Huberman Lab

Developing a Rational Approach to Supplementation for Health & Performance

Jan 9, 2023

Explore how to create a personalized supplementation protocol to boost mental and physical health. Discover foundational supplements essential for well-being, from vitamins to probiotics. Delve into how single-ingredient supplements can aid sleep, enhance cognitive function, and support hormone levels. Learn the role of nutrition, exercise, and sleep in maximizing the benefits of supplements. Unpack the myths around supplement dependency and the power of individualized approaches for optimal health and performance.

01:56:33

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Quick takeaways

Foundational supplements provide a broad range of vitamins, minerals, digestive enzymes, and adaptogens to support overall health and performance.

Supplementation for sleep can be beneficial, and key supplements like Magnesium 3 and 8 (bis-glycinate) and Apigenin can aid in falling asleep and promoting deeper sleep.

Supplements for hormone support, such as Ashwagandha, Myo-inositol, and theanine, can optimize hormonal pathways and assist in sleep patterns.

Supplements for cognitive enhancement and focus, such as Apigenin and L-theanine, can improve mental clarity and concentration.

Approach the use of sleep supplements systematically, experimenting with individual ingredients to assess their effectiveness in improving sleep quality.

Deep dives

Foundational Supplementation: Meeting Basic Nutritional Needs

Foundational supplements are essential for providing a broad spectrum of vitamins, minerals, digestive enzymes, and adaptogens to support mental health, physical health, and performance. These supplements serve as an insurance policy to compensate for any deficiencies in nutrition. It is important to choose high-quality supplements that cover all the necessary categories and maintain the appropriate dosages. Foundational supplements also include probiotics and prebiotics to support the gut microbiome, which plays a vital role in overall health. It is recommended to focus on multi-ingredient formulations for foundational supplementation.

Apogenin and Magnesium Three and Eight for Better Sleep

01:59

The Benefits of Fermented Foods for Gut Microbiota - and Fiber

01:26

Ashwagandha to decrease cortisol and increase testosterone

01:13

Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids Can Enhance Focus and Cognitive Ability

02:48

Intro

10min

Foundations of Supplementation

48min

Exploring Sleep Supplement Dependency and Placebo Effects

4min

Understanding Supplementation and Hormonal Health

28min

Cognitive Enhancement Supplements

24min

A Rational Approach to Personal Supplementation

6min

In this episode, I explain how to design a supplementation protocol to support maximum mental and physical health and performance depending on your specific needs, nutrition, lifestyle and finances. When most people hear about “supplements,” they think they are vitamin supplements, but there are many compounds that are powerful and sold over-the-counter that can enhance our health in performance and that can’t be obtained from foods. First, I discuss “foundational” supplements to support overall health, including water and fat-soluble vitamins, minerals, digestive enzymes, adaptogens, and prebiotics/probiotics. Then I explain how to use single-ingredient supplements to enhance specific aspects of your physiology, such as aiding sleep, cognitive enhancement, and focus supporting healthy hormone levels (e.g., testosterone, estrogen and growth hormone, thyroid). Finally, I explain when it makes sense to add supplements to your lifestyle and discuss how best to use supplements, including how to determine dosage, sourcing, continuous schedules and cycling, and how to layer different supplements most effectively. This episode will explain how to design the safest, most biologically effective, cost-effective supplementation protocol to meet your particular goals and support your overall health, including vitality and longevity.

For the full show notes, visit hubermanlab.com.

Thank you to our sponsors

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Timestamps

(00:00:00) Supplements

(00:03:38) Hierarchy of Tools/Interventions, Developing a Supplementation Protocol

(00:12:09) Sponsor: LMNT

(00:15:38) Role of Supplements, Foundational Supplements, Water/Fat-Soluble Vitamins

(00:21:07) Supplement Considerations: Cost, Nutrition & Schedule

(00:25:25) Foundational Supplements, Digestive Enzymes, Adaptogens

(00:28:04) Gut Microbiome, Probiotics/Prebiotics & Nutrition

(00:32:09) Sponsor: AG1

(00:33:06) Supplements for Gut Microbiome, Brain Fog

(00:36:44) Adaptogens & Broad-Spectrum Foundational Supplements

(00:38:35) Core Supplement Questions & Meeting Foundational Needs

(00:43:45) Supplements to Support Sleep: Myo-Inositol, Theanine

(00:50:52) Supplements for Falling Asleep: Magnesium Threonate/Bisglycinate, Apigenin

(00:55:55) Melatonin Caution

(00:58:11) Supplement Dependency?, Placebo Effects

(01:03:53) Nutrition & Behavior for Hormone Health

(01:08:59) Hormone Health: Shilajit, Ashwagandha, L-Carnitine, Maca Root

(01:12:48) Growth Hormone: Behaviors, Arginine, Prescriptions

(01:16:04) Testosterone/Estrogen: Fadogia Agrestis; Bloodwork

(01:23:06) Testosterone Supplement: Tongkat Ali, Libido

(01:27:24) Menstrual Cycle, Birth Control & Fertility

(01:30:54) Cognitive Enhancement & Focus, Sleep, Stimulants: Caffeine

(01:36:57) Adrenaline & Stimulants: Yohimbine, Rauwolscine

(01:38:55) Adjusting Neurotransmitters: Alpha-GPC, L-Tyrosine; Layering Supplements

(01:43:58) Cognitive, Mood & Metabolic Support: Omega-3 Fatty Acids

(01:47:25) Food-Mimic Supplements, Protein

(01:50:09) Kids, Aging & Supplements

(01:55:25) A Rational Supplementation Protocol

(01:58:36) Zero-Cost Support, YouTube Feedback, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, Momentous, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter

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Huberman Lab

Developing a Rational Approach to Supplementation for Health & Performance

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Foundational Supplementation: Meeting Basic Nutritional Needs

Sleep Supplementation: Aiding in Falling Asleep and Staying Asleep

Hormone Support: Optimizing Hormone Function

Cognitive Enhancement and Focus: Enhancing Mental Clarity and Performance

Importance of Systematic Experimentation with Sleep Supplements

Caution with Melatonin Supplementation

Consideration of Hormone Support Supplements

Approach to Supplementation: Dosages and Evaluations

Considerations for Hormonal Supplements and Individual Responses

Apogenin and Magnesium Three and Eight for Better Sleep

The Benefits of Fermented Foods for Gut Microbiota - and Fiber

Ashwagandha to decrease cortisol and increase testosterone

Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids Can Enhance Focus and Cognitive Ability

Thank you to our sponsors

Timestamps

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts