The Ultimate Human with Gary Brecka
149. Kayla Barnes: The Science of Female Biohacking - Gut Health, Toxins, and Menstrual Cycles
Tue, 18 Mar 2025
Most biohacking conversations are dominated by men talking to other men. But they’re missing a critical perspective - female biology requires a completely different approach. In this episode, I’ve had an amazing conversation with Kayla Barnes, a true pioneer in female-focused biohacking, and who’s transforming how women optimize their health. We’ve covered topics on ovarian aging, environmental toxin testing, sleep optimisation, and fertility. The transformation in female biohacking isn’t just about longevity - it’s about optimising fertility, reducing autoimmune risk, and addressing the specific metabolic challenges women face. The female biohacking revolution is just beginning! Bioharvest Oral Probiotic: https://bit.ly/43Q6N6S Join the Ultimate Human VIP community: https://bit.ly/4ai0Xwg Listen to "Longevity Optimization" on all your favorite platforms! Spotify: https://spoti.fi/4ipyesq Apple: https://apple.co/4kAuc2k Connect with Kayla Barnes: Website: https://bit.ly/42bqyVe YouTube:https://bit.ly/4kwItNn Instagram: https://bit.ly/4i9Rt9N TikTok: https://bit.ly/4bDKDqE X.com: https://bit.ly/4bxeWz3 LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/4kxXUVC Thank you to our partners: H2TABS - USE CODE “ULTIMATE10” FOR 10% OFF: https://bit.ly/4hMNdgg BODYHEALTH - USE CODE “ULTIMATE20” FOR 20% OFF: http://bit.ly/4e5IjsV BAJA GOLD - USE CODE "ULTIMATE10" FOR 10% OFF: https://bit.ly/3WSBqUa EIGHT SLEEP - SAVE $350 ON THE POD 4 ULTRA WITH CODE “GARY”: https://bit.ly/3WkLd6E STRENGTH TRAINING EQUIPMENT - THE ULTIMATE HUMAN: https://bit.ly/3zYwtSl COLD LIFE - THE ULTIMATE HUMAN PLUNGE: https://bit.ly/4eULUKp WHOOP - GET 1 FREE MONTH WHEN YOU JOIN!: https://bit.ly/3VQ0nzW MASA CHIPS - GET 20% OFF YOUR FIRST $50+ ORDER: https://bit.ly/40LVY4y VANDY - USE CODE “ULTIMATE20” FOR 20% OFF: https://bit.ly/49Qr7WE PARKER PASTURES - PREMIUM GRASS-FED MEATS: https://bit.ly/4hHcbhc AION - USE CODE “ULTIMATE10” FOR 10% OFF: https://bit.ly/4h6KHAD HAPBEE - FEEL BETTER & PERFORM AT YOUR BEST: https://bit.ly/4a6glfo CARAWAY - USE CODE “ULTIMATE” FOR 10% OFF: https://bit.ly/3Q1VmkC HEALF - GET 10% OFF YOUR ORDER: https://bit.ly/41HJg6S BIOPTIMIZERS - USE CODE “ULTIMATE” FOR 10% OFF: https://bit.ly/4inFfd7 Connect with Gary Brecka: Instagram: https://bit.ly/3RPpnFs YouTube: https://bit.ly/3RPQYX8 TikTok: https://bit.ly/4coJ8fo X.com: https://bit.ly/3Opc8tf Facebook: https://bit.ly/464VA1H Website: https://bit.ly/4eLDbdU Merch: https://bit.ly/4aBpOM1 Newsletter: https://bit.ly/47ejrws Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 02:48 Kayla Barnes’ Biohacking Journey 07:12 Mold Toxicity and Total Toxic Burden (Test) 19:52 Female-Focused Longevity Protocols 23:15 Declining Fertility Rates; Optimising and Extending Fertility 28:53 Nutrition for Fertility and Healthy Pregnancy 32:05 Lowering the Toxic Load 34:11 Affordability of Clean Products 35:27 Sleep Hacks and Kayla’s Sleep Routine 46:13 Kayla’s Morning, Exercise, and Biohacking Routines 51:56 Oral Health Routine (Ozone Oil Pulling, etc.) 57:42 Training with Protein, Not Fasted 1:02:02 Hyperbaric Protocol 1:08:16 PCOS as a Metabolic Disorder 1:09:56 Female Supplementation Basics 1:12:57 Ultimate Guide to Methylene Blue 1:16:49 What does it mean to you to be an “Ultimate Human?” The Ultimate Human with Gary Brecka Podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user’s own risk. The Content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: How did Kayla Barnes start her biohacking journey?
Chapter 2: What are the challenges women face in biohacking?
I was doing some of these four men by men protocols and I was watching my thyroid health decline. I was watching my hormones become imbalanced because I was doing way too much.
