biohacking statistics show high-impact changes you can make to transform your health.
Improving your diet, nutrition, & hydration
Diet is foundational to optimal health.
Food choice is one of the decisions you make multiple times per day, and it has both short-term immediate effects, and long-term influence on your health.
Eating the right food fuels your body, enhances brainpower, boosts performance, improves beauty and skin, optimizes your immune system, and a lot more.
Making what you consume one of the great opportunities to improve your health.
Recent statistics shed light on dietary & nutritional habits:
- Only 7% of Americans meet the recommended fiber intake values. That’s 5% of men and 9% of women
- 10-35% of calories should come from protein. The average intake for men is 16% and 15% for women
- 76% of Americans consider if the food is processed before purchasing the product
- Maintaining weight loss for 2 consecutive years decreases weight re-gain odds by 50%
- A global survey revealed that 41.8% of participants reported intermittent fasting reduced their hunger
- Surveyed Outliyr biohackers show increasing interest in clean eating, with views to an article on grass-fed meat growing dramatically over the previous year
- 17% to 28% of older adults in the US are chronically dehydrated
- Your body has lost 1% of its total water by the time you feel thirsty
- A 1% drop in hydration may lead to a 12% drop in work productivity
In terms of macros, carb restriction has trended. But research highlights a link between extremely low carbohydrate intake and higher mortality rates.
Protein has grown into the most loved macro-nutrient, as getting enough leads to weight loss (feeling full), muscle gain, healthy organ function, and feeling vital.
Most people don’t get enough, so I recommend supplementing grass-fed whey protein as a clean and healthy source.
Although often overlooked, fiber (a subset of carbohydrates) has important roles in the human diet too.
Check out my guide to biohacking diet to find your best sources of fiber and discover the fundamentals of biohacking your nutrition.
Think about nutrition and you probably imagine health foods. A large part of it, however, is getting enough water. Clean, high-quality water.
Experts generally recommend filtering your water with a reverse osmosis or distillation system (I use this one). Then, remineralize it with a pinch of salt.
Aim to consume half your body weight (lbs) in ounces of water. So as a 200lb man, I shoot for about 100 ounces of water daily.
To further upgrade your water, you can use the Outliyr Hydration Recipe, or a powerful substance called molecular hydrogen. Learn the benefits of molecular hydrogen and why you want to consider adding it to your water in my comprehensive guide.
Even with the cleanest diet, you may still lack crucial micro-nutrients.
That’s why vitamins and minerals are among the most popular of all supplements.
Sources: Food Insight, American Society for Nutrition, Mayo Clinic, Science Direct, Adult Dehydration, The Daily MBA, World Resources Institute, VitalityPRO
Essential vitamin & supplement facts
Since the modern diet lacks many essential nutrients, you’ll need to turn to other ways to address your nutritional needs. Among the best and most common is supplementation.
Vitamins are taken to fill nutritional gaps, but there’s also a growing demand for sports nutrition and weight loss supplements. This is fueled by the increasing awareness of the benefits of exercise and the desire for healthier lifestyles.
Let’s check out market statistics on the vitamins and supplements industry:
- Vitamins make up 36% of the US supplement market
- There are more than 29,000 different dietary supplement products available in the US with about 1,000 new products being created every year
- 60% of adults use dietary supplements and 15% use at least 4
- 92% of users agree that dietary supplements are essential for their health
- Americans spend ~25% more on natural supplements than on prescription pharmaceuticals
- ~$2.1 billion is spent each year on weight-loss dietary supplements in pill form
- In a study on semaglutide, 50% of participants lost 15% body weight or more. However, 5.9% of participants stopped use due to side effects
- 1 in 10 medical products in developing countries are falsified or substandard
- Protein powders, amino acids, and creatine are still the most popular sports supplements
- Despite the growth of e-commerce, brick-and-mortar sales dominated market share in 2023
Supplements lack the regulation of pharmaceuticals. News headlines constantly break highlighting the industry’s fraud and deception.
Thanks to the internet, you now have unparalleled access to the potential benefits and drawbacks of supplements.
Use the wealth of resources to make the best decisions before buying a product. Some supplements, for example, interfere with existing medications. That’s why I don’t recommend multivitamins.
Or your genetic profile may respond unfavorably to one form of a nutrient but not another.
