Biohackers - DIY Biology, Nutrigenomics, and Grinding

Official AMA: Optimizing Cortisol & Circadian Rhythms with Dr. Jonathan Moustakis, MD

2026-06-07T11:50:13+00:00

I’m excited to announce our next official AMA with Dr. Jonathan Moustakis, who’ll be answering your questions on cortisol, circadian rhythms, and hormonal health.

Jonathan is a dual-national, award-winning physician who trained in South Africa and did his MBA at Oxford. His background spans clinical practice and public health - including work integrating AI-powered screening systems into frontline care - and he now works at the frontier of continuous, needle-free hormone monitoring via wearable sensors, with a focus on the signals that drive our daily rhythms like cortisol and melatonin.

Cortisol and circadian biology underpin so much of what this community cares about - sleep, stress, recovery, energy, metabolic health - and most of us don’t understand the intricacies of the actual hormonal signals behind them. Getting to ask someone who works on measuring them directly is a rare opportunity.

So bring your questions on cortisol curves, circadian disruption, sleep, burnout, wearables, stress physiology, and hormone sensing. I’m grateful he agreed to do this, and I think r/Biohackers will get a lot out of it!

Disclaimer: Any information shared by Dr. Moustakis does not constitute medical advice and does not create a doctor–patient relationship. This AMA is for educational purposes only, and you should always consult your own physician before making medical decisions.

(If you want to learn more about Dr. Moustakis or his work, check out the company he co-founded Lume Health: https://www.lumehealth.io)

Dr. Jonathan Moustakis, MD

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Weekly Brain Health & Performance Megathread (Peptides & HRT) — June 08, 2026

2026-06-08T14:02:09+00:00

All peptide and HRT-related questions and discussion related to brain health and human performance go here. Standalone posts on either topic will be removed and redirected to this thread.

No peptide sourcing or selling. Websites like finnrick.com and janoshik.com can be helpful for research.

Sort by new to see the latest comments. This thread refreshes every week.

Disclaimer: All content on this sub is for educational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. Any decisions you make are done solely at your own risk and liability. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your health or using experimental interventions.

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Monobenzone for permanent skin whitening - Response to Viral post.

2026-06-10T03:52:35+00:00

Iam posting this to PROTECT Others who my think of trying this:

This guy was using Monobenzone which is EXTREMELY EXTREMELY EXTREMELY harmful!!! Monobenzone permanently destroys melanocytes (the cells that give your skin its color), it strips the body of its natural biological defenses.

-Skin Cancer Risk: Up to a 1,000-Fold Increase
-Accelerated Photoaging: 80% to 90% Faster
-It is very common for skin cancer to develop in their 20s and 30s. (albino populations in high-UV areas, almost 100% of patients showed pre-malignant sun damage by age 20.)

Some more INSANE stats ( they must be viewed nuanced )

98% Mortality Rate: In high-UV regions (like Sub-Saharan Africa), it is estimated that 98% of people completely lacking melanin die before the age of 40.
80% Cause of Death: Of that 98% mortality rate, 80% of those deaths are directly caused by aggressive skin cancers literally eating away at their skin.
100% Pre-Cancer Rate by Age 20: In a clinical study in Nigeria, researchers found that 100% of patients completely lacking melanin had developed either pre-malignant or fully malignant solar skin lesions by the time they turned 20 years old.
100,000% Higher Risk: The risk of developing squamous cell carcinoma (a type of skin cancer that can grow deep and disfigure the body) is up to 1,000 times higher (or 100,000%) than in people with normal pigment.
Distant, Untreatable Disfigurement: With Monobenzone specifically, the drug absorbs into the blood. It has a high statistical chance of permanently destroying pigment in areas of the body where the cream was never even applied, causing irreversible "confetti" spotting that cannot be fixed or covered up.

This guy basically traded his health for societal approval. This is the most harmful thing Ive read here on this subreddit. He will have to use 100% sunprotection for the rest of his life or his health will be decimated.

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I haven't felt the sensation of being "hungry" since I quit eating grains and anything with added sugar. What was that sensation if not hunger?

2026-06-09T18:05:33+00:00

I get odd looks when I mention this to people who haven't dabbled in eliminating foods from your diet that feel like they slow you down.

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How to ACTUALLY lower cortisol? (High cortisol on labs)

2026-06-09T23:31:48+00:00

I’ve been struggling with high cortisol levels for the past 3 years. And actual high cortisol, that’s reflected in blood work and lab work - not just feeling stressed.

