Optimizing Health and Longevity Through Nutrients and Lifestyle Choices

Nutrition 0:17 0
“Dr. Patrick is known to some of you as a podcaster and one of the premier educators in the landscape of mitochondria, metabolism, stress, and other aspects of brain and body health.”

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Substances 1:05 0
“She then went on to do postdoctoral training with Dr. Bruce Ames, investigating the effects of micronutrients, meaning vitamins and minerals, and how they affect metabolism, inflammation, DNA damage, and the aging process.”

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Nutrition 1:34 0
“For today's episode, we focus primarily on the major categories of micronutrients that are essential for brain and body health.”

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Substances 3:15 0
“I'm pleased to announce that the Huberman Lab Podcast is now partnered with Momentous supplements.”

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Gut health 5:52 0
“In addition, it has probiotics which are vital for microbiome health.”

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Substances 6:10 0
“With Athletic Greens, I get the vitamins I need, the minerals I need, and the probiotics to support my microbiome.”

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Substances 6:29 0
“There are a ton of data now showing that vitamin D is essential for various aspects of our brain and body health.”

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Cognitive stimulation 7:10 0
“I do believe, based on science, however, that there are particular neural circuits and brain functions that allow us to be more focused, more alert, access creativity, be more motivated, et cetera.”

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Substances 7:38 0
“Thesis understands this, and, as far as I know, they're the first nootropics company to create targeted nootropics for specific outcomes.”

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Nutrition 8:39 0
“InsideTracker is a personalized nutrition platform that analyzes data from your blood and DNA to help you better understand your body and help you reach your health goals.”

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Stress management 11:50 0
“And I think that point has to do with the intermittent challenging of yourself and whether that is through temperature changes, like cold or heat, or through other types of stressors, like physical activity, or perhaps even dietary compounds that are found in plants.”

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Exercise 12:36 0
“You couldn't catch your prey if you were a sedentary slob, right? You were moving, and you had to pick your berries. You had to move. And so physical activity was a part of everyday life.”

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Nutrition 12:48 0
“And caloric restriction or intermittent fasting was also a part of it. This is another type of challenge. We didn't always have a prey that we caught, or maybe temperatures were such that there was nothing for us to gather, right?”

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Nutrition 13:02 0
“So food scarcity was something common as well as eating plants, so getting these compounds that I mentioned. These are all types of stress, intermittent challenges, that activate genetic pathways in our bodies.”

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Stress management 13:16 0
“These are often referred to in science as stress response pathways because they respond to a little bit of stress. Physical activity is strenuous. Fasting's a little bit stressful. Heat, cold. These things are all types of little intermittent challenges.”

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Nutrition 14:49 0
“You can eat a plant like broccoli sprouts, which is high in something called sulforaphane. This is a compound that is sort of like a hormetic compound, or, as David Sinclair likes to say, it's a xenohormetic compound.”

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Nutrition 17:58 0
“The bioavailability of these compounds in the plants, they're attached to a food matrix. It's not like taking it in a supplement form as well.”

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Nutrition 18:48 0
“But you're not going to get poisoned from eating your serving of broccoli at dinner, right?”

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Nutrition 21:53 0
“So broccoli sprouts are different than broccoli, and you just told us that they're much richer in these compounds.”

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Nutrition 22:17 0
“So the sulforaphane is formed from a compound called glucoraphanin, which is in the broccoli, and the enzyme that converted into sulforaphane is myrosinase, and it's heat sensitive.”

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Substances 24:19 0
“And so I've been buying this Kuli Kuli moringa powder. I don't have any affiliation with him.”

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Substances 24:32 0
“It's science backed in terms of actually containing moringa and activating Nrf2.”

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Substances 25:16 0
“I do a big, heaping tablespoon.”

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Toxin exposure 25:36 0
“There's been several different studies in China. In China, there's a lot of air pollution.”

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Toxin exposure 26:13 0
“So benzene's found in air pollution. I mean, cigarette smoke. If you're smoking cigarettes still, please try to quit.”

