Sleep and Wakefulness * Sleep and wakefulness are governed by two main forces: chemical and circadian. * The chemical force is adenosine, which builds up the longer we are awake, creating a sleep drive. Transcript: Andrew Huberman It turns out that’s governed by two forces. The first force is a chemical force. It’s called adenosine. Adenosine is a molecule in our nervous system and body that builds up the longer we are awake. So if you’ve just slept for eight or nine or 10 really deep restful hours, adenosine is going to be very low in your brain and body.

Sleep and Wakefulness - Sleep and wakefulness are governed by two main forces: chemical and circadian. - Adenosine, a chemical force, builds up in the nervous system the longer we are awake, creating a sleep drive. Transcript: Andrew Huberman It turns out that’s governed by two forces. The first force is a chemical force. It’s called adenosine. Adenosine is a molecule in our nervous system and body that builds up the longer we are awake. So if you’ve just slept for eight

Adenosine & Sleep - Adenosine is a molecule that builds up in the nervous system and body the longer we are awake, creating a sleep drive. - Higher adenosine levels after being awake for extended periods increase sleepiness. Transcript: Andrew Huberman It’s called adenosine. Adenosine is a molecule in our nervous system and body that builds up the longer we are awake. So if you’ve just slept for eight or nine or 10 really deep restful hours, adenosine is going to be very low in your brain and body. If however you’ve been awake for 10, 15 or more hours, adenosine levels are going to be much higher. Adenosine creates

A “circadian force,” or our internal biological clock, also influences sleep and wakefulness, primarily driven by light exposure. Transcript: Andrew Huberman Why is that? The reason that is, is because there’s a second force, which is governing when you sleep and when you’re awake. And that force is a so-called circadian force. Circadian means about a day or about 24 hours. And inside all of us is a clock that exists in your brain and my brain and the brain of every animal that we’re aware of that determines when we want to be sleepy and when we want to be awake. That block of sleep and when it falls within each 24-hour cycle is governed by a number of different things. But the most powerful thing that’s governing when you want to be asleep and when you want to be awake is light.

Caffeine and Adenosine - Caffeine makes you feel more alert by acting as an adenosine antagonist, blocking the sleepiness receptor. - When caffeine wears off, adenosine binds to the receptor, often with greater affinity, leading to a feeling of tiredness or a “crash.” Transcript: Andrew Huberman A sort of sleep drive or a sleep hunger. And a good way to remember this and think about adenosine is to think about caffeine. Caffeine for most people wakes them up. It makes them feel more alert. Caffeine acts as an adenosine antagonist. What that means is that when you ingest caffeine, whether or not it’s coffee or soda or tea, or in any other form, it binds to the adenosine receptor. It sort of parks there, just like a car would park in a given parking slot. And therefore adenosine can’t park in that slot. Now, when caffeine parks in the adenosine receptor slot, nothing really happens downstream of that receptor. The receptor can’t engage the normal cellular functions of making that cell and you feel sleepy. So the reason caffeine wakes you up is because it blocks the sleepiness receptor. It blocks

Sleepiness is driven by adenosine, a molecule that builds up in the nervous system the longer we’re awake. Caffeine blocks adenosine receptors, temporarily masking sleepiness. Transcript: Andrew Huberman It turns out that’s governed by two forces. The first force is a chemical force. It’s called adenosine. Adenosine is a molecule in our nervous system and body that builds up the longer we are awake. So if you’ve just slept for eight or nine or 10 really deep restful hours, adenosine is going to be very low in your brain and body. If however you’ve been awake for 10, 15 or more hours, adenosine levels are going to be much higher. Adenosine creates a sort of sleep drive or a sleep hunger. And a good way to remember this and think about adenosine is to think about caffeine. Caffeine for most people wakes them up. It makes them feel more alert. Caffeine acts as an adenosine antagonist. What that means is that when you ingest caffeine, whether or not it’s coffee or soda or tea, or in any other form, it binds to the adenosine receptor. It sort of parks there, just like a car would park in a given parking slot. And therefore adenosine can’t park in that slot. Now, when caffeine parks in the adenosine receptor slot, nothing really happens downstream of that receptor. The receptor can’t engage the normal cellular functions of making that cell and you feel sleepy. So the reason caffeine wakes you up is because it blocks the sleepiness receptor. It blocks the sleepy signal. And this is why when that caffeine wears off, adenosine will bind to that receptor, sometimes with even greater what we call affinity, and you feel the crash, you feel especially tired.

