All protocols

If trying to control hunger, avoid ingesting a lot of fructose; high-fructose corn syrup is especially discouraged because of its very high fructose content.

If eating sweet foods, prefer lower-glycemic options and combine them with fiber or other foods to reduce glycemic index/load, slow dopamine release, and reduce cravings.

Cinnamon can help control blood sugar, likely by slowing glucose entry into the bloodstream and possibly gastric emptying. Use it in a beverage or on food before or with a big, sugary, or carbohydrate-heavy meal to blunt glucose increases. Do not exceed about 1 to 1.5 teaspoons per day due to toxicity risk.

Know whether you have normal blood pressure, pre-hypertension, or hypertension, and use blood pressure as a key metric to guide salt intake, cardiovascular exercise, and other lifestyle changes, especially while adjusting sodium intake for anxiety, dizziness, sports performance, or cognition.

On lower-carbohydrate diets, some people increase potassium intake through potassium-containing foods, including vegetables. A target of about 4 g potassium/day was also relayed.

Do not ingest excessive water rapidly; too much water in a short period can be dangerous or fatal.

Develop awareness of your baseline autonomic state when with someone and when they leave, and build the ability to self-soothe and regulate yourself in a partner's temporary or permanent absence rather than relying entirely on their presence for calm.

Presented as a supplement that can increase sexual desire and function in certain populations, particularly females, with mixed findings on testosterone and libido. Study protocols mentioned include 750 mg/day divided into 3 equal doses for 120 days, which increased free and bioavailable testosterone in postmenopausal women but not libido in that study, and 6 g/day of Tribulus root for 60 days, which was associated with a clear significant increase in libido in a separate study.

Before adding or subtracting anything from a supplementation or health regimen, check with your doctor or healthcare provider.

Repeat or recite the information or perform the skill over and over; more repetitions strengthen the relevant neural circuit and improve retention.

If you are not suffering from depression, modulate indoor and outdoor time across the year to allow normal seasonal changes in melatonin duration: generally more outdoor time in spring and summer and more indoor time in winter.

Avoid UVB light from artificial sources between about 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. because even small amounts can disrupt sleep, energy, mood, melatonin, and dopamine-related pathways. If you have depression or low mood, be especially cautious even in the late evening, roughly 8 p.m. to 4 a.m.

Get regular UVB exposure from sunlight to the skin, eyes, and face throughout the year, as safely possible, to support endocrine, mood, energy, immune, pain-relief, wound-healing, and tissue-renewal pathways. Most people should likely get more UVB exposure overall, especially in winter, while avoiding sunburn and eye damage.

Never look directly at sunlight or artificial light that is so bright it is painful to look at.

Do not rely on sunlight exposure through windows or a car windshield because most glass filters out UVB.

Use a thin drawing-box style LED lighting panel delivering about 930 to 1,000 lux, about the size of a laptop, as a lower-cost alternative to a SAD lamp.

If you have retinitis pigmentosa, macular degeneration, glaucoma, or are especially prone to skin cancers, consult your ophthalmologist and dermatologist before increasing UVB exposure from any source.

Instead of testing a true 1RM, do as many reps as possible with a challenging but safe load and use a conversion chart to estimate 1RM.

In addition to glabrous skin cooling, putting cold water on the top of the head and perhaps the neck may also help someone who is overheating.

Use tea as a deliberate, attentive ritual rather than a quick caffeine hit. Focus on the brewing process, notice the aroma and flavor of different teas, and slow down while preparing and drinking it. This kind of mindful practice can create a calming pause in the day and make the experience more restorative.

Practice long-exhale breathing while consciously thinking about slowing your heart rate on the exhale and increasing it on the inhale to train respiratory sinus arrhythmia, strengthen vagal pathways, and build vagal tone. Do this for 1–3 minutes or 1–5 minutes, either occasionally or daily.

Can be used in PNF stretching, for example around the ankle while lying on the back to pull the limb toward you and progressively relax into greater range of motion; can also be used for self-assisted protocols.

Machines or other stretching apparatus can be used for PNF stretching protocols to assist range-of-motion work.

Raise core body temperature a bit before stretching to reduce injury risk. If already warm from running, weight training, or other activity, do the stretching session at the end of that workout. Otherwise, do 5–10 minutes of easy cardiovascular exercise or safe calisthenic movements first.

Define end range of motion as the place where you can feel the stretch in the relevant muscle groups, rather than forcing a fixed distance or position. Feel the target muscles as you stretch them, and do not get attached to hitting the same stretch depth every session because range of motion varies day to day. Hold the static stretch at the point where you cannot go much further; later sets may increase range of motion further.

If already taking an SSRI for OCD, add cognitive behavioral therapy to further improve symptoms.

After a focus bout, take at least 10 minutes and ideally up to 30 minutes for deliberate defocus. Let your mental state idle, do automatic or reflexive tasks rather than cognitively demanding ones, avoid focused reading, avoid tight visual focus such as your phone, and use ordinary transitions like walking down the hall or going to the restroom without checking your phone. Daily daydreaming also fits this decompression practice.

Discuss with a board-certified psychiatrist for bipolar disorder; requires careful blood monitoring due to toxicity, especially in the first three months. Presented as effective for reducing manic symptoms in many patients, but not something to self-administer casually.

If using lithium treatment, monitor blood levels extremely carefully because of toxicity risk, especially during the first three months of treatment.

Do not unnecessarily cut out dairy during puberty; dairy was described as helping increase IGF-1 and free IGF-1, supporting growth and development.