Biohacking Saved My Life: Davinia Taylor On Sobriety & Health
On The Mend
High Performance
4.9 • 566 Ratings
🗓️ 23 February 2026
⏱️ 40 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week’s guest is Davinia Taylor, who challenges the traditional narrative of addiction and opens up about her journey from shame and self-doubt to embracing recovery on her own terms.
In this episode, Davinia talks candidly about her realisation that addiction isn’t always tied to trauma, and how understanding the biochemical and genetic basis of her struggle, low dopamine, ADHD, and even Viking ancestry, helped remove the shame she once carried. She reframes addiction from a moral failing to a biological reality, offering a powerful shift in perspective.
Davinia also shares the truth about recovery: it’s messy, it’s imperfect, and it doesn’t always follow the rigid rules we’re told to follow. She opens up about the constant negotiation of active addiction and the exhaustion it creates, and the surprising discovery of true energy, not from alcohol, but through biohacking and ketones, which have become her source of fuel to live, not just survive.
Honest, raw, and deeply human, Davinia’s story is about rebuilding beyond perfection and finding peace in being imperfectly present for the people who matter most.
This episode covers the following themes: addiction, shame, self-acceptance, and vulnerability.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Want to know who's coming up next? Hit follow wherever you get your podcast and you'll be the first to find out. |
| 0:06.4 | There is nothing worse than being in addiction. Nothing is worse than that. That is hell. |
| 0:12.9 | The doctor said, you have one more drink to vinya and you'll die. So what did I do? I got myself another doctor. |
| 0:18.5 | So what is biohacking? So you can hack into your biology. Biohacking gave me hope you are in control of your health, nobody else. Hey everybody, welcome back to On the Mend. I'm Matt Willis. And today I've got someone on the podcast who I've followed for years. I feel a bit weird saying that to someone. I know what you mean. I know exactly what you mean. But I've literally followed you on social media for a long time. Dvina Tadha, thank you so much for coming on. I think what makes your story so powerful is how you've completely rebuilt your life. You know, when you think about now you're a best-selling author, a wellness pioneer, and I've read that your biological age is 20 years younger than your actual age. Yeah, I mean, people, they'll look at me and they go, she doesn't look 20. No, I don't look 20. Of course, I don't have like Botox or fillers or anything like that. But my inflammatory markers, because you can just get a test, and it just measures how inflamed you are. |
| 1:13.1 | Is this C-reactive protein? |
| 1:14.3 | Is that but those? |
| 1:14.8 | Yes, yes, yes. |
| 1:26.2 | They do a number of those. And it just gives you a guesmets. It's a bit of fun, but it kind of shows that you're on the right track. I've got like a liver test as well. Right. that's completely clear, which of course it wouldn't have been like 20 years ago. |
| 1:27.3 | And I'm just like smug. |
| 1:27.8 | I'm like, |
| 1:30.1 | it's like where you want to get pulled over by the police. |
| 1:30.6 | Absolutely. |
| 1:27.5 | Please breathalise me. clear, which of course it wouldn't have been like 20 years ago. And I'm just like smug. I'm like, it's like where you want to get pulled over by the police. Absolutely. Please. Please. You know, yeah. And I'm like, there's nothing. You know, you're not interested. So yeah, it's really nice to know my liver's. Actually, the liver is quite an amazing organ, particularly if you are trying to come off alcohol. because it's the one organ that regenerates. Did you know your liver is only ever three years old? |
| 1:47.8 | No. So that is like, that for me, when I first got into recovery from alcohol, and we'll get into that, that was that little, you know, instead of just, oh, forget it, I've ruined everything. Yeah, I'm ruined. You can get better. And that is just fascinating because once you understand the gut, liver, brain connection, you can see why you feel hung over for days after drinking, because the liver is connected to the brain as well as the gut. And it's all those neurotransmitters that make you feel guilt, shame and remorse. But don't worry, your liver can come back. It's fascinating organ. |
| 2:18.1 | That's unbelievable. I didn't know that. I know. Did he have a three years old? That's crazy because I remember obviously when I came out of rehab for the first time, I had all these tests and they were terrible. But I did have some tests not too long ago and everything was looking pretty good. Yeah, of course. And I was like, all right, there we go. Yeah, you're back, And it's great to get a second chance, |
| 2:34.7 | particularly if you've gone through the gates of hell |
| 2:36.1 | and you already feel like, oh, |
| 2:37.3 | well, your brain actually tells me Yeah, of course. All right, there we go. Yeah, you're back. And it's great to get a second chance, |
| 2:34.6 | particularly if you've gone through the gates of hell |
| 2:36.1 | and you already feel like, oh, well, your brain actually tells you, |
| 2:38.8 | just forget it. |
| 2:39.7 | An alcoholic brain also just carry on drinking. |
... |
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