Hack It: Health and Fitness

Medication-free depression treatment - that’s the promise of the Flow Neuroscience headset.  With increasing numbers of people being prescribed antidepressants - dealing with all the side effects they come with - Flow’s headset might seem too good to be true. But is it? That’s what I wanted to find out. Daniel Månsson is co-founder of Flow Neuroscience and in this episode he tells us exactly how his company’s over-the-counter, wearable headset works to treat depression. In this episode Daniel tells us: About the science behind transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and its effectiveness What is happening in the brain during depression How the Flow headset stacks up against antidepressants How long the headset can be used and what the side effects are Highlights: (1:18) What is depression? (2:54) What is the Flow headset? (5:55) tDCS versus placebo (8:25) The role of therapy (12:38) tDCS versus antidepressants (18:54) Why isn’t tDCS the gold standard? (20:51) Is it too good to be true? (23:33) How quickly does it work? (26:25) Non-responders (28:19) What types of depression does Flow treat? (30:51) Flow origin story (33:23) Treating anxiety with tDCS? (36:55) A vision of the future Welcome to Hack It: Health and Fitness. Fitness and lifestyle hacks, the latest health tech, diet innovations and more! Meet the creators behind the world’s most exciting health products. Find out how they came up with their ideas and how they could improve your health. From the producer behind New Scientist Weekly. Remember, you don’t need all the latest gadgets and upgrades to be healthy. It’s the fundamentals that matter most. Sleep, nutrition and exercise. I just find all the extra stuff fun too. Before making any decisions on your health, do your own research, question everything and seek out advice from medical professionals and people you can trust.

Have you come across barefoot shoes and wondered how on earth this weird shaped footwear could be better for your feet than normal shoes? There’s plenty of hype, mixed advice and even opposition to barefoot shoes - but what does the science say? Steven Sashen is the founder of barefoot shoe brand Xero. Not only is clued up on all the latest research, he’s also one of the fastest runners in his age group in America and has been teaching physics since he was 14 - so he’s well placed to tell you everything you need to know about barefoot shoes. In this episode Steven tells us: About the biomechanics of the human foot, and why normal shoes make us weaker. How to properly prepare your feet for barefoot shoes, so you can reap all the health benefits and avoid injury. That we’re being fed “propaganda” from ‘normal’ shoe companies. About the mythology of footwear sizing and much more! Highlights: 0:00 Intro 09:32 Do barefoot shoes cause injuries? 17:30 Can you just jump into barefoot shoes? 32:36 Promoting optimal human functioning 44:53 Mythology of footwear sizing 50:42 Sprinting records in barefoot shoes 55:36 The “propaganda” campaign 1:06:21 Are they fashionable though? 1:08:24 Being barefoot and grounding 1:20:20 Why should we trust Steven? 1:34:47 Changing the world Welcome to Hack It: Health and Fitness. Fitness and lifestyle hacks, the latest health tech, diet innovations and more! Meet the creators behind the world’s most exciting health products. Find out how they came up with their ideas and how they could improve your health. From the producer behind New Scientist Weekly. Remember, you don’t need all the latest gadgets and upgrades to be healthy. It’s the fundamentals that matter most. Sleep, nutrition and exercise. I just find all the extra stuff fun too. Before making any decisions on your health, do your own research, question everything and seek out advice from people you can trust.

A chance encounter with his daughter’s beanie baby Pugsley led to an invention that went on to sweep the globe. Keith Zivalich is the man who gave weighted blankets to the world, after stumbling upon the idea in 1997. Starting as an aid for people with disabilities, weighted blankets are now used for everything from helping people ease anxiety and pain, get better sleep and even relieve symptoms of depression. Discover the origin story of weighted blankets and how they might help you. In this episode Keith tells us: About the many challenges he faced bringing his idea of a weighted blanket to life What type of person benefits most from using a weighted blanket What to do if you’re worried about getting too hot using a weighted blanket What insides the blankets and how they’re made Highlights: (1:23) Pugsley the beanie baby (5:31) The first ever weighted blanket (10:10) The science of deep pressure stimulation (13:15) A competitor emerges (21:14) Health benefits of the weighted blanket (28:28) What goes inside a weighted blanket? (34:31) Is it ever dangerous to use a weight blanket? (38:21) Is heat ever a problem? (39:44) What’s the recommended dose? Welcome to Hack It: Health and Fitness. Fitness and lifestyle hacks, the latest health tech, diet innovations and more! Meet the creators behind the world’s most exciting health products. Find out how they came up with their ideas and how they could improve your health. From the producer behind New Scientist Weekly. Remember, you don’t need all the latest gadgets and upgrades to be healthy. It’s the fundamentals that matter most. Sleep, nutrition and exercise. I just find all the extra stuff fun too. Before making any decisions on your health, do your own research, question everything and seek out advice from people you can trust.

Alex Higham is the founder of “ridiculously healthy coffee” Exhale - and it goes through a lot to make that claim. 9 different tests at independent laboratories across Europe go into Exhale's quest to create coffee that is super high in polyphenols and antioxidants and free of mould toxins and pesticides. But why does Exhale go to such great lengths? In this episode Alex tells us: The difference between Exhale and your standard supermarket beans The epic journey that led to the creation of Exhale Why he believes it’s important to lab test his coffee Whether it’s better to keep your coffee in the cupboard, fridge or freezer Highlights: (2:22) What goes into creating the coffee with all those healthy compounds? (06:09) How pests create health benefits (10:12) How healthy coffee impacts the health of the nation (14:53) Continuing the story of Exhale’s origins (16:51) Is instant coffee even a bit healthy? (18:20) Why there’s mould in our coffee (25:54) Why what we know about caffeine is wrong (32:19) Storing coffee: Cupboard, fridge or freezer? (40:06) Is decaf just as healthy? (45:35) Busting a coffee myth Welcome to Hack It: Health and Fitness. Fitness and lifestyle hacks, the latest health tech, diet innovations and more! Meet the creators behind the world’s most exciting health products. Find out how they came up with their ideas and how they could improve your health. From the producer behind New Scientist Weekly. Remember, you don’t need all the latest gadgets and upgrades to be healthy. It’s the fundamentals that matter most. Sleep, nutrition and exercise. I just find all the extra stuff fun too. Before making any decisions on your health, do your own research, question everything and seek out advice from people you can trust.