The Ultimate Human with Gary Brecka
156. 3 Biohacks Every Parent Must Know to Optimize Their Child’s Health
10 Apr 2025
Chapter 1: What is biohacking and how can it benefit children?
Did you know that children, even toddlers, can benefit from the same cutting-edge biohacks that are transforming adult health and longevity? These seemingly small changes can completely transform a child's energy, even their cognitive development and their future health outcomes.
We're diving into an often overlooked but vitally important topic, biohacking for your kids and how to go about doing so. No, this isn't about putting your five-year-old in a cold plunge every morning. It's about removing obstacles, whether they be synthetic, chemicals, inflammatory foods, poor sleep, or even digital overload.
It's about understanding the biology of childhood and applying science-backed principles to give them the healthiest start to life. Childhood is a period of explosive growth in both brain and body, and the nutrients a child consumes during these early years directly shapes their future cognitive ability. Now, here's an area many parents overlook.
Did you know that children, yes, even toddlers, can benefit from the same cutting-edge biohacks that are transforming adult health and longevity? From sleep optimization to gut health, sun exposure to screen time habits, these seemingly small changes can completely transform a child's energy, their behavior, even their cognitive development and their future health outcomes.
Welcome back to the Ultimate Human Podcast. I'm your host, human biologist and founder of the Ultimate Human, Gary Brekka, and today we're diving into an often overlooked but vitally important topic, biohacking for your kids and how to go about doing so. No, this isn't about putting your five-year-old in a cold plunge every morning.
It's about understanding the biology of childhood, how their brains grow and how their little hormones develop, how their immune systems mature, and applying science-backed principles to give them the healthiest start to life. This episode is for parents, soon-to-be parents, teachers, and anyone who cares about raising the next generation of ultimate humans. So let's dive in.
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Chapter 2: Why is childhood nutrition crucial for long-term health?
Let's start with the foundation of it all, nutrition. You are what you eat and what you eat eats, but kids are literally built from what they eat. Childhood is a period of explosive growth in both brain and body, and the nutrients a child consumes during these early years directly shapes their future cognitive ability.
Chapter 3: Which nutrients are essential for children's brain and immune development?
It shapes their emotional regulation, their immune strength, and even their metabolic function. A 2020 review of nutrients confirms that omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D3, zinc, and magnesium are crucial for neural development and and behavioral regulation in children.
Essential fatty acids like DHA and EPA, which are found in wild-caught fish and cod liver oil, are absolutely critical for synapse formation in the brain and neuroplasticity. Yet most children consume far below the recommended levels. At the same time, we have to be mindful of what we remove.
Additives like red dye 40, high fructose corn syrup, and industrial seed oils are not just empty calories for kids, they're inflammatory agents. Red dye, for instance, has been linked to multiple studies to increase hyperactivity and inattentiveness in children with attention deficit disorder or hyperactivity disorders.
Meanwhile, ultra-processed snacks packed with artificial flavors, emulsifiers, preservatives, these are disruptors to the gut-brain axis. Gut dysbiosis in kids and children has been tied to neurodevelopmental disorders and immune dysregulation.
Chapter 4: What foods and additives should parents avoid for their kids’ health?
Simple interventions like replacing sugary cereals with protein-rich breakfasts, incorporating fermented foods like sauerkraut or kefir, and reducing processed snacks can meaningly improve your kids' stability, their mood, and their emotional state. Hydration is often another overlooked piece. Mild dehydration has been shown to impair cognitive performance and attention in children.
Now let's talk about your sleep. It's not just rest, it's regeneration. A 2023 meta-analysis in Sleep Medicine Reviews found that children exposed to screens within an hour of bedtime had a 98% higher odds of delayed sleep onset and 83% higher odds of shorter total sleep time. The fix? A consistent bedtime routine for your kids.
No screens, one hour before bed, a cool pitch black room, and if needed, a red bulb at night. You could even add in a warm Epsom salt bath and magnesium lotion on the feet for your kids, and you've got a powerful ritual to transform their little nervous system into parasympathetic mode. Let's move on to supplementation.
