In this episode 71 protocols
▶ 11:23 Track Wake Time Behaviors “So I highly recommend that you write down when you wake up or track that in some way that works for you and use that as a reference point to determine your temperature minimum.” ▷ 15:22 Morning Walk Behaviors “So for me, this process of taking a walk each morning isn't about exercise. It's not about burning calories. It's not about any of that.” ▷ 17:59 Morning Sunlight Exposure Behaviors “The protocol is get outdoors, ideally with no sunglasses if you can do that safely, even if there's cloud cover. More photons, light information, are coming through that cloud cover than would be coming from a very bright indoor bulb.” ▷ 22:59 Light Pad Tools “I instead use, I have a pad that's a 930 lux light pad. I think it was designed for drawing. Those are available at a fraction of the cost that a morning light simulator would provide.” ▷ 23:53 Avoid Blue-Light Blocking Glasses During the Day Behaviors “So you don't want to shield yourself from blue light early in the day or throughout the day, or anytime you want to be awake. In fact, that could have a number of detrimental consequences.” ▷ 24:11 Blue-Light Blocking Glasses Tools “The time to wear blue blockers, if you do, is at night and in the evening when you're headed towards sleep.” ▷ 25:16 Take Visual Distance Breaks From Screens Behaviors “A better remedy would be to step away from that computer from time to time and to make sure that you can look far off into the distance, ideally a distance longer than 20 feet, like view a horizon, go out on a balcony, things of that sort, take a walk around, get into optic flow.” ▷ 25:40 Dim Evening Lights Behaviors “I do the other form of circadian control, which is to dim the lights. And I do that because dimming the lights and setting them lower in the environment sets up the brain and body for sleep much better than simply just wearing some blue blockers.” ▷ 27:15 Morning Hydration Behaviors “I force myself, essentially, to drink at least 16 and, most days, 32 ounces of water.” ▷ 27:23 Sea Salt in Water Diet “I also put a little bit of sea salt in the water. As many of you know, neurons require ionic flow.” ▷ 27:58 Room-Temperature Water in Morning Diet “And I drink that more or less room temperature. I find that drinking really cold water first thing in the day kind of cramps up my insides, so I don't do that.” ▷ 28:14 Delay Caffeine After Waking Behaviors “I purposely delay my caffeine intake to 90 minutes to 120 minutes after I wake up.” ▷ 30:42 Intermittent Fasting Until Late Morning or Noon Behaviors “I found that the best way for me to achieve that state is through fasting. So I don't eat anything until about 11 a.m. or 12 noon.” ▷ 30:53 Brazil Nuts Diet “There are days when I'll have a few Brazil nuts... which is why I tend to eat a few Brazil nuts each day, typically with my lunch or sometimes before my workout.” ▷ 30:53 Almond Butter Diet “There are days when I'll have... a spoonful or three of almond butter, for instance, but most days I'm not doing that.” ▷ 31:03 Yerba Mate Diet “The caffeine source for me is yerba mate, guayusa tea. Those are my preferred sources.” ▷ 38:31 Position Screen at Eye Level or Slightly Higher Behaviors “While we're working, try and position your screen or your tablet, whatever device you happen to be working on, at least at eye level, and ideally slightly higher.” ▷ 39:45 Standing Desk Tools “So what I do is I have a standing desk, but I also prop the computer up such that it's at least at eye level.” ▷ 40:13 Sit Upright Rather Than Reclined While Working Behaviors “They found is that depending on how reclined you are or upright you are, you will decrease with reclining and increase with sitting forward your levels of alertness.” ▷ 42:02 90-Minute Focused Work Bout Behaviors “But I set a timer for 90 minutes and I try and get a strong bout of work done inside of that 90 minutes... that 90 minutes is about what the brain can handle in terms of a dedicated effort for high degree of focus.” ▷ 42:02 Timer for Work Blocks Tools “But I set a timer for 90 minutes and I try and get a strong bout of work done inside of that 90 minutes.” ▷ 42:41 Freedom App Tools “I use a program called Freedom. It shuts me out of the internet completely.” ▷ 44:12 Remove Phone During Deep Work Behaviors “My phone is absolutely off. It's not on airplane mode. It's absolutely off during this time.” ▷ 45:52 Low-Level White Noise During Work Behaviors “In addition, I use low level white noise... Turned on at a low volume, not with headphones most of the time, puts the brain into a state that's optimal for learning and workflow.” ▷ 52:35 Exercise After Morning Work Behaviors “So after I've finished a bout of work, this 90 minute bout of work, I force myself... to do some sort of physical exercise that is going to be supportive of my brain health and brain function and organ health and bodily function in general.” ▷ 55:29 Exercise Five Days Per Week Behaviors “And essentially what the data tell us is that in order to optimize cardiovascular and brain health and other systems of the body, we want to exercise at least five days per week.” ▷ 56:09 Alternate 10–12 Week Training