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Substances 30:06 0
“so much better 30:06 than the animals that didn't get the sulforaphane 30:08 48 hours before or whatever it was.”

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Substances 30:18 0
“I know Mark Mattson. Dr Mark Mattson. 30:18 He's often thought of as the intermittent fasting king, 30:21 but he's a neuroscientist, 30:23 and he did publish some work 30:26 and talks about sulforaphane as well.”

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Disease prevention 30:51 0
“90% or more of traumatic brain injury 30:51 is construction work, at-home accidents.”

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Substances 32:07 0
“And so, sulforaphane, I personally think, 32:07 and I do think there's been some animal research 32:10 with TBI and sulforaphane, 32:13 mostly preconditioning rather than treatment.”

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Substances 33:39 0
“DNA damage lower. 33:39 It was like 24 or 34% lower in human blood cells 33:44 after broccoli sprout powder supplementation.”

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Substances 37:01 0
“So krill is a source mostly of a type of DHA and EPA that's in phospholipid form.”

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Substances 38:44 0
“Fish oil supplements, if you get a high quality one, it's in a triglyceride form.”

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Substances 40:00 0
“One of the major prescription omega-3s out there is, both of them actually, Lovaza, which is a mixture of DHA and EPA, as well as Vascepa, which is a highly purified EPA.”

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Substances 42:16 0
“Well, normally I ask about mechanism and then I talk about protocols, but in the- Or the why. I mean, we haven't gotten there yet. And we definitely will get there, but I think a number of people nowadays are just really excited about what they can do for their health, and so, here, we're just raising the importance of omega-3s, and then we'll definitely get to the why and the underlying mechanism.”

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Substances 42:39 0
“Yeah, I think four grams is, I mean, in fact, Bill Harris, Dr. Bill Harris, he's just one of the pioneers on omega-3 fatty acid research. He was on our podcast last August. And he was saying the reason FDA chose that was literally just because how much they could get people to take.”

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Circadian rhythm 43:15 0
“I'm smiling because our good friend Satchin Panda at the Salk Institute, who's done a lot of important work on intermittent fasting and other incredible work on circadian rhythms, et cetera. When I was talking to him in preparation for an episode on intermittent fasting, I said, 'Why the eight-hour feeding window?' And he said, 'Well, the graduate student who ran those studies had a partner.'”

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Substances 44:41 0
“So I take four grams a day. I take two in the morning, two grams in the morning, and I take two grams in the evening. I take my EPA in the morning, and I take my DHA in the evening.”

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Substances 46:11 0
“The International Fish Oil Standards, IFSO, they have a website where they do third-party testing of a ton of different fish oil supplements from around the world, and they measure the concentration of the omega-3 fatty acids in the actual supplement, because nothing is ever what it says on the bottle, and then they also measure contaminants, so mercury, PCBs, dioxins, things that you'd find potentially in fish that are harmful to humans, and they also measure mercury and then oxidized fatty acids.”

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Substances 48:31 0
“So, yeah, I try and get two grams per day of EPA from supplementation.”

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Mental health 49:02 0
“People that take these things in sufficient doses, meaning the EPAs, are able to get by with much lower dosages of SSRIs for depression relief or, in some cases, to come off their SSRIs completely or avoid going on antidepressant medication.”

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Gut health 50:49 0
“We release endotoxin into our body, and that causes inflammation.”

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Genetics 53:30 0
“People with an Alzheimer's susceptibility. - Right, so like 25% of the population has an allele and a gene called APOE4, and, basically, it's APOE, but the four is referred to as the bad kind of version of it.”

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Substances 54:16 0
“So two grams or more is the magic number, I think.”

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Nutrition 54:27 0
“I personally think it is one of the most powerful, anti-inflammatory things, dietary lifestyle, things that we can get easily, relatively easily, that is going to powerfully modulate the way you think, the way you feel, and the way you age.”

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Disease prevention 56:13 0
“And he's measuring the Omega-3 Index in people, and then looking at their mortality risk, for example, or their cardiovascular disease risk.”

