One could argue that the biohacking sphere has felt tailored more towards men than women. The majority of biohacking tools, technology, and products are geared towards a male audience and most of the major players in the industry are men.
But that’s starting to change. Women are an emerging market in the biohacking space. There are just as many women out there who want to hack their way to maximum human performance, and the biohacking industry is starting to take notice. Every day, more biohacking tools by and for women hit the market while more women take center stage as influencers and innovators in the biohacking world.
Related: A Beginner’s Guide to Biohacking
“I think women inherently feel this world is more in the world of men simply because they see male biohackers exclusively speaking on the subject,” says Alissa Vitti, a women’s hormone and functional nutrition expert, pioneer in female biohacking, and the first (and only) female biohacker to speak at SXSW. “I think it’s important for women to hear from and see women thought leaders in this space not only on their own platforms, but be invited to be part of these more general platforms.”
So who are these females that are leaving their mark on the biohacking space? What are the tools that are making a real difference in helping women hack their way to better performance?
Here are eight biohacking tools by and for women that are changing the landscape.
Related: Download the Bulletproof 30-Day Upgrade to Start Your Biohacking Journey
MyFLO
There are few things that affect women’s health like their menstrual cycle — and Alissa Vitta is on a mission to help women better understand their cycles and use that information to hack their way to maximum performance through The Cycle Syncing® Method.
“I created The Cycle Syncing Method as the ultimate biohack for women in their reproductive years,” says Vitta. “The Cycle Syncing Method shows you what to eat, which exercises to choose, and how to take advantage of brain chemistry shifts for optimal creativity and productivity during each phase of your cycle as your hormones shift.”
After the overwhelmingly positive response, Vitti created the MyFLO app, a biohacking tool that makes menstrual phase self-care even easier to manage for women.
Related: How to Hack Your Menstrual Cycle to Do Everything Better
The MyFLO app tracks your entire cycle and suggests science-backed ways women can feel better, resolve symptoms, and maximize each phase of their cycle. “[With the MyFLO app,] you can track your period, understand why you have any symptom during your cycle, learn how to resolve it naturally to have an optimal hormonal balance, and of course, start syncing your self-care to your cycle,” says Vitti.
The MyFLO app is a complete game-changer for women because it gives them the information they need to proactively deal with the hormonal changes of their cycle — and take control of their reproductive health.
“With so many millions of women struggling with period issues, PMS, PCOS, fibroids, endometriosis, infertility, and reevaluating their choice to take synthetic birth control, they need to learn the essential skills around how to use food, micronutrients and lifestyle change (the basics of biohacking) to optimize and safeguard their endocrine system and hormones,” says Vitti.
Mother Dirt
There are millions of women out there who struggle with skin issues, like redness or sensitivity — and those women are always on the lookout for products that can resolve their issues and give them a radiant, glowing, healthy complexion.
Mother Dirt is changing the way people think about their skin by challenging the widely held idea that all bacteria is, in fact, bad. According to Mother Dirt’s founding member and president Jasmina Aganovic, the skin actually needs certain bacteria in order to thrive — so they’ve created a product line that restores healthy bacteria, treats skin issues, and creates the optimal environment (known as the “skin biome”) for your skin.
Instead of scrubbing away bacteria the skin needs to look and operate at its best, this biohacking line of “bacteria in a bottle” — which includes a cleanser, moisturizer, and facial mist — hacks the skin biome by restoring balance and making the skin is more resilient and better able to resolve issues like sensitivity or redness on its own. The end result? Skin that not only looks good, but actually has the correct balance of bacteria in order to function at its highest level.
Related: Top Anti-Aging Biohacks for Better Skin
Female Fuel
Nootropics (aka smart drugs) are a staple in most biohackers’ daily routines; they increase cognitive performance and maximize brain function for better mood, focus, motivation, and memory.
Female Fuel is a line of nootropics specifically formulated for women, by women. Founded by Coco Bai, a former pharmaceutical executive, and Lauren Zhang, an experienced marketing and branding leader, Female Fuel stacks blend-specific dosages of nootropic compounds to maximize cognitive function in the female brain, allowing women to hack their way to better focus and concentration, increased brain functioning, and all-around better performance.
