The bushy-bearded Stanford neuroscientist is best known for deeper-than-deep dives into a variety of medical topics, with a popularity that’s remarkable given the scientific denseness of some of his content. Huberman’s ability to present complex ideas in a calm and comprehensible way, along tackling useful topics (improving your sleep, memory, energy levels, etc), has helped grow his podcast into a powerhouse in just three years. Huberman Lab consistently tops the Health and Fitness podcast charts and his episode “What Alcohol Does to Your Body, Brain & Health” — which concluded that no amount of alcohol is truly good for you (sorry!) — ranked as Apple’s most-shared podcast episode for all of 2023.
In March, however, Huberman came under fire for a NY Mag article that criticized his treatment of six past girlfriends, which he reportedly secretly dated all at the same time. The podcaster has since acknowledged making mistakes and cheating in relationships (calling himself “replete with flaws”), and said he strives to do “the most amount of good and least amount of harm” in his life.
Below, Huberman took our 10 heath and longevity questions via email that touch on a variety of topics, from treating aging skin to pre-work routines. As you might expect from a neuroscientist, his answers didn’t contain any typos.
We all know the biggies we’re supposed to pay attention to — exercise, sleep, eating whole foods, social contact, managing stress, and avoiding toxic substances (alcohol, smoking, etc). But is there anything safe and effective to take that helps with the general aches, pains and sluggishness of aging? Aside from, say, hormone replacement therapy?
As simple as it seems, early day caffeine has a number of benefits. First of all, it increases energy and focus. Second, it improves gut motility in the morning—which is an often under-appreciated aspect of health. Third, as long as the dosages keep you from getting jittery, caffeine is one the most studied and most effective means to improve cognitive and physical ability.
There is also some evidence that compounds that increase dopamine and acetylcholine in the brain can improve certain forms of memory, such as working memory. Simply put, working memory is our ability to guide decisions and focus on the task at hand. This is the work of Mark D’Esposito at UC Berkeley. Non-carcinogenic forms of nicotine such as gums, mints, etc. (NOT smoking, vaping, dipping or snuffing!) consumed infrequently at low dosages are becoming more commonly used. Note these increase blood pressure and have strong addictive potential, but nonetheless have been shown to offset certain forms of cognitive decline and tend to increase physical energy. But be cautious in their use, if using at all.
Doing both a cold plunge and sauna is apparently ideal to lower inflammation and improve recovery and boost well-being. But if somebody were to add one into their regular routine, which would you choose?
Whichever one they are going to do regularly! Cold showers are cheap, in fact can save money, and offer a great wake-up signal and mood enhancement for many hours after. Sauna has clear cardiovascular benefits and generally people find it more pleasant. But it takes longer and usually there’s a cost.
Everybody talks about morning routines (here is a summary of Huberman’s — which includes waking early, natural light exposure, meditation, and cold exposure). What’s your routine before starting work (in this case, recording a podcast)?
Ten minute NSDR followed by a glass of water and a Mateina zero-sugar yerba mate. Then I dive in!
[This one requires some explanation. NSDR = non-sleep deep rest, a term coined by Huberman as a Westernized version of yoga nidra. It involves lying flat on the floor and using breathing or visualization techniques to enter a deeply relaxed state. The Mateina drink line was created in partnership with Huberman.]
You tend to focus more on internal health rather than the cosmetic. But given our readers care an awful lot about the latter: Is there anything you’ve found that reverses gray hair? And other than tretinoin and med spa treatments, anything that reliably results in younger-looking skin?
There is a direct relationship between stress and graying of hair. Using tools that reduce stress in real time, such as physiological sighs — two deep inhales through the nose, followed by a long extended exhale until your lungs are empty [demonstrated below] — and non-sleep deep rest (NSDR) are highly effective stress-reduction protocols.
A recent episode of Huberman Lab was on “How to Improve Skin Health & Appearance.” Tools to make skin more youthful include: avoid excess sun exposure (if using sunscreen, which I recommend, select mineral based sunscreens such as zinc oxide), avoid more than two drinks of alcohol per week, avoid smoking or vaping of any kind, and avoid highly processed foods and fried foods. Ingesting 10-30g of collagen in the form of food or supplement daily can improve skin elasticity and appearance, as can exposure to red light and near infrared light therapy for 10-15 minutes 3-5 times per week. Dermatologist-applied laser resurfacing of the top-most layer of skin is both known to produce rejuvenation (aka younger-looking skin) and can be protective against many skin cancers.
Ozempic has been a godsend for weight loss, but comes with a rather long list of scary side effects. Are the risks and trade-offs worth it for the average (not morbidly obese) person?
It depends on how much the person struggles with appetite without using Ozempic or other GLP-1 agonists. If nothing else, we’ve learned that ingesting too many calories is the major issue underlying obesity in this country. I do think that these drugs have value, especially if people also exercise —specifically resistance training to offset the known risk of muscle loss that can accompany the fat loss.
You’ve been an advocate for taking fish oil. A widely reported new study suggested fish oil could have negative health effects. Is there reason for concern, or is this mainly about making sure you’re using a quality source?
Provided that the sourcing is of high quality (look for testing of heavy metals and other third-party testing and validation), the bulk of data point to the value of getting at least 1g of EPA per day from fish oil supplement or food to improve mood, blood profiles, and lower inflammation which indirectly support numerous aspects of brain and body health.
Microplastics are apparently everywhere, and in everybody. Is there any way to reduce the amount you’ve already accumulated? Donating blood, I’ve read , is one surprising way.
This is an area that I am currently researching and I will be covering in an upcoming episode of Huberman Lab. I am unable to share anything at the moment, however.
What’s your opinion on famed do-everything live-forever quester tech billionaire Bryan Johnson ? In other words: There is clearly a thing as overdoing all this, right?
I applaud his effort to forage the “whatever it takes to not die” space and I’m curious about what he finds, but I remain happily in the control group—until specific protocols captive my interest enough. I’m certainly paying attention to the longevity field.
You said last year you’re not ready to get on the rapamycin bandwagon (rapamycin is the first drug to successfully extend life in mammals and has been touted as a promising contender for the first anti-aging drug). Has anything made your opinion of taking that drug off label for life extension change since then — for better or worse?
No. Nothing has changed for me on this. Given its potency, I am unwilling to experiment with it until the human trials are done.
Another person in this space, bestselling author Dr. Peter Attia, has suggested that people who even have a slight risk of heart disease should consider taking statins preventatively. What’s your take?
I think people should do everything they can with food and exercise first, unless it’s an urgent situation. But of course, prescription drugs have their place.
What’s the one thing people are doing that hurts their physical health that the media overlooks or isn’t paying attention to?
Despite the 10,000 steps per day mantra, I don’t think that we can emphasize enough that the vast majority of Americans don’t even come close to meeting the necessary amount of movement required for good health while ingesting, on average, 3,500 calories per day, which for most people equates to inevitable obesity (which, of course, creates myriad negative health outcomes). If only accessing our phones required us to be walking at the same time!
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