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Nutrition 56:29 0
“Japan, by contrast, has an Omega-3 Index of around 10 to 11%. Big difference there. And they also have about a five-year increased life expectancy compared to people in the US.”

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Nutrition 1:00:41 0
“But it seems to me that these animals have to either be taking fish oil or eat plants that are very rich in omega-3s in order for the meat to actually contain sufficient omega-3s.”

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Nutrition 1:00:50 0
“So the meat, comparing the conventional meat to the grass-fed or pasture-raised cows or cattle, there were higher levels of alpha-linolenic acid.”

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Nutrition 1:01:03 0
“And ALA, it can be converted into EPA and DHA, but the conversion is very inefficient and very dependent on a variety of factors, including genetics.”

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Nutrition 1:01:55 0
“So, if you're looking for the ALA, plant sources would be walnuts, flaxseeds. Those are probably the highest.”

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Substances 1:02:03 0
“But, if a person is a vegan or a vegetarian, their best bet is to actually get microalgae oil. And you can supplement with microalgae oil because microalgae, they do make the DHA.”

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Nutrition 1:02:33 0
“And then, for people that eat fish, sardines, you said. - [Rhonda] Salmon. - Salmon, and you have to eat the skin, as I understand. - You don't have to, but it's good.”

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Substances 1:06:54 0
“By the way, I'm almost 16% Omega-3 Index.”

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Substances 1:07:50 0
“The Omega-3 Index is actually in the red blood cells, and red blood cells take 120 days to turn over.”

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Substances 1:08:14 0
“Bill Harris has a company that he co-founded. It's called OmegaQuant, and they measure the Omega-3 Index.”

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Substances 1:08:56 0
“You're giving someone 500 milligrams of DHA, and you don't see any effect. Well, did you measure what their levels were? And did you measure the Omega-3 Index?”

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Nutrition 1:13:10 0
“And DHA plays a role in that. And so, for example, in animal studies, if you make an animal deficient in DHA, their serotonin receptors, dopamine receptors, they're affected because the structure of them is affected through the fluidity of the membrane.”

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Nutrition 1:14:42 0
“We talked a lot about EPA, but are food sources of DHA that you find particularly attractive, either by taste or by potency for DHA, what are just a few that we could throw out?”

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Nutrition 1:15:07 0
“Well, the fish is packaging the DHA and EPA in the ratio, but I also do eat salmon roe, which is very salty, and it's a really high source of the phosphatidylcholine DHA that we talked about.”

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Nutrition 1:15:52 0
“There's been some animal studies in piglets and rodents as well showing that consuming phospholipid DHA during fetal brain development gets like 10 times more DHA in the brain.”

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Sun protection 1:20:04 0
“I always wear sunscreen because I'm trying to protect my skin from so many wrinkles and stuff, but also skin cancer is somewhat of an issue as well.”

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Substances 1:19:09 0
“So supplementation does play a major role, not only for people with darker skin that aren't outside all the time, but for everyone.”

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Vitamin D 1:19:16 0
“70% of the US population has inadequate vitamin D levels.”

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Vitamin D 1:19:47 0
“Vitamin D levels really seem to be ideal between 40 to 60 nanograms per milliliter.”

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Vitamin D 1:20:16 0
“Vitamin D is a steroid hormone, meaning it actually binds to a receptor and another receptor dimerizes with it, the retinoid receptor, and that complex goes into the nucleus of a cell, where your DNA is, and it recognizes little sequences of DNA called vitamin D response elements.”

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Substances 1:25:29 0
“So supplementing vitamin D3 is what I normally hear. I do. I think I end up taking 5,000 IUs, sometimes 10 IUs of vitamin D3 per day.”

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Substances 1:25:45 0
“I have a family member who was not feeling well, just kind of feeling off, a little low, had some digestive issues, this went on a long period of time, was taking, on my recommendation, 15,000 IUs of D3 and was still deficient in D3.”

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Substances 1:26:45 0
“So vitamin D3 is a good way to supplement with it. Vitamin D2 would be a plant source. You often find it fortified in foods like milk, usually D2.”