Treat supplements like any other substance, and consult your healthcare professional or get the guidance of a well-researched biohacker before experimenting with these ingredients.
Sources: Office of Dietary Supplements, Grand View Research, WHO, National Health Statistics Reports, Zippia, Council for Responsible Nutrition, UAB News
Latest in the longevity & anti-aging supplement industry
A wealthy aging global population with access to the latest technologies has caused the longevity market to boom.
Scientific breakthroughs enable you to understand and potentially slow your biological aging in near real time.
Previously, anti-aging focused on beauty and skin care products.
While that plays a role, real longevity accomplishes far more than removing wrinkles and promoting radiant skin.
Recent statistics show a rise in anti-aging supplements and other longevity products:
- The United Nations predicts a near 2X of the global population aged 65 & above, from 863 million in 2019 to at least 1.7 billion by 2050
- The global market size of longevity & anti-aging supplements is $849.4 million
- Asia Pacific has the largest share, comprising 43.5% of the longevity market. One driving factor is the growing influence of Korean & Japanese skin care products
- Anti-aging supplements in capsule form make up 41.53% of the market
- 67% of surveyed biohackers rated longevity, healthspan, & anti-aging as their top interest
- Podcast episodes about anti-aging in the Mind Body Peak Performance Channel average 31.1% of total channel views
- Collagen peptides are the most popular longevity supplement. Followed by omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, resveratrol, & Coenzyme Q10
With the rapid growth of the market size comes increased investment in research and development. More funding should eventually lead to longer human healthspans.
Increasing interest in prevention-focused health has also driven demand for longevity supplements. Cellular health supplements and therapies continue to gain popularity year after year.
Of course, the longevity industry also has issues.
Follow-up research shows that many of the trendiest supplements and therapeutics just don’t work.
Worse yet, in some cases, they actually do more harm than benefit.
Expect to see more longevity therapies hit the market, and before long, become dangerous fads.
Sources: Grand View Research, MarkNtel, Zion Market Research, Market.US, Outliyr Biohacker Survey
Which biohacking & health wearables are popular today?
You can only optimize that which you can track.
You cannot feel many parameters of health. So, how do you know which factors benefit or harm your unique electromagnetobiochemistry?
Wearables make monitoring your health practical and convenient. Plus, smart trackers provide some accountability, knowing that your days and nights will receive quantitative/qualitative scores.
With technological advances, you gain access to powerful new health metrics. Like heart rate variability, resting heart rate, respiratory rate, body temperature, blood oxygen levels, blood sugar level, and more. Sometimes, in real time.
Here are some of the latest biohacking tech and wearable stats:
- Valued at $61.30 billion in 2022, the global health wearable market is expected to grow at a rate of 14.6% from 2023 to 2030
- Smartwatches make up 47.3% of the global fitness tracker market share
- 30% of middle-income households in the USA used fitness trackers
- 41% of Americans use wearable fitness trackers; others fear data privacy & security issues
- 80+% of wearable users would share their health monitoring data with their doctor
- Weight loss efforts that incorporated fitness trackers resulted in an extra 1800 daily steps taken and 6 minutes more moderate to intense physical activity
- During graded exercise testing, Apple watch accuracy improves as heart rate increases compared to other devices
- When monitoring sleep, Apple watches correctly identify when a person is sleeping 97% of the time
- Portable neurofeedback is growing as an accessible treatment option for conditions such as anxiety, depression, ADHD, and PTSD
- 70% of Americans would wear a fitness tracker for discounted health insurance
- Users report an average electricity cost increase of $1.50 from using their red light panels, 4 times per week at 20-minutes per session
Of course, wearable technology and biohacking devices can do more than track your biological metrics. Some devices help you rapidly build muscle, shift your mental state, train your memory, focus and reaction time, recover from injuries faster, boost your sleep, and more.
Rightfully, many consumers are still cautious about their personal data.
The most glaring concern so far is data breaches. In 2021, about 61 million records from Apple and Fitbit we’re exposed in a wearable device data breach [R].
Genetic testing services notoriously sell your private data to pharmaceutical companies [R].
As the market continues growing, we can expect companies to bolster their security protocols. But if you’re not careful, you may sign away your rights when agreeing to the terms & conditions and other fine print of unscrupulous companies.
