Developing a Rationale Approach to Supplementation for Health & Performance
Link to full podcast summary: Developing a Rationale Approach to Supplementation for Health & Performance
Podcast Summary
Dr. Huberman explains how to design a supplementation protocol to support maximum mental and physical health and performance depending on specific needs, nutrition, lifestyle and finances. 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. 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.
"Foundational” supplements support overall health, including water and fat-soluble vitamins, minerals, digestive enzymes, adaptogens, and prebiotics/probiotics.
Single-Ingredient supplements 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).
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.
Key Takeaways
Above all else, behavioral tools and habits form the foundation of mental health, physical health and performance
No amount of supplements or compounds can ever compensate for poor nutrition
The best time to take a vitamin or mineral supplement is with food
Every two weeks or so, take one night off completely from all your sleep supplements or leave out one sleep supplement. Try to understand to what extent you might have established a dependency, either real or placebo.
Get your nutrition and behaviors correct before you start thinking about supplementation for hormones
The best way to augment growth hormone is to get quality, deep sleep, especially the sleep that occurs in the first three or four hours of the night
Extended periods of intermittent fasting can be detrimental to growth hormone levels
Data shows that ingesting one to three grams of EPA in particular, in the form of either fish oil capsules or liquid, can be beneficial for a number of different aspects of brain and body health, and can enhance focus and cognitive ability. This is especially true in developing brains
On average, people need one gram of protein per pound of body weight, per day
Thanks for the breakdown. "No amount of supplements or compounds can ever compensate for poor nutrition." At the end of the day, getting the baseline down first is important.