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Genetics 1:27:47 0
“There's a lot of single nucleotide polymorphisms. We talked about APOE4 before previously, but there's a variety of genes that people have, very common, actually.”

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Substances 1:30:58 0
“You're going to need at least 4,000 IUs, if you are normal and don't have any of these SNPs that change your metabolism of vitamin D, right?”

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Substances 1:32:09 0
“1,000 to 5,000 IUs for most people will be reasonably safe.”

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Substances 1:32:24 0
“It is extremely hard to get hypercalcemia, which would be the major concern with really high levels of vitamin D3 supplementation.”

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Sun protection 1:33:01 0
“I don't put sunscreen on all the time. I do put it on my face and I wear a hat, but some of my skin is being exposed, so I do make it from the sun as well.”

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Circadian rhythm 1:33:41 0
“Well, that might be great for setting your circadian rhythm by way of light through the eyes 'cause that's the primary mechanism for that.”

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Sun protection 1:36:41 0
“So, if I'm taking vitamin D3, I still need to get out into the sun. Correct? - Absolutely.”

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Sun protection 1:36:58 0
“I think people are really afraid of getting out into the sun because they're worried about melanomas.”

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Toxin exposure 1:37:06 0
“Some of the things in sunscreen are really spooky, mainly the compound. And here, I'm not one of these conspiracy. I drink tap water. Listen, folks.”

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Toxin exposure 1:37:30 0
“Because, if you look at these compounds, they cross the blood-brain barrier. I don't want compounds crossing the blood-brain barrier.”

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Toxin exposure 1:38:42 0
“And they get in. Okay, well, I know that some of them react with the sun and, while they do protect from the UVA and/or B, they form massive reactive oxygen species and carcinogen.”

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Nutrition 1:40:43 0
“I do think magnesium is important in there as well. I mean, I think, again, about 40% of the US population doesn't get enough magnesium. It's an essential mineral we're supposed to be getting from our diet.”

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Nutrition 1:42:30 0
“Well, magnesium is at the center of a chlorophyll molecule. Chlorophyll is what gives plants their green color. So dark, leafy greens are high in magnesium.”

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Nutrition 1:42:54 0
“So dark, leafy greens are how I like to get my magnesium. I think it comes along with all these other important. I mean, you get calcium in them. You get vitamin K1.”

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Substances 1:44:31 0
“But I also do supplement with magnesium. So supplementation with magnesium, it can cause GI distress at high doses. I personally like to take around 130 or 135 milligrams.”

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Substances 1:46:04 0
“I take malate because I was told that it would be helpful. First of all, it doesn't make me sleepy like some of the other forms of magnesium, which act as a mild sedative for me.”

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Exercise 1:48:17 0
“So I don't know what's going on there, but I keep taking it.”

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Nutrition 1:48:50 0
“I always try to eat green apples. They're really high in malic acid.”

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Substances 1:49:05 0
“I take a supplement called Magnesi-Om by Moon Juice. It's like a little powder. It's got a little bit of monk fruit, but it tastes good.”

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Sleep 1:49:13 0
“I do it a little bit before bedtime as well.”

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Stress management 1:54:40 0
“I feel less anxious. I feel good. I feel more focused, which is why I'll usually do it before any type of public speaking, or when I'm just anxious, I'll just get in there.”

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Stress management 1:56:09 0
“The increases in dopamine were massive and lasted hours. So the mood enhancing effects that you report, you're not imagining that.”

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Stress management 1:58:01 0
“The sauna is causing vasodilation and the Cold Plunge or cold exposure is causing vasoconstriction, so it's like a very just shock to my system.”

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Metabolic health 1:59:44 0
“But I want to be cold adapted because that means I have more mitochondria in my adipose tissue and perhaps even muscle. That's been shown.”

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Metabolic health 2:00:28 0
“So the more eloquent way to do it, or elegant, I guess, way to do it is to basically have your mitochondria produce tons and tons of heat.”

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Metabolic health 2:02:05 0
“You're burning glucose. You're burning lipids. You're basically burning things and making heat.”

