Huberman’s Rational Approach to Supplementation for Health & Performance

Is 2023 the year that you finally promised yourself it would be different? Are you excited to embark on this journey of self improvement? Thanks to Andrew Huberman, you may now be equipped with the tools necessary to turbocharge this change. In the Huberman Lab podcast, Andrew Huberman dives deep for over two hours to explain his scientific approach towards supplements. I am here to distill this information into a quick digestible format for you.

Table of Contents

• Role of Supplements
• Foundational Supplements
• Sleep Supplements
• Broadband Hormone Supplements + Growth Hormone
• Direct Testosterone/Estrogen Supplements
• Cognitive Enhancement & Focus, Sleep Supplements
• Extra
• Key Takeaways

The Role of Supplements

In some ways, supplements are analogous to the action of sharpening a knife. When sharpening a knife, one will grind out greater imperfections on a more abrasive block to reshape the tool, followed by some precision honing to develop that edge. In this case, Huberman stresses that behaviors, nutrition, sleep, and exercise form this block which provides the first impactful changes which should be focused on before honing. Huberman offers some actionable recommendations such as avoiding caffeine after 2pm, avoiding bright light exposure between 10pm-4am, and avoiding eating two hours before sleep to maximize rest. He includes that sunlight exposure is instrumental to wellbeing and should be sought out immediately upon waking. Only once individuals optimize their sleep, perform cardiovascular and resistance training, seek adequate sunlight, and obtain proper nutrition can they begin to focus on this honing phase through non-prescription supplements.

There is no pill replacement for sleep, sunshine, and exercise.

Foundational Supplements

As described, foundational supplements include: vitamins and minerals, digestive enzymes, and adaptogens.

Vitamins and Minerals: Huberman recommends that individuals take a multivitamin blend for many reasons. For one, he states that the fear of taking too many water or fat soluble vitamins isn’t completely warranted as your body will flush excess water-soluble vitamins and any build up of fat-soluble vitamins is likely to not be adverse in reasonable quantities. He positions vitamins and minerals as a form of an “insurance policy” and states that individuals who have special diets such as carnivores, vegans, or intermittent fasters should consider what they may be individually deficient in.

Digestive Enzymes: Found naturally in foods like pineapple and papaya, digestive enzymes can be helpful in a foundational supplement for their ability to help catalyze reactions.

Prebiotics/Probiotics: Prebiotics and Probiotics are used to augment and support the gut microbiome. It has been shown that focusing on hosting a range of microbiota is advantageous for immune health, hormones, mood, and motivaiton. Low sugar fermented foods such as greek yogurt along with prebiotic fiber can assist in this goal; however, it is recommended that individuals get four servings of low sugar fermented foods per day to support gut microbiome while also decreasing brain and body inflammation. This can be quite difficult, so prebiotic and probiotic capsules are often recommended. It is notable that an abundance of prebiotics and probiotics will also lead to brain fog, so Huberman recommends that users begin with smaller doses and modulate up as needed.

Adaptogens: Huberman’s last component of this foundational supplement category revolves around adaptogens which can be found as micro nutrients, herbs, and even some mushrooms. He states that adaptogens provide buffering to stress by reducing cortisol levels or can enhance some cognitive function through bloodflow to the brain or some enhancement of neurotransmitters. Unlike the other foundational supplements, adaptogens are not often found in sufficient quantities in regular diets, so it is recommended that individuals seek out additional supplementation.

There are many foundational supplement blends on the market which can knock out all of these requirements in one product if you want to save some time (ex Athletic Greens).

Sleep Supplements

When it comes to sleep, Huberman provides a lot of interesting insights. For starters, he states that if you are making it through your days without significant crashes, you may have your sleep figured out already. He makes a point to say that a quick 10–15 minute nap early in the day is also perfectly acceptable and does not indicate poor sleep quality; however, many people tend to wake up feeling groggy from naps, and this may indicate that they should avoid napping as a mechanism for improving wakefulness. Huberman makes two clear supplement recommendations for those with specific sleep problems.

Falling asleep fine but you wake up and can’t fall back asleep? try 900mg Myo-insitol. Myo-insitol should shorten the time it takes to fall back asleep, and it may also have a positive impact on your mood.

Waking up from intense dreams? Avoid Theanine

Want to shorten the time taken to fall asleep? try Magnesium Threonate/Bisglycinate to invoke mild drowsiness

Thoughts keeping you up? try Apigenin to reduce anxiety and thinking

Most interestingly of all AVOID MELATONIN. According to Huberman, melatonin is often mislabeled even by large companies, does not keep individuals asleep, and can have a negative impact on testosterone and estrogen production.