KNOWHEN
For women struggling to conceive — or women who want to avoid pregnancy — knowing the most and least fertile times throughout the menstrual cycle is crucial. And KNOWHEN has created the most reliable biohacker tool on the market for delivering that information to women and empowering them with the information they need to take control of their fertility.
KNOWHEN is the only FDA-approved saliva ovulation test. It uses a drop of saliva to identify the five most fertile days in a woman’s cycle, letting her know when she’s most likely to get pregnant. The KNOWHEN test also syncs with a fertility monitor app, which allows women to track important information like ovulation cycle and sexual activity.
KNOWHEN empowers women with the information they need to make the right decisions for their reproductive health — and, at $49, it’s also one of the most affordable biohacking tools on the market. KNOWHEN is reusable and women can check their fertility and ovulation cycle every day for years without ever needing to buy a replacement or a refill pack. The amount of time, energy, and money this can save women (when compared to regular ovulation checks at a doctor’s office) is massive.
Related: How to Ditch Hormonal Birth Control and Rebalance Your Hormones
FoundMyFitness
Dr. Rhonda Patrick is biomedical scientist who has spent her entire career studying aging and nutrition — specifically, how micronutrients can combat disease and support longevity.
Over the course of her studies, Patrick became interested in how gene variants called SNPs can affect the way your body absorbs and utilizes micronutrients, and how specific genotypes can affect gene function. So she founded FoundMyFitness, a company which produces genetic reports to analyze SNPs that help people make the most out of their genes by providing targeted nutrition and lifestyle recommendations to optimize human performance and health.
The way FoundMyFitness works is simple: Users upload their genetic data (which they obtain from a DNA-testing service like 23andMe) to the FMP system, where the data gets processed into a report. The whole process takes less than 15 minutes, and users get individualized, actionable strategies for how to hack their way to optimal performance and lower their risk of disease based on their unique genetic makeup.
Related: The Best At-Home DNA Tests to Protect Your Body and Influence Your Genes
HelloMind
HelloMind is an effective hypnosis tool for hacking your way to better mental health.
HelloMind allows users to choose areas where they’re struggling and then offers a results-driven hypnosis program (each program has 10 treatments, with each treatment running about 30 minutes) to help you manage your issue.
Hypnosis guides you into your subconscious to identify and reprogram bad habits or limiting beliefs. There, you regain control of those behaviors and free yourself of anything that might be holding you back from living your fullest and most productive life.
While HelloMind isn’t just for women, there are a number of programs that target issues women traditionally struggle with, like self-esteem and chronic stress.
FitnessGenes
Everyone wants their exercise routines to be as effective as possible. But while a certain workout might be incredibly effective for some people, for others, it falls flat.
Figuring out what exercise plans are most effective can be time-consuming and frustrating — especially for women who are already pressed for time. FitnessGenes is a biohacker tool that helps you find the right workout regimen and diet by analyzing your DNA and providing genetically tailored diet and exercise plans to help make the most out of your fitness and nutrition.
FitnessGenes (which received so many order in its first month in business, it had to temporarily suspend operations in order to meet demand) was co-founded by Dr. Sam Decombel, who gained notoriety when she was disinvited from speaking at an industry conference when the event organizers realized she was pregnant. Since then, Decombel has been speaking out against discrimination in women in science and working towards making the world of science and biohacking a more inclusive space for women.
WellBe
One of the biggest threats to human performance today is chronic stress. But wearable tech WellBe is attempting to alleviate that threat.
WellBe, the “world’s first stress-relieving bracelet,” monitors users’ heart rate and uses an algorithm to identify stress triggers. It then offers personalized mindfulness, meditation, and well-being exercises at strategic intervals throughout the day to help users manage stress responses and stay more calm and centered — no matter what life throws at them.
While stress is by no means a strictly female issue, women are far more likely to report higher levels of stress and to experience both physical and emotional symptoms of stress.[ref url=”http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2010/gender-stress.aspx”] By leveraging biohacker tools like WellBe, women are able to gain a better understanding of the people, places, things, and experiences that trigger a stress response — and get the tools necessary for better managing those responses.
Thanks to the new female-targeted tools flooding the market — and the female voices who are starting to make their mark on the industry — more women than ever are hacking their way to living in a state of high performance. And the more biohacking tools by women and for women, the more this movement will continue to grow.