Emphasis Blocks Behaviors “For a 12 week period or so, maybe 10 to 12 weeks, three of those five workouts per week emphasize strength and hypertrophy, and the other two emphasize endurance. Then after 10 or 12 weeks, one switches over... where you're prioritizing endurance work.” ▷ 56:44 Resistance Training Behaviors “There are a lot of data now supporting the fact that maintaining muscular health and bone health is supported by resistance training, weight training of various kinds. It can also be done with body weight if you don't have access to equipment.” ▷ 56:56 Endurance Training Behaviors “And of course that doing cardiovascular endurance work is very beneficial, both to the muscles of the body, the organs of the body, but also to the brain.” ▷ 1:04:59 Train Fasted Behaviors “Sachin and his book, The Circadian Code, describe how engaging in physical exercise while fasted can amplify the effects of that exercise... So where possible, I do strive to do my workout without eating anything first.” ▷ 1:06:21 Potassium Tablet Supplements “Many people find that if they simply ingest some water with salt, maybe a 99 milligram potassium tablet, all of a sudden they feel very mentally clear and able to do physical work and mental work.” ▷ 1:08:24 Avoid Energy Drinks Behaviors “I am not a fan of energy drinks... I did a decent portion of a previous episode on food and mood, on energy drinks and some of the detrimental things they contain.” ▷ 1:08:46 Alpha-GPC Supplements “On rare occasions, I should emphasize rare occasions, if I really need help increasing my motivation or I decide I want to push extremely hard, I will ingest something like alpha-GPC.” ▷ 1:10:04 Avoid Large Meal Volumes Behaviors “If you eat a large volume of anything, because it diverts blood to your gut, you will feel lethargic and you will have less blood going to your brain.” ▷ 1:11:04 Lower-Carbohydrate Lunch Diet “So for lunch, I do emphasize slightly lower carbohydrate or low carbohydrate intake for the simple reason that adrenaline and dopamine... are going to support alertness.” ▷ 1:11:21 Protein and Vegetables at Lunch Diet “Then I eat a lunch that consists of some sort of protein thing, like some meat or some chicken or some salmon... and some vegetables, et cetera.” ▷ 1:11:32 Starchy Carbohydrates at Lunch After Exercise Diet “And if I've exercised previously... then I will ingest some starches. I'll ingest some bread... or rice or oatmeal and butter and nuts and things like that.” ▷ 1:13:34 Omega-3 Fatty Acids Supplements “More than a dozen studies have shown that ingesting at least 1,000 milligrams per day of the EPA form of essential fatty acid is as effective as prescription antidepressants in relieving depression... I've made the choice to ingest at least 1,000 milligrams per day of EPA.” ▷ 1:14:24 Fatty Salmon Diet “So if you're eating fatty salmon regularly... you probably don't need to supplement with omega-3.” ▷ 1:15:05 Algae Omega-3 Sources Diet “For those of you that don't want to consume fish oils and prefer to get your omega-3s from non-animal sources, there are non-animal sources, various forms of algae, et cetera.” ▷ 1:15:34 Get Sufficient Iodine Diet “That pointed to the importance of getting sufficient iodine, which you should naturally get from the salts you're ingesting, provided you're ingesting enough salt.” ▷ 1:15:49 Get Sufficient Selenium Diet “But ingesting sufficient selenium or selenium has been shown to be important for proper thyroid production, thyroid function...” ▷ 1:18:49 Butter Diet “Butter is high in cholesterol... Butter has cholesterol, which is a precursor to the sex steroid hormones... So I eat butter in order to ensure that I get sufficient cholesterol.” ▷ 1:21:06 Tongkat Ali Supplements “For those that have lower than desired levels of testosterone or too much sex hormone binding globulin, it turns out that 400 milligrams per day of something called Tongkat Ali... can actually help increase levels of free testosterone.” ▷ 1:22:12 Fadogia Agrestis Supplements “Fidogia agrestis has been shown, albeit in a limited number of studies, to increase levels of luteinizing hormone and thereby levels of testosterone and estrogen in ways that some people find beneficial.” ▷ 1:22:31 Post-Meal Walk Behaviors “A key aspect to the midday meal, if you want that meal to benefit you, is to take a brief walk afterwards. It turns out that brief walks of five to 30 minutes after ingesting food can accelerate metabolism and actually can accelerate and improve nutrient utilization.” ▷ 1:25:03 Meditation Behaviors “There is robust and ample literature supporting the fact that a regular meditation practice is beneficial.” ▷ 1:25:15 Yoga Nidra Behaviors “Yoga nidra is a practice I've talked about many times before, which involves simply lying down... It just involves lying on your back and doing some specific long exhale breathing.” ▷ 1:25:31 Hypnosis Behaviors “There's one NSDR type protocol that has been shown by the greatest number of scientific studies to promote not just states of mind, but states of deep relaxation... And that's hypnosis.” ▷ 1:26:35 Reveri App Tools “I'd like to point out a particular resource. It's a completely zero cost