But I already do and have been doing the typical things.

I eat a Whole Foods plant based diet, I focus on protein and fiber. I get at least 8 hours of sleep. I do low intensity exercise like Pilates 2-3x a week and I run 1-2x week. I get 5k-10k steps a day. I spend time in the sun. I supplement iron and vit d for my deficiencies. I spend time with friends. I left my high stress job for a low stress job. I take the calm brand magnesium. I don’t drink coffee, only matcha, and always after breakfast.

All of this - and I still have elevated cortisol. (Not Cushing syndrome. )

I can’t find any advice on how to lower it other than what I already do and have been doing for years.

I’m open literally ANYTHING else. Help!

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FDA Expands Sunscreen Options for the First Time in 20 Years

2026-06-09T16:45:37+00:00

Wow. Actually a good thing from this FDA.

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Meditation #1 life hack!

2026-06-09T18:05:57+00:00

my god. its amazing what 10 min of simple quality meditation like closing eyes and paying attention to breath can do for impulse control, focus, cognition, decision making throughout the whole day! Also cured my road rage within a week of 10 min morning practice.

im curious what other types of meditation yall are into

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What's the gold standard for knee and overall joint health and suppleness?

2026-06-09T21:26:04+00:00

What are you all doing to protect those knees and joints? Particularly looking at people who reversed knee issues.

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Has anyone else noticed that brain fog and content consumption seem weirdly connected?

2026-06-10T03:52:33+00:00

I've been experimenting with a lot of the usual biohacker stuff over the past couple of years. Better sleep, more exercise, creatine, magnesium, morning sunlight, less alcohol, better food, all the obvious things. Some changes definitely helped, but there was one thing I wasn't paying attention to at all because I didn't even consider it a health variable.

Information consumption.

A few months ago I got curious and started tracking how much short-form content I was consuming. Not screen time, because I've always thought screen time is a pretty useless metric. An hour spent reading isn't the same as an hour spent rapidly consuming hundreds of unrelated videos. What I tracked was the actual amount of content I was exposing myself to.

The number was honestly ridiculous.

I wasn't sitting on my phone for 10 hours a day or anything like that. From the outside I would've considered myself pretty normal. But when I looked at the amount of reels, shorts, posts, clips, tweets and random pieces of information I was consuming, it was probably somewhere between 500-1000 pieces of content on a typical day.

What surprised me wasn't the number itself. It was how strongly it seemed to correlate with how my brain felt.

On days where I consumed a ton of content, I felt mentally scattered. Reading felt harder. Deep work felt harder. Even conversations felt different. It was like my brain had become accustomed to switching context every few seconds and then got irritated whenever it had to stay focused on one thing.

So I started cutting it back.

No crazy dopamine detox. No deleting every app. I just became more intentional about what entered my brain.

The effect was honestly bigger than I expected. Reading became enjoyable again. My focus improved. I stopped feeling the urge to constantly check my phone during tiny moments of boredom. Even my sleep felt different because my mind wasn't bouncing between a hundred unrelated topics when I got into bed.

What's interesting is that I almost never see this discussed in biohacking circles. We pay attention to what enters our body, but we rarely pay attention to what enters our mind. If someone ate 800 random snacks per day we'd immediately recognize that as a problem. Yet consuming 800 random pieces of information somehow feels normal.

Maybe I'm completely wrong and there's no connection here. But I'm curious whether anyone else has noticed improvements in cognition simply from reducing the amount of information they're consuming rather than changing anything physiological.

(written by me, formatted via ai because my brain was too fried to write it properly 😭)

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I need support from the psyllium husk community

2026-06-09T20:14:33+00:00

TLDR: Did it ever stop working for you?

I used to be one of those infinite-wipe type of guy until I found out about psyllium husk on Reddit. It completely changed my life, as it did for everyone around me. THANK YOU!

I used to go for #2 about 2-3 times per week. I believe I escalated my psyllium consumption quite a lot since the start, and I've been taking about 13g per day for a couple of years now. It's been fantastic. During that time, normality for me became going for #2 pretty much every day, sometimes skipping a day, sometimes going 2-3 times in the same day. Most of the time, no wipe needed (except, for example, after fast food or alcohol nights).

Side question: sometimes I even drop like 2 large pieces, 1 of them being greenish, almost as if it was only psyllium - is it?