Sunlight and Circadian Rhythms - Get sunlight in your eyes shortly after waking up to set your circadian clock, which regulates cortisol and melatonin rhythms. - This is crucial for various aspects of health, including cardiovascular, metabolic, cognitive, and mental well-being. Transcript: Andrew Huberman So let’s think about what happens when we do this correctly and how to do it correctly. When we wake up, our eyes open. Now, if we’re in a dark room, there isn’t enough light to trigger the correct timing of this cortisol melatonin thing, these rhythms. You might say, well, why won’t any light do it? Well, it turns out that these neurons in our eye that set the circadian clock and then allow our circadian clock to set all the clocks of all the cells and organs and tissues of our body Responds best to a particular quality of light and amount of light. And those are the qualities of light and amount of light that come from sunlight. So these neurons, what they’re really looking for, although they don’t have a mind of their own, is the sun at what we call low solar angle. The eye and the nervous system don’t know anything about sunrises or sunsets. It only knows the quality of light that comes in when the sun is low in the sky. The system evolved so that when the sun is low in the sky, there’s a particular contrast between yellows and blues that triggers the activation of these cells. However, if you wake up a few hours after

Sunlight and Circadian Rhythm - For optimal circadian rhythm function, expose your eyes to sunlight upon waking. - This helps regulate cortisol and melatonin, impacting various health aspects from mood to metabolism. Transcript: Andrew Huberman So let’s think about what happens when we do this correctly and how to do it correctly. When we wake up, our eyes open. Now, if we’re in a dark room, there isn’t enough light to trigger the correct timing of this cortisol melatonin thing, these rhythms. You might say, well, why won’t any light do it? Well, it turns out that these neurons in our eye that set the circadian clock and then allow our circadian clock to set all the clocks of all the cells and organs and tissues of our body Responds best to a particular quality of light and amount of light. And those are the qualities of light and amount of

Sunlight and Circadian Rhythm - For proper circadian rhythm, expose your eyes to sunlight upon waking. - These retinal neurons respond best to the quality and amount of light from low solar angle sunlight. Transcript: Andrew Huberman So let’s think about what happens when we do this correctly and how to do it correctly. When we wake up, our eyes open. Now, if we’re in a dark room, there isn’t enough light to trigger the correct timing of this cortisol melatonin thing, these rhythms. You might say, well, why won’t any light do it? Well, it turns out that these neurons in our eye that set the circadian clock and then allow our circadian clock to set all the clocks of all the cells and organs and tissues of our body Responds best to a particular quality of light and amount of light. And those are the qualities of light and amount of light that come from sunlight. So these neurons, what they’re really looking for, although they don’t have a mind of their own, is the sun at what we call low solar