Foundational health and the extension of our health span is really found in the basics. It is amazing how well the human body functions when you give it the raw material it needs to do its job.
You don't have to keep it too complicated. It's not just one thing. It's not saying that you're not working out or you're not eating healthy. It could be in your environment as well.
I have a theory that the reason why the majority of autoimmune disease we find in females and not men is because women are so selfless.
We are biologically and physiologically different than men. There's so many different cycles of a woman's life. Premenopause, but then there's perimenopause. When you hit menopause, your risk for all causes of mortality increases substantially. So if we can delay the onset of menopause, then that could be massive for female longevity.
Talk a little bit about what you mean by like female-centric longevity protocols.
The best way to achieve optimal health or optimal fertility is...
Hey guys, welcome back to the Ultimate Human Podcast. I'm your host, Gary Brekka, human biologist, where we go down the road of everything anti-aging, biohacking, longevity, and everything in between. And we've been asked lately, well, actually not just lately, but for a year, to just feed the female audience a little better than we've been feeding them on the podcast.
And I think there are some giant gaps in the biohacking community in general. Lots of us guys out there, ultra woke biohackers talking to other ultra woke biohackers. And so we've been really focusing on our feminine audience. And so today, please welcome to the podcast, Kayla Barns-Lenz.
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Chapter 3: Why is mold toxicity important to address?
Anything that can compress time and do more stuff.
Yeah, exactly. So I have that and then I have a finished sauna outside. So I kind of go between the two. But usually, you know, 20 minutes, 176 to 212, that's what all the studies are based on for all the longevity and cardiovascular benefits. But massively leaning into sauna. I did something called therapeutic plasma exchange.
I love that.
Right after I got.
Did you do that at Next Health?
I did, yeah.
With Dr. Darshan?
Yeah.
Yeah, I love him.
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Chapter 4: How can women optimize their fertility?
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, and it's very significant in women because sarcopenia, osteoporosis. So I do a lot of my strength training days, do a lot of compound lifting, so really loading the bones. And then I measure all this stuff at home too, by the way. So I have a really smart scale where I look at my bone density and my body composition, my fat mass, my muscle mass.
I just did a PR, by the way, on the grip strength. I'm at 100 pounds. Yeah.
Is that the one that you grab?
Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. And there's a direct relationship between, you know, grip strength and longevity. It's a proxy for overall strength. So as women, you know, it's not really talked about for us to measure these things, but I think looking at your lung health through like a spirometer, Your grip strength, knowing what your body composition is, how much muscle do you have?
How much fat do you have? What's your bone density like? Super, super important. So I'll go to the gym and hit one of those metrics that I'm working on. And then I come home. I usually do my biometrics, all the things I just mentioned. On a weekly basis, I do the lung health, look at my sleep. I do blood pressure. I do grip strength. I do body composition, all that stuff at home.
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Chapter 5: What are the key components of Kayla's nutrition for fertility?
And I love that you just said that PCOS is polycystic ovarian syndrome. It's a metabolic disorder. Can you dig into that a little bit? What do you mean by that?
Yeah, I mean, it's interesting because, I mean, women of all sizes and ages can develop PCOS. It's incredibly common at this point, but we see that its roots are really in insulin resistance. So, you know, these diets that are really high in, like, these refined sugars and carbohydrates, like you mentioned, just starting to track.
And then, of course, we add on, like, potentially lack of exercise or these endocrine disruptors, all of these things. You know, it's not just one thing. It's not saying that you're not working out or you're not eating healthy. It could be in your environment as well, going back to why environmental toxin testing could be so important.
But, I mean, we know that people reverse PCOS, so that's really exciting that you can do that. I love, for me, wearing a continuous glucose monitor is really helpful, too, just to make sure that my, in addition to blood labs of insulin and glucose, that you have an at-home, real-time experience of your blood sugar. So I love doing that.
Yeah, that's amazing. I think that, you know, for the women that are listening to this, which lots of women are going to be listening to this, you know, what I love is there's a place to start that's going to be low or no out of pocket costs, which are things you can fix right away. Like, you know, your sleep, your diet.
I don't think that, you know, sunlight grounding and breath work can be overemphasized. I don't think that like timing your circadian clock can be overemphasized. So these are all what I would say are, you know, modifiable lifestyle factors that, you know, should be the first go-tos, you know, before you even invest in expensive equipment and whatnot. I mean, just
Getting yourself back to the basics. In terms of supplementation, what would you say are the go-to female basics?
Yeah, I try to lump my supplements into three sections. So I have my absolute basics. Those are going to be things like magnesium, fish oil, vitamin D. I mean, I keep my vitamin D level around 70. So really important for fertility, but also boosting your immune system.
Breast cancer, women, I mean, a lot of good studies in the 60 to 80 nanogram range.
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