resource, which is reverie.com... Within Reverie, you will find hypnosis protocols for enhancing your focus, enhancing creativity, reducing pain, getting better at sleeping, reducing anxiety.” ▷ 1:31:20 Hydrate After Hypnosis Behaviors “I've just sort of linked the drinking of water to my hypnosis practice. As soon as I'm done, I hydrate.” ▷ 1:32:29 Naps Under 90 Minutes Behaviors “Naps should be 90 minutes or less and 20 minute naps are fine, but not longer than 90 minutes.” ▷ 1:35:19 Afternoon/Evening Sunlight Exposure Behaviors “If you can get outside and see the sun as it arcs down... get some sunlight in your eyes in the afternoon hours... and do that for 20, 30 minutes... if one does this, if you go outside and view sunlight in the evening hours for anywhere from five to 30 minutes... your melatonin rhythm stays appropriate.” ▷ 1:39:36 Dinner With Starchy Carbohydrates Diet “My dinner generally is comprised of things that are going to support rest and deep sleep. And that means starchy carbohydrates.” ▷ 1:39:59 Avoid Refined Sugars Diet “We really should distinguish between refined sugars and complex carbohydrates... refined sugars disrupt not just metabolism... and create a situation where you actually start craving more sugar.” ▷ 1:41:21 Protein and Vegetables at Dinner Diet “So my dinner is carbohydrates and some protein. So maybe some chicken or fish or something like that, maybe some eggs... or sometimes just pasta or just rice and vegetables.” ▷ 1:42:16 Avoid Serotonin or Serotonin-Precursor Supplements for Sleep Behaviors “Many people, including myself, find that when they supplement with serotonin in the evening or at night, that can cause problems in the architecture or the structure of sleep... So I don't like to supplement with anything that is directly serotonin or a precursor to serotonin.” ▷ 1:45:09 Hot Bath or Shower Before Bed Behaviors “One way to accelerate that drop in temperature, somewhat counterintuitively, is to use hot baths... if you are to get into... a hot bath and then get out, your body is going to engage... cooling itself off that are going to allow you to drop your temperature more quickly and fall asleep more easily.” ▷ 1:45:09 Sauna Tools “One way to accelerate that drop in temperature... is to use hot baths, hot showers, or if you have access to one, a sauna.” ▷ 1:46:22 Sauna Before Bed Behaviors “Basically what we're talking about is 20 minutes in the sauna... Shorter bouts of sauna will work also.” ▷ 1:47:19 Keep Bedroom Very Dark Behaviors “It is absolutely true that keeping the room very dark is beneficial... So keeping a room very dark is, I would say, beneficial. It's essential.” ▷ 1:47:29 Keep Bedroom Cool Behaviors “The other thing is keeping the room cool... So keep the room cool or cold and get under warm blankets.” ▷ 1:50:20 Avoid Melatonin Supplementation Behaviors “I am not a fan of melatonin for enhancing the transition to sleep... dosages of melatonin are far too high in most supplements... melatonin can have some negative effects on the sex steroid hormones... melatonin will aid the transition to sleep, but it won't keep you asleep.” ▷ 1:51:55 Magnesium Bisglycinate Supplements “For many people, taking 300 to 400 milligrams of magnesium biglycinate or magnesium threonate... 30 to 60 minutes before sleep can aid them in falling asleep, can really help them fall asleep faster and stay asleep.” ▷ 1:51:55 Magnesium Threonate Supplements “For many people, taking 300 to 400 milligrams of magnesium biglycinate or magnesium threonate... 30 to 60 minutes before sleep can aid them in falling asleep, can really help them fall asleep faster and stay asleep.” ▷ 1:52:38 Apigenin Supplements “So apigenin is the substance that's found in chamomile and 50 milligrams of apigenin taken 30 minutes before sleep can act as another way to shut off the forebrain and reduce rumination, reduce anxiety, and allow people to fall and stay asleep.” ▷ 1:53:11 L-Theanine Supplements “And then the third compound is theanine... So magnesium threonate or biglycinate, apigenin and theanine in combination can be very effective for aiding the transition to sleep... 100 to 200 milligrams of theanine alone or in combination have been beneficial to many people.” ▷ 1:56:28 Use Bright Light in the Evening if Sleepiness Starts Too Early Behaviors “You might be one of the rare individuals for whom getting a little bit more bright light in the evening could be a good thing. So this would be around the hours of seven or 8 p.m. And then that way causing that pulse in melatonin to be delayed.” ▷ 1:56:52 Keep Nighttime Lights Dim if You Wake Up Behaviors “It's perfectly fine to flip on the lights but keep the lights dim. But if you flip on those lights, try and flip them off as soon as possible and try and get back into bed.” ▷ 1:57:02 Use NSDR if You Wake in the Night Behaviors “If you have trouble falling asleep again and you absolutely need to sleep, that's where these NSDR, these non-sleep deep rest protocols can really be beneficial.” ▷ 2:01:08 Maintain a Consistent Sleep-Wake Schedule Behaviors “Try on most days and most nights to wake up at more or less the same time and try to go to sleep at more or less the same time.”