Modern agricultural practices and indoor lifestyles have made nutrient deficiencies very widespread, especially in children. A landmark study, which was recently published in the Journal of American Medical Association Pediatrics, showed that 61% of US children had inadequate levels of vitamin D3, while magnesium deficiency affected almost 35% of kids globally.
Chapter 5: How does hydration affect a child's cognitive performance?
These nutrients regulate everything from neurotransmitter balance to immune cell signaling. Vitamin D3, paired with K2, supports calcium metabolism. It boosts their immunity and it reduces inflammation. Magnesium is one of the most important light metals in the body and it's essential for over 300 enzymatic reactions which help regulate sleep and they even buffer stress.
Chapter 6: What are the best biohacking practices to improve children’s sleep?
Clean omega-3s from fish oil or algae play a critical role in myelination, which is the covering of their nerves, attention span, and emotional regulation. But be cautious. Many children's supplements are loaded with sugars, artificial sweeteners, and dyes. Choose professional grade products in liquid, powder, or capsule form, maybe even gummy form, depending on your child's age.
So let's talk about movement. Children were born to move, but our culture forces them to sit still for most of the day. In fact, a lot of public school systems have removed physical education entirely from their programming. According to a 2019 study in the Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, only one in
Chapter 7: Why is supplementation important for children and which supplements matter most?
five children globally meets the World Health Organization's recommendation of 60 minutes of physical activity daily. Lack of movement is tied to higher risk of obesity, anxiety, depression, and even reduced academic performance. Encouraging daily outdoor activity, especially in the morning light, helps reset their little circadian rhythm.
It improves their mood and enhances their vitamin D synthesis. Let them go barefoot in the grass. Grounding has been shown to reduce cortisol and help support autonomic nervous system balance. Resistance-based play like climbing, jumping, carrying builds bone density and neuromuscular coordination. Now here's an area many parents overlook, emotional regulation.
Children absolutely experience stress, but they often lack the tools to name, process, or discharge it. Teaching breathwork and mindfulness at an early age can dramatically impact their resilience, reduce their anxiety, and improve their sleep quality.
A randomized clinical trial that was published in Mindfulness in 2020 showed that four weeks of mindful breathing significantly improved emotional regulation and reduced cortisol levels in children aged 8 to 12. So simple techniques like 4-7-8 breathing. Four seconds in, seven second hold, and eight seconds out.
followed by simple guided visualization or even humming, which actually stimulates their vagus nerve. This can quickly shift the child into a calm, parasympathetic state. These practices are especially effective, parents, when we build them into our routines before school, after an emotional outburst, or as part of the bedtime wind-down routine. Next up is their environment.
We often think about food and exercise, but we forget that a child's surroundings, air, water, and household products can have a dramatic effect on their cellular biology. According to the Environmental Working Group, the average newborn has over 200 synthetic chemicals in their umbilical cord blood. including neurotoxins like BPAs, bisphenols, and even flame retardants.
Filtering your home's tap water using a HEPA air purifier, switching to fragrance-free non-toxic cleansers, and ditching plastic containers whenever possible are all effective ways to reduce the toxic burden on our little ones. Even small swaps like replacing plastic sippy cups with stainless steel or avoiding dryer sheets can make a big difference over time.
Every reduction in chemical exposure is a step toward lowering the inflammatory load on a developing little body. Finally, let's talk about digital hygiene. The rise of screens has created a silent crisis in childhood development. Excessive screen time is associated with reduced sleep, increased anxiety, impaired attention, and delayed language development.
In fact, a study in JAMA Pediatrics found that preschoolers exposed to more than two hours of screen time daily scored significantly lower on cognitive tests. It's not about eliminating technology entirely. It's about using it intentionally. So let's set some boundaries. No screens an hour before bed. no devices in our bedrooms, and consistent digital detox blocks throughout the week.
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