Expose yourself to sunlight, ideally without sunglasses, for a few minutes each morning. This helps regulate your circadian rhythm and cortisol levels. Transcript: Andrew Huberman And in particular, it’s governed by sunlight. Now I can’t emphasize enough how important and how actionable this relationship is between light and when you want to sleep. It’s quite simple on the face of it, and it’s quite simple to resolve, but people tend to make a big mess of this whole circadian literature, frankly. So let’s just break it down from the standpoint of what’s going on in your brain and body as you go through one 24-hour day. Let’s start with waking. So regardless of how well you slept at night or whether or not you were up all night, most people tend to wake up sometime around when the sun rises. When you wake up in the morning, you wake up because a particular hormone called cortisol is released from your adrenal glands. Your adrenal glands sit right above your kidneys, and there’s a little pulse of cortisol. There’s also a pulse of epinephrine, which is adrenaline from your adrenals and also in your brain and you feel awake. Now that pulse of cortisol and adrenaline and epinephrine might come from your alarm clock. It might come from you naturally waking up, but it tends to alert your whole system in your body that it’s time to increase your heart rate. It’s time to start tensing your muscles. It’s time to start moving about. It’s very important that that cortisol pulse come early in the day, or at least early in your period of wakefulness. When you wake up in the morning and you experience that rise in cortisol, there’s a timer that starts going, and these are cellular timers, and they’re dictated by the relation between Different organs in your body that says to your brain and body that in about 12 to 14 hours, a different hormone, this hormone we’re calling melatonin, will be released from your pineal Gland. So there’s two mechanisms here, a wakefulness signal and a sleepiness signal. And the wakefulness signal triggers the onset of the timer for the sleepiness signal. I’d like to take a quick break and thank our sponsor, AG1. AG1 is an all-in vitamin, mineral, probiotic drink with adaptogens. I’ve been taking AG1 daily since 2012, so I’m delighted that they’re sponsoring this podcast. The reason I started taking AG1 and the reason I still take AG1 once and often twice a day is because it is the highest quality and most complete foundational nutritional supplement. What that means is that AG1 ensures that you’re getting all the necessary vitamins, minerals, and other micronutrients to form a strong foundation for your daily health. AG1 also has probiotics and prebiotics that support a healthy gut microbiome. Your gut microbiome consists of trillions of microorganisms that line your digestive tract and impact things such as your immune system status, your metabolic health, your hormone Health, and much more. So I’ve consistently found that when I take AG1 daily, my digestion is improved, my immune system is more robust, I rarely get sick, and my mood and mental focus are at their best. In fact, if I could take just one supplement, that supplement would be AG1. If you’d like to try AG1, you can go to drinkag1.com/Huberman to claim a special offer. For this month only, November 2024, AG1 is giving away one free month supply of omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil in addition to the usual welcome kit of five free travel packs and a year’s Supply of vitamin D3K2 with your order. Omega-3 fatty acids are critical for brain health, mood, cognition, and much more. Again, go to drinkag1.com/Huberman to claim this special offer. Okay. So the rhythm of cortisol and melatonin is what we call endogenous. It’s happening in us all the time without any external input. In fact, if we were in complete darkness, living in a cave with no artificial lights whatsoever, these rhythms of cortisol and melatonin would continue. So if you were in complete darkness, it would happen once per 24-hour but it would be somewhat later and later each day. Whereas under normal circumstances, what happens is you wake up. And what happens when you wake up? You open your eyes. When you open your eyes, light comes into your eyes. Now, the way this system works is that you have a particular set of neurons in your eye. They’re called retinal ganglion cells. When light comes into the eye, there’s a particular group of retinal ganglion cells or type of retinal ganglion cells that perceives a particular type of light and communicates that To this clock that resides right above the roof of your mouth called the suprachiasmatic nucleus. And the suprachiasmatic nucleus has connections with essentially every cell and organ of your body. Now, it’s vitally important that we get light communicated to this central clock in order to time the cortisol and melatonin properly. When I say properly, I can say that with confidence because we know based on a lot of evidence, that if you don’t get your cortisol and melatonin rhythms right, there are tremendously Broad and bad effects on cardiovascular health, metabolic effects, learning, depression, dementia. So let’s think about what happens when we do this correctly and how to do it correctly. When we wake up, our eyes open. Now, if we’re in a dark room, there isn’t enough light to trigger the correct timing of this cortisol melatonin thing, these rhythms. You might say, well, why won’t any light do it? Well, it turns out that these neurons in our eye that set the circadian clock and then allow our circadian clock to set all the clocks of all the cells and organs and tissues of our body Responds best to a particular quality of light and amount of light. And those are the qualities of light and amount of light that come from sunlight. So these neurons, what they’re really looking for, although they don’t have a mind of their own, is the sun at what we call low solar angle. The eye and the nervous system don’t know anything about sunrises or sunsets. It only knows the quality of light that comes in when the sun is low in the sky. The system evolved so that when the sun is low in the sky, there’s a particular contrast between yellows and blues that triggers the activation of these cells. However, if you wake up a few hours after the sunrise, which I tend to most days personally, you still want to get outside and view sunlight. You don’t need the sunlight beaming you directly in the eyes. There’s a lot of photons, light energy, that’s scattered from sunlight at this time. But the key is to get that light energy from sunlight, ideally, into your eyes. It’s critically important that you get outside to get this light. I had a discussion with a colleague of mine, Dr. Jamie Zeitzer, who’s in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford, a

Early Morning Sunlight Exposure - Get outside within a few hours of sunrise to view sunlight without sunglasses. - Viewing sunlight through a window or car is 50 times less effective. Transcript: Andrew Huberman However, if you wake up a few hours after the sunrise, which I tend to most days personally, you still want to get outside and view sunlight. You don’t need the sunlight beaming you directly in the eyes. There’s a lot of photons, light energy, that’s scattered from sunlight at this time. But the key is to get that light energy from sunlight, ideally, into your eyes. It’s critically important that you get outside to get this light. I had a discussion with a colleague of mine, Dr. Jamie Zeitzer, who’s in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford, a world expert in this. And he tells me that it’s 50 times less effective to view this sunlight through a window, through a car windshield, or through a side window of a car than it is to just get outside with no Sunglasses and view light early in the day. Once the sun is overhead, the quality of light shifts so that you miss this opportunity to time the cortisol pulse. And that turns out to be a bad thing to do. You really want to time that cortisol pulse properly because we’ll get into this a little bit more later, but a late shifted cortisol pulse, in particular in 9 p.m. Or 8 p.m. Increase in cortisol, is one of the consequences and maybe one of the causes of a lot of anxiety disorders and depression. So it’s kind of a chicken egg thing. We don’t know whether or not it’s correlated with, it’s the cause or the effect, but it’s a signature of depression and anxiety disorder.