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Metabolic health 2:04:40 0
“It's not the only thing. It's certainly, if you're obese and trying to lose weight, you're not going to do that just by doing cold exposure. You need to do dietary and exercise changes predominantly, but it does affect metabolism.”

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Exercise 2:05:37 0
“people that were exercising, I believe, or maybe it may have been men only that were exercising, did some training, and then did cold water immersion, something like 50 degrees Fahrenheit, 15 minutes, and PGC-1alpha, which is a biomarker for mitochondrial biogenesis, which is the generation of new mitochondria.”

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Exercise 2:06:10 0
“high-intensity interval training, exercise can do it. Can actually make more mitochondria.”

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Exercise 2:06:53 0
“There was a brilliant study by, at the time, he was a postdoc, Matthew Robinson, and he did a study where both young and older people, they had this whole high-intensity protocol, which I can't remember what it was, but their protocol for X amount of time. They then measured biomarkers of mitochondrial biogenesis in their muscle tissue, and the amount of mitochondrial biogenesis in old people specifically, it happened in both young and old from HIT, from the high-intensity interval training, was, I mean, it was enormous, at least 50%, I think.”

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Exercise 2:11:29 0
“So I tend to do that at least three times a week. Sometimes I do it more, like I'll do four. And I do a 10 minute, just 10, because it's efficient, and I push my ass. I push myself really hard.”

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Exercise 2:11:43 0
“It's 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off, and it's 10 minutes.”

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Stress management 2:14:19 0
“I started noticing that I was, all of a sudden, able to handle stress better, like the stress of my six-month setback because of a failed experiment, which is crushing, on top of the pressure from my advisor and my own pressure 'cause I'm very competitive with myself.”

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Stress management 2:18:12 0
“So, in the sauna, you also release norepinephrine, just like you do in the cold. There's a lot of overlap. It is a stressor, but I use it to remember things.”

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Disease prevention 2:21:46 0
“There's studies showing that sauna use is associated with a much lower risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease. People that use it four to seven times a week have greater than 60% reduction in dementia and Alzheimer's disease risk compared to once.”

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Disease prevention 2:22:46 0
“If men use the sauna four to seven times a week, it's a 50% reduction in cardiovascular related mortality compared to one time a week.”

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Disease prevention 2:22:51 0
“Two to three times a week is something like 24% lower death from cardiovascular disease.”

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Disease prevention 2:24:19 0
“Men that were in the sauna for only 11 minutes, even if they used it four to seven times a week, that reduction was only like 8% instead of 50.”

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Disease prevention 2:25:34 0
“20 minutes in a sauna physiologically the same things happen, so heart rate elevates while you're doing the activity, blood pressure increases while you're doing the activity, but then, after, heart rate decreases, resting heart rate decreases below baseline, blood pressure is improved, so it decreases below baseline.”

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Disease prevention 2:29:23 0
“Heat shock proteins are robustly activated in humans. This has been shown to, even 50% higher over baseline levels after just 30 minutes at 163 degrees Fahrenheit in the sauna.”

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Genetics 2:30:03 0
“There's people that have SNPs in heat shock protein factor 70 that, if they have one of them, so they got one from their parents where they have more active heat shock protein 70, they live on average one year longer than people that don't have that SNP.”

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Genetics 2:30:18 0
“And if they have two versions, if they got one from their mom and one from their dad, they live on average two years longer than people that don't have that SNP.”

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Hormone balance 1:55:06 0
“So, if you're trying to conceive children or keep your sperm healthy, guys should probably stay out of warm, hot baths.”

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Exercise 2:38:18 0
“And when I exercise, it's funny, because I'm a female, and you'd think that I'd be exercising to stay fit and in shape and care about my figure, but, when I exercise, literally what I'm thinking about is my brain.”

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Exercise 2:39:11 0
“I also run. I try and get one longer run per week and a few other runs, and I do it without a phone. I don't listen to podcasts. I occasionally will listen to music, but I really try not to.”

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Exercise 2:40:21 0
“A body that's active can signal to the brain that the body still needs cognition.”

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Nutrition 2:41:08 0
“There are all these micronutrients, and, of course, macronutrients are important too.”