Sources: Tech Report, Grand View Research, Spherical Insights, Value Penguin, Lancet Digital Health, JAMA Network, National Center for Biotechnology Information
The rise of cognitive enhancement supplements & nootropics
Nootropics are a special category of substances that safely improve your brain health and function.
Sometimes, they have acute noticeable effects on energy, memory, focus, motivation, creativity, clarity, and stress relief.
For decades, fringe neurohackers and biohackers used them to gain an edge. Whether business, academic, athletic, or otherwise.
They’re often used as off-label Adderall alternatives to improve productivity.
Now, the general public is investing in their brain health and performance too.
Here are some of the cognitive enhancement and nootropic stats you should know:
- With a market size of $3.75 billion in 2022, the nootropics market is forecasted to grow 14.6% from 2023 to 2030
- 69.3% of the nootropic market is products made up of natural ingredients
- 42% of US consumers say they want food and drinks that boost focus
- 78% of US vitamin and supplement users haven’t heard of nootropics
- ~43% of American university students used cognitive enhancers to study and focus
- College students still rely more on illegal drugs than nootropics to improve mental performance
- Biohackers report cognitive enhancement & nootropics as the 2nd highest (of 10 total) interest, according to an Outliyr Survey
Despite what neuroscience professors have long taught, modern science shows that we have tremendous power to influence the health and performance of our brains.
Nootropic substances have emerged as one such answer. Attracting working adults and students alike. Popular nootropic drinks improve each of the markers of brainpower.
They often contain natural ingredients too. You’ll find adaptogens like ashwagandha, rhodiola, and ginseng in most natural nootropics.
Not sure where to start with cognitive enhancement? Check out my article on the beginner’s guide to nootropics. Or, join the Free Outliyr Brain Upgrade mini-course to get started quick and easy.
Sources: Grand View Research, Mintel, National Center for Biotechnology Information, Brainy Insights, Future Market Insights
Biohackers sift through vast amounts of information.
Certain prominent influencers, doctors, health professionals, celebrities, and leaders lead the pack.
Ranging from prominent doctors like Dr. Peter Attia, Dr. David Sinclair, and Dr. Andrew Huberman, to biohacking celebrities like Dave Asprey, to tech multi-millionaires like Bryan Johnson.
But you don’t need to spend millions on your health.
Nor do you need to spend all day dissecting the latest scientific journals.
Here are some of the important stats on the biohacking and health optimization industry:
- The biohacking market is expected to grow exponentially from $29.42 billion in 2023 to $36.41 billion in 2024, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.7%
- 58.5% of US adults use the internet to check health & medical information
- 89% of Americans believe influencers contribute to health misinformation and 76% fact-check influencer endorsements
- The annual routine cost of top biohackers ranges from $1,200 – $5,000 on the low end, up to $100k – $2 million
- The r/Biohackers Reddit community grew 9.5X in about 4 years, from 15,000 subscribers in January 2020 to 143,000 in December 2023
- Top biohacking YouTube Channels average 12.1 million views across different videos per month
- Popular biohacking groups on Facebook have an average of 10.9k members
- The X (Twitter) biohacking community prefers safer lifestyle biohacking over the more extreme versions like DIY biology self-experimentation
The growth of biohacking content matches the overall industry growth.
This hopefully ends the biohacking echo chamber, by infusing it with new ideas and perspectives.
Ultimately bringing us closer to the most complete depiction of the truth (science).
More information can also cause confusion and overwhelm.
I love to see that over 70% of Americans fact-check product endorsements. Where they check those “facts”, however, is another story.
Over the coming years, I foresee biohacking communities continuing to grow quickly as people generally care most about real-world results over blindly trusting the results of some in-vitro petri dish studies.
Sources: Grand View Research, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CharityRx, TABOO‒TRANSGRESSION‒TRANSCENDENCE in Art & Science 2018
What Do These Biohacking Stats Mean For You?
As you can see from all these statistics, health optimization has become both more complicated and more necessary than ever before.
Armed with this knowledge, you can make better decisions to help nudge your wellness in the right direction.
Surely, you’ve heard about the fundamentals of health and wellness.
Now that you’ve read some of the key facts behind each, what will you improve? Or, if you come across an interesting stat, drop a comment below and let me know.
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