For some people, being the healthiest version of themselves requires more than an annual physical, eating nutritious food or weekly workouts. Recently, an assortment of Calgary organizations have popped up offering a type of one-stop shop of health and wellness services focused on longevity and health optimization (a.k.a., “biohacking” your health). These organizations promote alternative therapies and high-tech devices that you might not use or easily find to complement the fundamentals of health like hydration, stress reduction, sleep and movement.
Immediate gratification from an IV-therapy injection, or having someone give you personalized recommendations based on genetic testing or trackable data, is appealing. And accessing a variety of health modalities under one roof can also be a significant stress reducer.
Feeling better today bodes well for a healthier tomorrow. And some think a healthier tomorrow could help you have more “tomorrows.”
Here are some local organizations focused on hacking your health.
AEON Future Health
Look to Aeon Future Health for the latest tech-informed therapies and treatments. According to its website, Aeon’s mission is “to measurably reverse your biological clock.”
Programs at Aeon focus on longevity, and are directed by Aeon’s staff of doctors, nurses, fitness coaches, a nutrition coach and a registered dietitian. AI-powered technology is integrated throughout the facility. Patients begin with an intake assessment that includes 3-D body scans, lab work, naturopathic consultations, strength-and-fitness testing and a physician-led overview.
Aeon uses the assessment results to create a personalized health plan. The plan includes nutritional guidance, lifestyle adjustments, supplement and medication recommendations, hormone therapy, and a timeline of when patients can expect to reach their goals.
The fitness area’s flagship AI-driven Adaptive Resistance Exercise (ARX) machine adjusts weight to match your body’s push-and-pull capacities, allowing for safe and controlled maximum effort. CAROL (Cardiovascular Optimization Logic) is an AI-powered stationary bike that uses algorithms and personalized resistance to achieve an intense workout in only eight minutes.
Aeon’s recovery services include infrared saunas; lymphatic drainage with compression technology; and NuCalm, a sound-wave system that uses beats to ease the brain into a meditative state.
IV therapy is also available, and can be specifically tailored to patients from DNA testing provided at Aeon. Referrals for iron infusions are accepted at Aeon, too. Aeon’s longevity-specific IV includes nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), a supplement that supports DNA repair and energy production on a cellular level, which is thought to help improve lifespan.
“Our focus is on helping patients feel better today, which will then help support them in feeling better in the future,” says Dr. Jonathan Bastian, medical director at Aeon. “Anti-aging is, at its core function, health optimization.”
Cost: Health assessment, $1,365, plus additional costs associated with labs if required.
Telus Precision Health
Located in the Telus Sky building, Telus Precision Health prioritizes proactive and personalized health insights. Through assessments, tests and results tracking, Telus Precision Health shows its clients how their bodies change over time and how to prevent future potential risks.
Three assessment packages are available: Heart Health which targets lifestyle and genetic factors affecting cardiovascular wellness; Performance focuses on optimizing athletic capacity and physique; and Longevity provides actionable insights to help support long-term health. Each package includes rental of an Oura ring (a wearable device that tracks fitness, stress and sleep); a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan that analyzes muscle mass, body-fat percentage and bone density; and blood and urine analysis. Patients also receive a mental wellness screening, a results review, a personalized action plan and access to a dashboard to track it all.
While all packages include proactive genetic screening, the scope of risk assessment in the Longevity package is more extensive, helping patients detect risks for hundreds of health conditions. Longevity also offers full-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), genetic screening to measure risk for inheritable cancers and other issues, and a 3-D “Digital Twin” replica of the patient’s body, muscles and tissue.
These advanced screening and personalized insights could mean earlier intervention via lifestyle changes. And, while the assessments are not diagnostic (and Telus Precision Health doesn’t offer treatments), the teams made up of physicians, dieticians, kinesiologists and nurse-practitioners help empower patients with data-driven care and lifestyle recommendations to optimize their health.