Broadband Hormone Supplements + Growth Hormone

There are non-prescription supplements which will promote hormone function. Surprisingly, calories have a substantial bearing on hormone function and require to be at adequate levels for optimal testosterone and estrogen.

In terms of broadband hormone support, Huberman recommends a few supplements which generally have the same effect:

Shilajit/Ashwangandha/L-Carnitine/Maca Root: increases egg growth and fertility in women, increases sperm production in men, increases testosterone and estrogen, and increases libido.

As an additional note, Huberman recommends that users do not take Ashwangandha for more than two weeks straight at high doses (check with examine.com).

There isn’t much that can be do to improve growth hormone production. Huberman again emphasizes sleep with a particular emphasis on the first 3–4 hours of sleep where growth hormone is released. He states that many people use intermittent fasting to increase growth hormone, but it is ultimately not a logical way for functionally increasing growth hormone. To achieve exceptional results increasing growth hormone, peptides or prescribed growth hormone would have to be used.

Direct Testosterone/Estrogen Supplements

One increasingly popular supplement shown to have some incredible results is Tongkat Ali. This supplement has been shown to increase libido while also increasing free testosterone by reducing sex hormone bindning globulin. 200–600mg a day is recommended depending on one’s body weight. Because Tongkat Ali takes time to experience, it is recommended that users wait 8–12 weeks before getting a blood test done to check for improvements in testosterone levels.

Fadogia Agrertis is an herb when taken at a dose of 600mg a day has reported some signs of increased libido, sperm production, testosterone, and estrogen. It is important that users monitor this supplement closely as it has been linked to toxic effects with testicular cells and others when taken in high concentration. So, users should experiment with lower doses and get bloodwork done 4–8 weeks after supplementing to be sure.

Cognitive Enhancement & Focus, Sleep, Stimulants (Caffeine)

Caffeine is a molecule which increases alertness and focus in 1–3mg/kg of body weight taken 30 min or so before a mental or physical endeavor.

While caffeine can be found in coffee, tea, and Yerba Mate(avoid carcinogenic smoked versions), caffeine will be more efficacious in pill/tablet form. Huberman states that 200mg of caffeine from coffee may not even be as effective of 100mg of pure caffeine as the pure caffeine will tend to have a more potent and long-lasting effect. Another stimulant worth noting is Rauwolscine. Rauwolscine has been shown to improve alertness along with some additional fat-burning characteristics. It is important to note that it may come at the cost of increased anxiety.

In all, Huberman thinks that seeking caffeine in tablet/pill/drink form is a perfectly reasonable way to explore cognitive fucntion and focus.

Cognitive Enhancement & Focus, Sleep (non-Stimulants)

Looking for improved cognitive function in a non-stimulating format? Look no further. Huberman makes a few recommenations for some supplements that will help you get in the zone while at work or at the gym.

Alpha GPC: 300–600mg for heightened levels of physical and mental focus. 4–6 hour half life with a small non-stimulant increase in alertness.

L-Tyrosine: 500–1000mg for a dopaminergic stimulation leading to increased focus

Huberman recommends that you test each of these supplements. He also includes that it is reasonable to take them along with caffeine as many energy products will include both the stimulating and non-stimulating cognitive enhancers in their formulas.

Extra

Towards the end of his podcast, Huberman speaks on the imporantance of Omega 3 Fatty Acids. He strongly advocates for 1–3g of EPA a day in the form of fish oil to benefit the brain and body. He states that it has been shown to improve mood, decrease depression, and improve cognitive ability especially when taken by developing individuals.

Lastly, he makes a brief recommendation to supplement with protein sources like whey protein as needed to get to 1g protein per pound of body weight per day. He recommends focusing on quality sources and would urge people to seek this protein from whole foods first.

Key Takeaways:

• Get your behaviors, sleep, exercise, and nutrition in check before worrying about supplements.
• Add supplements to your routine one at a time because everyone’s bodies will respond differently to certain supplements
• Use a blended all-in-one solution to getting foundational supplements if you are stressed for time/have a restrictive diet that requires compensation
• Start your supplements at the low end of the efficacious dose on examine.com, then work your way up as you determine your personal efficacious dose
• Always consult with a physician before making significant lifestyle and supplement decisions
• There is no pill replacement for sleep, sunshine, and exercise!!