Sunlight Exposure - Get outside to view sunlight early in the day, even if you wake up after sunrise. - Viewing sunlight through windows is 50x less effective than direct exposure. Transcript: Andrew Huberman However, if you wake up a few hours after the sunrise, which I tend to most days personally, you still want to get outside and view sunlight. You don’t need the sunlight beaming you directly in the eyes. There’s a lot of photons, light energy, that’s scattered from sunlight at this time. But the key is to get that light energy from sunlight, ideally, into your eyes. It’s critically important that you get outside to get this light. I had a discussion with a colleague of mine, Dr. Jamie Zeitzer, who’s in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford, a world expert in this. And he tells me that it’s 50 times less effective to view this sunlight through a window, through a car windshield, or through a side window of a car than it is to just get outside with no Sunglasses and view light early in the day. Once the sun is overhead, the quality of light shifts so that you miss this opportunity to time the cortisol pulse. And that turns out to be a bad thing to do. You really want to time that cortisol pulse properly because we’ll get into this a little bit more later, but a late shifted cortisol pulse, in particular in 9 p.m. Or 8 p.m. Increase in cortisol, is one of the consequences and maybe one of the causes of a lot of anxiety disorders and depression. So it’s kind of a chicken egg thing. We don’t know whether or not it’s correlated with, it’s the cause or the effect, but it’s a signature of depression and anxiety disorder. Bringing that cortisol pulse earlier in your wakeful period, earlier in your day has positive benefits ranging from blood pressure to

While morning light exposure requires significant light, even dim light at night can disrupt sleep patterns due to increased retinal sensitivity. Transcript: Andrew Huberman Now let’s talk about the bad effects of light because light is not supposed to arrive in our system at any time. And nowadays, because of screens and artificial light, we have access to light at times of day and night that normally we wouldn’t. Now, earlier I said that you need a lot of light in particular sunlight to set these clock mechanisms. That’s true, but there’s a kind of diabolical feature to the way all this works, which is the longer you’ve been awake, the more sensitive your retina and these cells are to light. So that if you’ve been awake for 10, 12, 14 hours, it becomes very easy for even a small amount of light coming from a screen or from an overhead light to trigger the activation of the clock And make you feel like you want to stay up later, make it harder to fall asleep and disrupt your sleep pattern.

Morning Sunlight Exposure * Get morning sunlight exposure, ideally 30-60 seconds, to regulate cortisol and melatonin. * If limited sunlight, use a sunlight-simulating device with blue light. Transcript: Andrew Huberman Bringing that cortisol pulse earlier in your wakeful period, earlier in your day has positive benefits ranging from blood pressure to mental health, et cetera. I’m not going to list them all off because there’s just so many of them, but many, many positive things happen when you are getting the cortisol early in the day, far away from your melatonin Pulse. Okay, so how long should you be outside? Well, this is going to vary tremendously because some people live in environments where it’s very bright. So let’s say it’s Colorado in the middle of winter, there’s a snow field, there’s no cloud covered, you walk outside, there’s going to be so much photon light energy arriving on your Retina that it probably only takes 30 to 60 seconds to trigger the central clock and set your cortisol and melatonin rhythms properly and get everything lined up nicely. Whereas if you’re in Scandinavia in the depths of winter and you wake up at 5 a.m. And the sun is just barely creeping across the horizon and then goes back down again a few hours later, you probably are not getting enough sunlight in order to set these rhythms. So many people find that they need to use sunlight simulators in the form of particular lights that were designed to simulate sunlight. You could say, well, the lights in my house or my phone are really, really bright, right? Everyone’s telling us to stay off our phones at night because they’re really bright. But guess what? It turns out that early in the day, your retina is not very sensitive, which means you need a lot of photons, ideally coming from sunlight to set these clock mechanisms. So looking at your phone or artificial lights is fine if you wake up before sunrise, but it’s not going to work to set these clock mechanisms. So you want to use sunlight. If you can’t see sunlight because of your environment, then you are going to have to opt for artificial light. And in that case, you’re going to want an artificial light that either simulates sunlight or has a lot of blue light. Now, without going off course here, you might be saying, wait, I’ve heard blue light is bad for me. Actually, blue light is great for this mechanism during the day. A lot of people will say, oh, I should be wearing blue blockers throughout the day.