Now, all of a sudden, I found myself going for #2 every 3 days or so, with not so much coming out (vs quite a lot for the last couple of years). I've had like 2 extra kg for 2-3 weeks now, which I'm really struggling to lose (normally I can lose 2kg very easily). If I tighten my belly, it hurts a bit, and I'm thinking I'm a bit constipated there.

As far as I can tell, nothing changed in my routine or diet.

Did this ever happen to you? Any thoughts on what could be the reason and how to solve it? Should I increase my consumption for some days and then reduce again? Or should I actually reduce or even stop for a few days? I'd love to hear about your different experiences with psyllium.

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Help: Has anyone successfully resolved eye floaters with supplements or natural ways?

2026-06-09T23:55:01+00:00

I have this floaters in my right eye which is my dominant eye and it has been bugging me for the last year, I've done a dilation and check so far but the eye doctor has said there's nothing to be done on that. No retinal detachment, etc., and just the vitreous jelly as I age. Harmless and very annoying. I'm 34 years old only. Male.

It's not growing, but it's always there and it's an issue when i play tennis especially with bright contrast backgrounds.

I'm wondering if anyone successfully resolved eye floaters with supplements?

There are a few supplements that have been mentioned to have varying levels of success.

The eye floater for me is in my left eye and its supposed to be a harmless but annoying.

Has anyone either completely resolved or majorly reduced their eye floaters? Anything else beyond this list below?

Lutein
zeaxanthin
a combo of both - i saw one from Pure Encapsulations
proteolytic enzymes and Agmatine
eye supps in general

Not sure if there are ways that people know to have eye drops or anything hat has capability to work in the eye area and maybe digest bits of jelly floating around?

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Help on energy levels?

2026-06-09T22:46:39+00:00

I’m tired. I’m burnt out. I feel my body crumbling from under me. I work a very taxing job at night where I’m on my feet and having to talk to people the whole time. I’m a mom. I’m a gym rat. I’m physically beat down.

I don’t take any pres cause I can’t handle the crash and lightheadedness. Mostly I just don’t have the time to crash and I can’t stop yawning in the gym 🤦🏽‍♀️ People are coming up to me telling me to wake up. I’m looking into NAD+ and MOTS C for better energy and endurance. I’d also love if it could help me lift a little heavier. Any guidance on which to use? Or if there’s something out there to help.

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Anything out there to help with foot pain due to heel spur and plantar fasciitis???

2026-06-10T04:03:19+00:00

Anything out there to help with foot pain due to heel spur and plantar fasciitis???

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Need stack for vivid dreams!

2026-06-10T02:23:19+00:00

Guys what supps can you recommend to induce crazy vivid dreams?

I'm all ears!!

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EMS/TENS Unit

2026-06-10T03:18:56+00:00

Anyone out there use an EMS/TENS unit (Electrical Muscle Stimulation/Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation)? I have been using one for a couple years for slight muscle pulls in my back/shoulders/neck, and have found the results to be impressive.

I experimented a year or so ago with using it for muscle stimulation and post workout recovery but didn’t really take it seriously. I am thinking about trying again but with more consistency and results logging.

Wondering if anyone else has done this and what your experience was.

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Recommendations for pregnancy-safe meniscus healing

2026-06-10T02:22:27+00:00

I believe my meniscus has been tearing over the past ten years of trail running and somehow sitting on the ground with my son was the straw that broke the camel's back. My knee locked in the bent position. I unlocked once on my own, it locked again while I was sleeping, the PT provided assistance unlocking it again, now I'm in a knee brace.

I'm searching for ways to promote healing as I prepare for birth, as that is a physical endurance feat of its own. I'm early in my first trimester. Also this means I can't try any supplements with unknown effects on my baby.

I currently take daily collagen and a high quality prenatal with vitamin C, as well as a separate fish oil supplement. I'm eating high protein low sugar. I make and consume a lot of bone broth and high quality meat. I start regular PT in 2 weeks to help strengthen my muscles around my knee.

Is there anything else I can do to promote healing? I can't get an MRI so I don't know the severity, but it was enough to lock my knee. I would prefer to never get surgery, but even if that was the only option it can't happen for quite some time.

I don't have any pain besides when my knee was locked. Now that I'm in a brace I don't have any pain at all. Minimal swelling, even while locked.

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Do I need to supplement K2 with D3 if I already eat eggs?

2026-06-10T01:32:17+00:00

So I take 5000 IU Vitamin D per day but I don’t take K2 with it as I’ve found the D3+K2 supps to be way more expensive than D3 alone.