Cost: Heart Health, $2,695; Performance, $2,695; Longevity, $4,995.
telus.com/en/health/care-centres/corporate-care/precision-health
The Longevity Lab
For thousands of years, naturopathic care has emphasized preventative health, natural medicine and nutritional intervention. The Longevity Lab builds on these traditions by working with a wide range of health specialists, such as nurse-practitioners, psychologists, naturopathic doctors, massage therapists and dietitians.
“[People] are starting families a bit later in life,” says Dr. Tim Warwick, The Longevity Lab’s medical director. “They want to be there for their kids and their grandkids, and they want to maintain their health for as long as possible.”
According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, approximately four in five adults have at least one modifiable risk factor for chronic disease. These include smoking, physical inactivity, unhealthy eating and harmful use of alcohol. The clinic targets these behaviours first.
New clients start with a comprehensive initial visit that addresses lifestyle, diet, sleep, smoking and alcohol consumption. They then receive a tailored plan to address health concerns and maintain their longevity goals. Patients can access in-house services like infrared saunas, IV therapy and acupuncture.
Among the more distinctive offerings is ozone therapy — a more than 150-year-old treatment once used topically on wounded soldiers during the First World War. At the lab, “supercharged” oxygen is administered to clients by injection into tissue or a vein or by insufflation (into a body cavity). Ozone therapy is said to improve circulation, boost oxygen delivery, stimulate cellular-repair mechanisms and strengthen the immune system.
Many Longevity Lab clients struggle with chronic illness, cancer, autoimmunity, diabetes or cardiovascular disease, and the Lab’s testing analyzes bacteria, yeast, fungi and potential parasites in the microbiome via stool samples. Treatment plans include probiotics, herbal medicine and additional nutrients.
Cost: Prices vary based on assessment and services.
Canadian Institute of Sport (CSI) Alberta
For Olympic, Paralympic and professional athletes, the margins of performance are razor-thin — making that extra per cent of optimal health and fitness invaluable. Since 1994, The Canadian Institute of Sport (CSI) Alberta has supported elite athletes with sport-science services. Now, it’s offering that same expertise to the public, broadening its focus to overall health and longevity.
In September 2024, CSI Alberta launched Podium Performance for Professionals (Triple P), a full- or half-day program that adapts high-performance methods to corporate team building to help teams perform at their highest level. Teams take part in fitness testing, mental-performance sessions and nutrition workshops. Olympic and Paralympic athlete appearances are included. Keynote speakers and healthy, catered meals can be added on.
The most popular Triple P package, Foundational Performance, measures aerobic fitness and strength through jump mat, grip strength and spirometry lung-capacity tests. The spirometry tests measure how much air you can expel from your lungs and how quickly you can do it, yielding charts that participants can share with their doctors for diagnostic interpretation.
Helping people connect their objective results to real-world health outcomes is central to the program. Participants learn how their scores relate to overall health and lifespan, and where they rank in comparison to the median health for someone in their age range.
“I think that’s probably the most important correlation for [participants],” says Andrew Smit, exercise physiologist. “They want to know: ‘Am I on track?’”
Cost: Foundational Performance ranges from $1,000 to $1,500 per person.
Precision Tests at Home
BioAro
A Calgary biotechnology company specializing in precision medicine, genomics, AI and blockchain technologies for chronic diseases and mental health. The company offers medical devices, approved by both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Health Canada, for remote/self monitoring of blood pressure and other cardiac parameters. It also offers FDA-approved self-collection testing kits, including whole-genome sequencing, epigenomic and gut microbiome tests. Blood or stool samples are collected at home using the kit, shipped to BioAro, then analyzed. BioAro’s trademarked AI-driven software, PanOmiQ, can perform end-to-end analysis of whole-genome sequencing in under 15 minutes and process the results of multiple data-heavy tests almost immediately.
Data is uploaded to a secure portal within a day or two of the lab receiving the kit. Tests cost $299 to $2,099.
