Cold Exposure and Exercise: Unlocking Hormonal Benefits

In this episode, I discuss testosterone and estrogen hormones and how they impact the brain, body, and behavior after puberty. I also discuss how various behaviors such as exercise (resistance and endurance training) and sex or observing sex impact these hormones and their levels. I ask: "what specifically is it about such activities that impact testosterone and estrogen?"; the resounding theme is that when our nervous system is activated in particular ways, it drives our endocrine system and vascular system to activate or repress certain hormone networks in predictable ways. I also discuss peer-reviewed studies and protocols addressing (at a mechanistic level) how light, cold and heat, and respiration (breathing) can positively or negatively impact testosterone and estrogen. We discuss specific supplements and compounds that peer-reviewed studies illustrate can adjust testosterone and estrogen levels by changing their binding to other proteins, raising them directly, or changing other hormones released from the brain and pituitary. I discuss optimization in the normal reference ranges for these hormones, and I discuss pheromones, apnea, menstrual cycles, menopause and andropause.

Read the full show notes for this episode at hubermanlab.com.

Thank you to our sponsors

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Waking Up: https://www.wakingup.com/huberman

Timestamps

00:00:00 Introduction  

00:00:26 Sponsors: AG1, LMNT & Waking Up  

00:05:50 Hormone Optimization  

00:07:00 Salutogenesis: A Powerful Way to Conceptualize Health  

00:10:03 Estrogen and Testosterone: Sources, Levels and Ratios  

00:15:46 The Power of Competition, Plus: Anxiety, Persistence and Dopamine  

00:20:58 Testosterone and Libido Pre-Ovulation  

00:21:48 Estrogen and Sexual Receptivity; Libido In Males  

00:23:10 How Sex Behavior Impacts Testosterone: Observing vs. Actual vs. Abstinence  

00:26:46 Testosterone and Prolactin: Sex Seeking vs. Pair Bonding  

00:27:30 DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone): Effects on Levels/Ratios  

00:28:45 Behaviors That Decrease Testosterone (and Cortisol): Parenting and Prolactin  

00:31:24 How Illness Impacts Testosterone and Estrogen: Cytokines, e.g., IL-6  

00:33:20 How Exactly Do Behaviors Change Hormones?  

00:34:18 Pheromones: Miscarriage, Menstrual Cycles, Puberty Onset, and Mate Recognition  

00:43:33 Apnea: A Powerful Bi-Directional Influence On Estrogen and Testosterone  

00:47:44 Mouth vs. Nose Breathing and Hormone Levels: Effects Via Sleep and Direct Effects  

00:51:11 How Sleep Adjusts Cortisol/Testosterone and Cortisol/Estrogen Ratios  

00:53:49 O2:CO2 Ratios, Nasal Breathing During Exercise  

00:56:30 Light Viewing Patterns and Hormones: Dopamine, GnRH  

00:57:44 Spring Fever: Tyrosinase, Hair Color, Mating Frequency  

01:04:39 Specificity of Hormone Effects  

01:06:03 Temperature: Cold and Hot Gonads  

01:14:10 How To Exercise: Types, Effort Level, Sequencing  

01:21:42 Cardio/Endurance vs. Resistance Training (First or Last?) Yes, It Matters  

01:24:41 Estrogen and Menopause: Compounds That May Ameliorate/Reverse Symptoms  

01:33:18 Nutrients That Optimize The Foundation For Hormones  

01:36:00 Opioids as Severe Hormone Disruptors  

01:37:23 Testes, Antlers and Ovaries  

01:38:50 Creatine and Increasing DHT (Dihydrotestosterone)  

01:40:14 Free and Bound Testosterone: SHBG (Sex Hormone Binding Globulin), Tongat Ali  

01:43:23 Nettles, Prostate, Boron, and Blood Brain Barrier  

01:45:27 Hormone Related Cancers: Sometimes Reducing Estrogen and Testosterone Is Optimal  

01:47:43 Ecdysteroids: Mimic Mammalian Hormones  

01:51:50 Optimizing Brain Hormones: Chorionic Gonadotropin, Fadogia Agrestis  

01:57:18 Additional Compounds, Liver Toxicity, Overall Milieu  

01:59:17 Summary: And Note About Additional Related Topic Coverage Coming  

Disclaimer & Disclosures

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