Although I’ve heard K2 is important to ensure the D3 is absorbed properly, I’ve also heard that if I eat 3-4 eggs a day I will consume enough K2 to balance the D3 making extra supplementation an unnecessary cost. Should I invest in a D3+K2 supp or is D3 + eggs enough?

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What are the ideal female hormone levels to shoot for?

2026-06-09T17:00:49+00:00

Im asking for my wife. we are both mid-late 40’s. I’m well aware of all things male for many years now, and I finally pulled the TRT trigger for myself a couple weeks ago (not feeling much yet).

but my wife has suffered for years with very irregular periods, hard to control weight, poos sleep etc. at one point she was on “the mini pill” thinking it would help but it didn’t.

Her normal physician of course runs the most basic of tests and says she’s fine. but how do we get her “optimized”?

is it really just going to be “pay another $100 a month at a clinic” to get someone to take her seriously?

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Defective mitophagy upstream of amyloid: a new study tests the metabolic hypothesis of Alzheimer's disease

2026-06-09T15:24:30+00:00

Interesting take on the amyloid hypothesis of Alzheimers vs a metabolic framing. The Alzheimer's research I find most compelling lately isn't about amyloid clearance. I've been interested in the upstream drivers of amyloid. Specifically, the mitochondrial dysfunction that drives neuronal death and inflammation.

This is an interesting read because it points to a paper that dissects how defective mitophagy precedes plaque formation. They tried to restore neuron function by restoring mitophagy through urolithin A and an antioxidant EGCG. I think there are a number of ways to increase mitophagy that do not involve taking compounds, but the thing that was interesting was that when they restored mitophagy through these compounds, the results improved every level of the disease cascade (neuroinflammation, synaptic health, energy output, and most importantly amyloid), implicating mitochondrial dysfunction and defective mitophagy specifically as an upstream driver of the pathology and the plaque formation.

The thing to be most skeptical about is that it is a mouse study. Mechanistically, it makes sense. Anyone who is familiar with the field knows that there is a huge translational gap between mouse Alzheimer's models and human disease pathology, which has burned the field before. What is worth noting is that this study used a more realistic mouse model than most, one that lets human amyloid accumulate gradually under normal regulatory control rather than through genetic overexpression of familial mutations. Still a mouse, but a more honest one.

Anyone utilizing mitophagy stimulating strategies for cognitive health?

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My doctor says normal…

2026-06-09T12:30:16+00:00

Im 31, lift weights with diminishing returns. 6’4 225lb. Some body-fat but nothing excessive. 5-7.5g of creatine a day. Supplementing magnesium for what its worth…
I sleep well enough, and my (NP) says its in range, nothing to worry about… not even followup tests for shbg or anything else. 8.9pg/ml free T feels abysmal.

Ive called and asked for a followup visit to address next steps… while I wait, what should I propose to my medical staff.
I seem to be driving the boat in this relationship.
I had to ask for the bloodwork myself after describing my lethargy.

+ Edit to address additional driver symptoms:

Lingering muscle fatigue and aches despite appropriate stretching and recovery protocols.
Beyond expected DOMS.

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Looking into comprehensive blood tests need advice!

2026-06-10T00:23:23+00:00

I’ve been looking into goodlabs, funtionhealth and healthieone.
Price isn’t too much of a concern, my biggest concern is I HATE drawing blood so healthie one seems very appealing due to the fact it only requires 2 vials of blood. I can’t seem to find much info about them online though. Is there anyone that can attest to healthie ones service/legitimacy?

Is there also any other companies that do a in depth test without needing to draw a lot of blood?

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Researchers have published a proof-of-concept study demonstrating that injectable semaglutide may offer meaningful reproductive benefits for women with polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome, (PMOS) formerly known as PCOS

2026-06-10T02:31:51+00:00

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How do I start building insulin sensitivity, if, right now, it's bad enough that I start getting headaches after "fasting" for, like, 8 hours?

2026-06-10T01:58:14+00:00

Do I just increase the lengths of time I don't eat, gradually, or does this require some kind of different intervention?

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Scientists pinpoint an overlooked stretch of DNA linked to the main features of autism

2026-06-09T19:35:37+00:00

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joint issue stack

2026-06-09T23:07:12+00:00

What do you recommend for a 23-year-old who's had 3 knee surgeries and deals with knee pain on a regular basis? I've had 2 MPFL reconstructions due to repetitive patellar dislocations, plus a 3rd surgery later to clean up loose cartilage. I have a cadaver ligament in each knee

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