Using Caffeine to Optimize Mental & Physical Performance | Episode 101

Huberman Lab

Scicomm Media

Science, Health & Fitness, Life Sciences

4.8 • 26.2K Ratings

🗓️ 5 December 2022

⏱️ 142 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, I explain how to use caffeine to enhance mental and physical health and performance, including the optimal dosages and intake schedules for caffeine. I explain how caffeine powerfully reinforces the consumption of certain foods and drinks—thereby increasing how much we like their tastes and seek them out. I discuss the mechanisms by which caffeine increases focus, alertness and mood and reduces sleepiness. I also explain many practical tools for caffeine use, including delaying caffeine intake after waking, intermittent caffeine use, during fasting, before and during exercise, and the use of theanine to curb jitters caused by caffeine. I also discuss the positive effects of caffeine on overall health and longevity and address several myths about caffeine. Since caffeine is one of the most commonly used substances (more than 90% of adults use caffeine daily!), this episode provides actionable tips for adjusting caffeine consumption to positively impact performance and health, including sleep. Thank you to our sponsors AG1 (Athletic Greens): https://athleticgreens.com/huberman Levels: https://levels.link/huberman Eight Sleep: https://www.eightsleep.com/huberman ROKA: https://www.roka.com/huberman InsideTracker: https://www.insidetracker.com/huberman Supplements from Momentous https://www.livemomentous.com/huberman For the full show notes, visit hubermanlab.com Timestamps (00:00:00) Caffeine (00:02:58) Tool: GLP-1, Yerba Mate, Satiety & Weight Loss (00:11:06) Levels, Eight Sleep, ROKA, Momentous Supplements (00:15:23) Caffeine Benefits for Mental & Physical Performance (00:20:23) Caffeine in Nature & Positive Reinforcement (00:26:44) Caffeine Effects on Brain; Reward Pathways (00:29:55) Caffeine as a Reinforcing Agent (00:36:47) AG1 (Athletic Greens) (00:38:01) Caffeine, Adenosine & Reduced Sleepiness (00:45:16) Tool: Caffeine Dosage, Caffeine Adapted (00:53:44) Tool: Delayed Caffeine Intake, Afternoon Crash & Sleep (01:04:46) Morning Exercise & Residual Caffeine Effects (01:07:56) Tool: Theanine & Jitteriness; Fasting, Intermittent Caffeine Use (01:13:00) Theanine: Effects & Dosage (01:18:41) InsideTracker (01:19:45) Other Effects: Osteoporosis, Hormone Levels, Depression (01:27:41) Afternoon Caffeine & Sleep (01:31:45) Tool: Caffeine & Mental/Physical Performance; Cortisol & Caffeine Abstinence (01:46:04) Caffeine, Performance & Menstrual Cycle (01:47:27) Tool: Memory & Caffeine Timing; Adrenaline & Cold Exposure (01:54:08) Caffeine & Naps (01:56:34) Tool: Exercise, Caffeine, Dopamine & Positive Reinforcement (02:01:55) Dopamine Stacking (02:06:04) Scheduling Caffeine to Maximize Its Effects (02:08:33) Pro-Health Effects of Caffeine (02:13:38) Tool: Sugar Cravings & Reinforcing Effects of Caffeine (02:20:17) Zero-Cost Support, YouTube Feedback, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, Social Media, Momentous Supplements, Neural Network Newsletter Disclaimer Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Huberman Lab podcast where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life.
0:08.6	I'm Andrew Huberman and I'm a professor of neurobiology and
0:12.4	Ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. Today we are discussing caffeine.
0:17.6	Caffeine is one of the most widely used substances on the planet.
0:21.3	Estimates are that more than 90% of adults and as many as 50% of kids that is adolescents and teenagers use caffeine
0:29.1	on a daily basis.
0:31.1	Caffeine is an amazing molecule. Most people are familiar with caffeine's ability to increase alertness and
0:37.4	to reduce our feelings of sleepiness and fatigue and indeed it does that.
0:41.9	But what most people are not aware of is that caffeine acts as a strong reinforcer.
0:47.0	What I mean by reinforcer is that when caffeine is present in a drink or food and yes indeed caffeine is present in many foods
0:55.0	even unbeknownst to us
0:57.0	when it's present in drinks and foods
0:59.0	we actively come to like those foods and drinks more than if caffeine were not contained in those foods and drinks.
1:07.0	So it reinforces our liking of particular foods and drinks and indeed it even reinforces our liking of the containers
1:14.7	they are consumed from and the company we keep when we consume foods and drinks that contain caffeine.
1:21.8	That is caffeine is not just a stimulant.
1:24.5	Caffeine is a reinforcer and it's a reinforcer that plays an active role in almost everybody's daily life.
1:31.8	We can say that with confidence because as I mentioned a moment ago more than 90% of people are consuming caffeine
1:37.3	and most people think that they consume caffeine because it makes them feel more alert.
1:41.4	But there are many reasons why you're consuming caffeine and I'm not going to tell you that consuming caffeine is necessarily bad.
1:47.6	In fact today I'm going to tell you about many of the positive health benefits of caffeine including neuro protective effects.
1:54.0	Anti-depressive effects and certainly performance enhancing effects both for mental performance and for physical performance.
	...

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