Sunlight and Artificial Light - Use sunlight first thing in the morning to set your circadian rhythm. - If sunlight is unavailable, use a sunlight-simulating or blue light device. Transcript: Andrew Huberman So many people find that they need to use sunlight simulators in the form of particular lights that were designed to simulate sunlight. You could say, well, the lights in my house or my phone are really, really bright, right? Everyone’s telling us to stay off our phones at night because they’re really bright. But guess what? It turns out that early in the day, your retina is not very sensitive, which means you need a lot of photons, ideally coming from sunlight to set these clock mechanisms. So looking at your phone or artificial lights is fine if you wake up before sunrise, but it’s not going to work to set these clock mechanisms. So you want to use sunlight. If you can’t see sunlight because of your environment, then you are going to have to opt for artificial light. And in that case, you’re going to want an artificial light that either simulates sunlight or has a lot of blue light. Now, without going off course here, you might be saying, wait, I’ve heard blue light is bad for me. Actually, blue light is great for this mechanism during the day. A lot of people will say, oh, I should be wearing blue blockers throughout the day. No, that’s the exact wrong thing. That should be reserved for late in the evening because light suppresses melatonin. Sunlight inhibits the pineal. It prevents it from releasing melatonin. Darkness allows the pineal to release melatonin. So the pineal is not the gland or the organ of sunlight. It is the gland of darkness.

Morning Sunlight Exposure - Get 2-10 minutes of sunlight exposure each morning. - If you miss it some days, don’t worry; your system averages light exposure. Transcript: Andrew Huberman So get up each morning, try and get outside. I know that can be challenging for people, but anywhere from two to 10 minutes of sunlight exposure is going to work well for most people. If you can’t do it every day or you sleep through this period of the early day, low solar angle, don’t worry about it. The systems in the body, these hormone systems and neurotransmitter systems that make you awake at certain periods of the day and sleepy at other times are operating by averaging when You view the brightest light. Some of you, many of you might be asking, what else can help set this rhythm? Well, it turns out that light is what we call the primary zeitgeber, the time giver. But other things can help establish this rhythm of cortisol followed by melatonin 12 to 16 hours later as well. The other things besides light are timing of food intake, timing of exercise, as well as various drugs or chemicals that one might ingest, not illegal drugs, although those will impact Circadian mechanisms as well. The other thing is sunset. When the sun is also at low solar angle, low close to the horizon, by viewing sunlight at that time of day in the evening or afternoon, depending on what time of year it is and where you are In the world,

Viewing sunlight around sunset can mitigate the negative impacts of artificial light on melatonin production later in the evening. Transcript: Andrew Huberman The other thing is sunset. When the sun is also at low solar angle, low close to the horizon, by viewing sunlight at that time of day in the evening or afternoon, depending on what time of year it is and where you are In the world, these melanopsin cells, these neurons in your eyes, signal the central circadian clock that it’s the end of the day. There was a really nice study that showed that viewing sunlight around the time of sunset, doesn’t have to be just crossing the horizon, but circa sunset, within an hour or so of sunset, Prevents some of the bad effects of light in preventing melatonin release later that same night.

Evening Light Placement - The neurons in our eyes that signal the central clock are mostly in the bottom half of our retina, viewing our upper visual field. - These cells are designed to detect overhead sunlight. - To avoid improper activation of these neurons and maintain good mood and mental health, place lights low in your environment during the evening. - Use desktop lamps or floor lamps instead of overhead lights to minimize light exposure to the bottom of your retina. - This helps maintain the natural day-night cycle and improves sleep and overall well-being. Transcript: Andrew Huberman These cells in our eye, these neurons, that signal the central clock reside mostly, not exclusively, but mostly in the bottom half of our retina. And because we have a lens in front of our retina and because of the optics of lenses, that means that these cells are actually viewing our upper visual field. This is probably not coincidental that these cells were essentially designed to detect sunlight, which is overhead, of course.