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Sun protection 2:42:57 0
“Red light can travel through the deep layers of the dermis of the skin.”

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Disease prevention 2:44:48 0
“Infrared saunas have been shown to improve a variety of, like, coronary heart disease and conditions, heart-related conditions.”

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Toxin exposure 2:45:12 0
“You do sweat some heavy metals. And some heavy metals are excreted predominantly through sweat and others through urine.”

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Stress management 2:46:18 0
“But, again, hot baths are, I think, a good alternative modality for heat stress compared to like a regular sauna.”

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Over the course of this richly detailed conversation, Dr. Rhonda Patrick and Andrew Huberman survey a broad spectrum of lifestyle, nutritional, and environmental interventions that collectively shape healthspan, brain function, and longevity.

Micronutrients & Supplements
Central to today’s episode is the role of micronutrients—vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients—in supporting cellular and systemic resilience. Dr. Patrick’s research with Dr. Bruce Ames highlighted how deficiencies in those micronutrients drive inflammation, DNA damage, and accelerated aging. Strategic supplementation—whether with multi-nutrient formulations like Athletic Greens, targeted nootropics from Thesis, or micronutrient-rich powders such as Kuli Kuli’s moringa—can fill dietary gaps. Vitamin D3 (40–60 ng/mL optimal; 1,000–10,000 IU daily) and omega-3s (2–4 g EPA/DHA per day) both emerged as “magic numbers,” with higher Omega-3 Indices linked to lower mortality and cardiovascular risk. Plant compounds like sulforaphane from broccoli sprouts (up to 100× higher than mature broccoli) trigger hormetic stress pathways, while beneficial polyphenols and flavanols add an additional layer of cellular protection.

Gut, Genetic, and Hormonal Factors
Gut health—bolstered by probiotics in greens powders or fermented foods—underpins systemic inflammation. Genetic polymorphisms, from APOE4 (25 % Alzheimer’s risk allele) to variants in heat-shock-protein genes, modulate individual responses to diet, temperature, and stress. Hormone precursors derived from cholesterol, and mineral cofactors like magnesium (found at the center of every chlorophyll molecule in leafy greens), further illustrate how both inherited and environmental inputs converge on metabolic and cognitive pathways.

Stress, Temperature & Circadian Rhythms
Intermittent stress—whether thermal (cold plunges at ~50 °F for 20 s) or heat (saunas at 163–174 °F for 20–30 min)—activates adaptive pathways. Cold exposure spikes dopamine and metabolic heat production, expanding mitochondrial density in adipose and muscle, while heat stress induces heat-shock proteins and vasodilation that deliver cardiovascular and cognitive benefits. Frequent sauna use (4–7×/week) correlates with up to a 60 % reduction in dementia risk and a 50 % drop in cardiovascular mortality; even twice weekly yields significant gains. Light exposure—especially morning sunlight—anchors circadian rhythms, supporting sleep quality, hormonal balance, and cellular repair.

Exercise & Movement as Medicine
Physical activity remains non-negotiable: endurance runs, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and resistance work each drive mitochondrial biogenesis (PGC-1α up by ≥50 %, even in older adults). Short, Tabata-style workouts (20 s on/10 s off, 10 min total) confer outsized benefits in minimal time. Movement not only conditions the body but signals the brain to maintain neuroplasticity and cognitive function.

Sun Protection & Toxin Awareness
Balanced sun exposure delivers vitamin D synthesis, yet concerns over sunscreen chemicals crossing the blood–brain barrier invite more selective product choices. Avoiding known toxins—benzene in smoke and air pollution, heavy metals excreted through sweat, and endocrine-active compounds in personal care—further reduces chronic disease risk.

Putting It All Together
These converging interventions—optimizing nutrition, smart supplementation, genetic insights, hormetic stressors, disciplined movement, and environmental mindfulness—form an integrated blueprint for extending not just lifespan, but healthspan. By harnessing evolutionarily conserved pathways and modern science, we can better manage inflammation, bolster cellular defenses, and enhance both mental and physical performance well into later decades.