Biohacking: Brazil launches kombucha that can combat insomnia

Brazilian biotechnology startup MelTech is opening the year 2023 with the launch of Elixir do Sono, a drink made from extracts of Brazilian herbs that can combat insomnia.

Extracts based on three plants native to caatinga and cerrado, which can improve sleep quality, are mixed in a kombucha so it can be stored for up to 12 months without the need for preservatives. verified

The company’s founder and partner, Fernanda Matias, is one of the brains behind innovation. “You take it and within half an hour you start yawning,” she says. To him, the idea ran counter to the core of the biological attack movement.

Most of the experiments by this community are focused on improving performance and productivity. But Matias realized there was room for a product to help slow the body down.

With a lab at home, he began searching the Brazilian vegetation for chemical compounds that could solve an increasingly common problem these days, insomnia.

National product developed from biohack perspective

During 2021, the product was evaluated within a selected consumer group. Matias says the product testing phases were successful. There were two: the first to test dosages, the second to evaluate effects.

“We even managed to get a patient off Zolpidem,” he says. After 20 days, Fernanda reported that the volunteer did not need the potion every day. To him, this is strong evidence that the drink helps regulate the circadian cycle of sleep and attention.

However, the biohacker points out that each case is unique and that those who use drugs should reduce the doses little by little under medical supervision.

MelTech is a company specializing in the production of fermented beverages made from teas, kombuchas. As a probiotic, this product has the ability to regenerate the intestinal flora, recolonize the body and restore healthy yeast. Its benefits range from neurotransmitters to the body’s inflammatory mechanism.

All formulations of the company are vegan and use no preservatives. Matias says he has been interested in introducing healthy and natural products to the market since the beginning of 2009.

The formulations used in the products have been developed and patented based on home experiments carried out by the scientist himself. He says that initially the product is unstable, the bottle ferments and bursts and has a short shelf life.

It was then that the biohacker began to conduct experiments in his home laboratory. He was able to develop a safe and efficient process for kombucha by changing the way yeast is grown.

MelTech has two other brands on the market: Yra, mead made with black honey from the region, and Cajuíra, a cashew syrup made by reusing harvest scraps.

Matias admits that he entered the market late, but says that as a researcher and based on his experience in biohacking, he has a distinction with respect to competitors who have no control over the production or evaluation of the microbiota.

Implants don’t just live for biohackers

In addition to being a biohacker and entrepreneur, Fernanda Matias holds a PhD in biotechnology from USP and is a professor at the Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido. Experimenting is not a problem for him, it requires awareness and responsibility.

Thanks to his education, he remembers that it was always natural to carry microorganisms everywhere – Petri dishes were always available, even in the refrigerator at home.

Fernanda says she sees two aspects of biohacking. The first is about bringing scientific research inside. Second, it is a way of looking for alternatives that improve our body’s performance.

When Fernanda began making kombucha for her own consumption, she realized in her home laboratory that Brazilian biodiversity could contribute to the beverage’s probiotic and medicinal properties.

“I’ve always been in love with our flora. We have a huge capacity to offer new treatments,” he says. Now he is researching new molecules that target Alzheimer’s prevention and treatment. “We need to have these plants and this knowledge to strengthen the nation.”