Shifting your light exposure, exercise, and food intake to the daytime can help adjust your sleep patterns. Transcript: Andrew Huberman Jamie Zaitzer and colleagues did a beautiful study showing that if you turn on the lights before waking up, so around 45 minutes to an hour before waking up, even if your eyelids are closed, Provided you’re not under the covers, after doing that for a few days, that increases your total sleep time and shifts forward the time at which you feel sleepy. It makes you want to go to bed earlier each night. Now in a kind of a diabolical way, they did this with teenagers who are notorious for wanting to wake up late and stay up late. And what they found was bright light flashes, just turning on the lights in their environment, overhead lights, because they’re trying to activate the system. And that’s why they’re using overhead lights. Even through the eyelids, before these kids woke up, then made those kids naturally want to go to bed earlier and they ended up sleeping longer.

Minimize light exposure after 8 PM, especially between 11 PM and 4 AM, and position lights low in your environment. Transcript: Andrew Huberman Okay, so the simple way to think about this is you want as much light as is safely possible early in the day, morning and throughout the day, including blue light. And you want as little light coming into your eyes, artificial or sunlight after say 8 PM. And certainly you do not want to get bright light exposure to your eyes between 11 PM and 4 AM. And here’s why. Light that arrives to the eyes between 11 PM and 4 AM, approximately, suppresses the release of dopamine, this neuromodulator that makes us feel good, is sort of an endogenous antidepressant, And can inhibit learning and create all sorts of other detrimental effects. It does this through a mechanism, for those of you who want to know the neural pathways, that involves light to the eyes that’s then signaled to a structure called the habanula. When that habanula gets activated, it’s actually called the disappointment nucleus, because it actually makes us feel less happy and more disappointed and can lead to certain forms Of depression in the wakeful state. Now, if you wake up in the middle of the night and you need to use the bathroom or you’re on an all night flight and you’re, you know, you need to read or whatever it is, fine. It’s, you know, every once in a while, it’s not going to be a problem to get bright light exposure to your eyes in the middle of the night. But if you think about our lifestyle nowadays and being up late, looking at phones, even if you dim that screen, you’re triggering this activation because your retinal sensitivity And the sensitivity of these neurons has gone up late in the day. For those of you that are experiencing challenges with mood, those of you that have anxiety, learning problems, issues, focusing, the questions I usually get are, how can I focus better? One of the best ways you can support your mechanisms for good mood, mental health, learning, focus, metabolism, et cetera, is to take control of this light exposure behavior at night And not get much or any bright light exposure in the middle of the night. These cells in our eye, these neurons, that signal the central clock reside mostly, not exclusively, but mostly in the bottom half of our retina. And because we have a lens in front of our retina and because of the optics of lenses, that means that these cells are actually viewing our upper visual field. This is probably not coincidental that these cells were essentially designed to detect sunlight, which is overhead, of course. So if you want to avoid improper activation of these neurons, it’s better to place lights that you use in the evening low in your physical environment. So on desktops or even the floor, if you want to go that way, as opposed to overhead lights. So overhead fluorescent lights would be the worst, that would be the worst case scenario. Lights that are overhead that are a little bit softer of the sort of yellow or reddish tints would be slightly better, but dim lights that are set low in the room are going to be best because They aren’t going to activate these neurons and therefore shift your circadian clock.

Prioritizing Sleep - When asked about supplements or drugs, Dr. Huberman prioritizes inquiring about sleep quality first. - He emphasizes that 90% of those he asks report sleep issues, like difficulty falling or staying asleep, or not feeling rested. - This highlights the critical role of sleep as a foundation for overall well-being, often preceding other interventions. Transcript: Andrew Huberman And this is why whenever people ask me, what should I take? Which is one of the most common questions I get. What supplements should I take? What drugs should I be taking? What things should I be taking? The first question I always ask them is, how’s your sleep? And 90% of the time they tell me they either have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, or they don’t feel rested throughout the day. A brief note about naps. Naps provided that they’re less than one ultradian cycle, provided they’re 20 minutes or 30 minutes, or even an hour, can be very beneficial for a lot of people. You don’t have to take them, but many people naturally feel a dip in energy and focus late in the afternoon. In fact, if we were going to look at wakefulness, what we would find is that you get that morning light exposure, hopefully, your cortisol goes up, people start feeling awake, and then Around two or three or four in the afternoon, there’s a spike

Light Exposure and Well-being - To improve sleep and overall well-being, establish consistent light anchors. - Get bright light exposure early in the day, even before waking up, to advance your internal clock and improve alertness. - Avoid light exposure in the evenings and at night, especially if you have trouble waking up early, as it delays your clock. - Consistent light anchors regulate hormones like cortisol and melatonin, improving metabolism, learning, and mood. Transcript: Andrew Huberman It will sort of like turning the clock forward. Whereas if you are having trouble waking up early, you definitely don’t want to get too much light exposure or any light exposure to your eyes late in the evening and in the middle of the Night because it’s just going to delay your clock more and more. And what you’re trying to do is provide them anchors. You’re trying to provide them consistent, powerful anchors so that your cortisol, your melatonin, and then everything that cascades down from that, like your metabolism and your Ability to learn and your sense of alertness, your dopamine, your serotonin, all that stuff is timed regularly. One of the reasons why there’s so much challenge out there with focus and anxiety and depression, there are a lot of reasons for that, but one of the reasons is that people’s internal Mechanisms aren’t anchored to anything regular. These systems again will average, but if you can provide them consistent light anchors early in the day and in the evening and avoiding light at night, you will be amazed at the tremendous Number of positive effects that can come from that at the level of metabolic factors, hormones, and just general feelings of well-being. And this is why whenever people ask me, what should I take? Which is one of the most common questions I get. What supplements should I take? What drugs should I be taking? What things should I be taking? The first question I always ask them is, how’s your sleep? And 90% of the time they tell me they either have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, or they don’t feel rested throughout the day. A brief note about naps. Naps provided that they’re less than one ultradian cycle, provided they’re 20 minutes or 30 minutes, or even an hour, can be very beneficial for a lot of people.

Short naps (20-60 minutes) can be beneficial, but evaluate their effect on your individual sleep patterns. Transcript: Andrew Huberman And 90% of the time they tell me they either have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, or they don’t feel rested throughout the day. A brief note about naps. Naps provided that they’re less than one ultradian cycle, provided they’re 20 minutes or 30 minutes, or even an hour, can be very beneficial for a lot of people. You don’t have to take them, but many people naturally feel a dip in energy and focus late in the afternoon. In fact, if we were going to look at wakefulness, what we would find is that you get that morning light exposure, hopefully, your cortisol goes up, people start feeling awake, and then Around two or three or four in the afternoon, there’s a spike in everything from alertness to ability to learn, some metabolic factors drop, and then it just naturally comes back up, And then it tapers off as the night goes on. So for some of you, naps are great. I love taking naps. Some people, they wake up from naps feeling really groggy. That’s probably because they’re not sleeping as well as they should at night or as long as they should at night. And so they’re dropping into REM sleep or deeper forms of sleep in the daytime. And then they wake up and they feel kind of disoriented. Other people feel great after a nap. So that’s another case where just like with caffeine, you sort of have to evaluate for yourself.

Try yoga nidra, a form of guided meditation, to improve sleep quality by training your nervous system to relax. Transcript: Andrew Huberman That is sort of like napping, but isn’t napping. It’s a thing that they call yoga nidra. Yoga nidra actually means yoga sleep. And it’s a sort of meditation that you listen to. Meditation and yoga nidra scripts have been immensely helpful for me in terms of accelerating the transition to sleep. So they involve taking a few minutes, 10 to 30 minutes or so, just like you would for a nap, and just listening to a script almost passively. And it has you do some particular patterns of breathing and some other kind of body scan-like things that can really help people learn to relax, not just in that moment, but get better At relaxing and turning off thinking in order to fall asleep when they want to do that at night. In other words, they’re always good for you because it’s a training mechanism by which you self-train your nervous system to go from a state of heightened alertness that you don’t want To heightened relaxation that you do want.

Supplements for Sleep - If you’re struggling with sleep despite healthy habits, consider supplements. - Magnesium, particularly magnesium threonate, can improve sleep by increasing GABA. - Theanine (100-200mg) can also help quiet the mind for sleep. - Always consult your doctor before starting new supplements. Transcript: Andrew Huberman The first one is magnesium. There are many forms of magnesium, but certain forms of magnesium can have positive effects on sleepiness and the ability to stay asleep, mainly by way of increasing neurotransmitters Like GABA. There are a lot of forms of magnesium out there, but one in particular is magnesium threonate, T-H which you have to check to see if this is right for you, check with your doctor. The other thing is theanine, T-H theanine, 100 to 200 milligrams of theanine for me, also helps me turn off

Consider magnesium threonate and theanine supplements to support sleep if lifestyle changes are insufficient, but be mindful of potential side effects. Transcript: Andrew Huberman And that in cases where you’re doing all the right behaviors, you’re exercising and eating correctly, and you’re still having trouble with sleep, that can be beneficial for falling And staying asleep. Now, I want to be very clear, I am not pushing supplements. I’m just pointing you towards some things that have been shown in peer-reviewed studies to have some benefit. The first one is magnesium. There are many forms of magnesium, but certain forms of magnesium can have positive effects on sleepiness and the ability to stay asleep, mainly by way of increasing neurotransmitters Like GABA. There are a lot of forms of magnesium out there, but one in particular is magnesium threonate, T-H which you have to check to see if this is right for you, check with your doctor. The other thing is theanine, T-H theanine, 100 to 200 milligrams of theanine for me, also helps me turn off my mind and fall asleep. Interestingly, theanine is now being introduced to a lot of energy drinks in order to take away the jitters that are associated with drinking too much caffeine or with some other things That are in the energy drinks. So just a consideration. Again, I’m not here to tell you what to do or not do, but just want to arm you with information. The thing about theanine and magnesium is taken together. They do, for some people, they can make them so sleepy and sleep so deeply that they actually have trouble waking up in the morning. So you have to play with these things and titrate them if you decide to use them. Again, if you decide to go this route, I would not start by taking supplements.

Supplements for Sleep - Consider magnesium threonate or theanine to improve sleep quality. - Be mindful of potential side effects, and consult with a doctor before use. Transcript: Andrew Huberman In other words, this NSDR can reset our ability to engage in the world in a way that’s very deliberate. Okay, so what about things that we can and maybe should or should not take in order to control and access better sleep and better wakefulness. There are a couple of things that are directly in line with the biology related to falling and staying asleep and directly in line with the biology of wakefulness. There’s a whole category of things like stimulants, cocaine, amphetamine, and prescription stimulants that are the prescription ones were designed for the treatment of narcolepsy. So things like modafinil or armadafinil that are designed to create wakefulness. They are all essentially chemical variants of things that increase epinephrine and dopamine. Now, of course, I’m of the standpoint that things like cocaine amphetamine are just across the board bad. They have so many addictive and terrible effects. In the proper setting prescribed by the proper professional, things like modafinil for narcolepsy might be appropriate. I know that a lot of people out there take Adderall, even though they haven’t been prescribed Adderall, in order to increase wakefulness. That is essentially, you know, it’s illegal for one, but it’s also, it’s abusing the system in the sense that you’re pushing back on the adenosine system slightly differently than You do caffeine. It will make you feel more alert. There tends to be a heavy rebound and they do have an addictive potential. There are also some other effects of those that can be quite bad, but there are some supplements and some things that are safer, certainly safer. And that in cases where you’re doing all the right behaviors, you’re exercising and eating correctly, and you’re still having trouble with sleep, that can be beneficial for falling And staying asleep. Now, I want to be very clear, I am not pushing supplements. I’m just pointing you towards some things that have been shown in peer-reviewed studies to have some benefit. The first one is magnesium. There are many forms of magnesium, but certain forms of magnesium can have positive effects on sleepiness and the ability to stay asleep, mainly by way of increasing neurotransmitters Like GABA. There are a lot of forms of magnesium out there, but one in particular is magnesium threonate, T-H which you have to check to see if this is right for you, check with your doctor. The other thing is theanine, T-H theanine, 100 to 200 milligrams of theanine for me, also helps me turn off my mind and fall asleep. Interestingly, theanine is now being introduced to a lot of energy drinks in order to take away the jitters that are associated with drinking too much caffeine or with some other things That are in the energy drinks. So just a consideration. Again, I’m not here to tell you what to do or not do, but just want to arm you with information. The thing about theanine and magnesium is taken together. They do, for some people, they can make them so sleepy and sleep so deeply that they actually have trouble waking up in the morning. So you have to play with these things and titrate them if you decide to use them. Again, if you decide to go this route, I would not start by taking supplements. I would start by getting your light viewing behavior correct, and then think about your nutrition, and then think about your activity, and then think about whether or not you want a Supplement. We already talked about melatonin earlier. There’s another supplement that could be quite useful, which is Apigenin, A-P which is a derivative of chamomile. 50 milligrams of Apigenin also can augment or support this kind of creation of a sleepiness to help fall asleep and stay asleep. As a important point, apigenin is a fairly potent estrogen inhibitor. So women who want to keep their estrogen levels high or at whatever levels they happen to be at should probably avoid apigenin altogether. And men take that into consideration as well. Men need estrogen also, you don’t want to completely eliminate your estrogen, that it can create all sorts of bad effects on libido and cognition, et cetera.