"Andrew Huberman"

Summary

SmartLess Podcast Summary — "Andrew Huberman"

Date: February 9, 2026
Hosts: Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
Guest: Andrew Huberman, PhD, Stanford Professor, Neuroscientist, Podcaster

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Episode Overview

This episode features Dr. Andrew Huberman, renowned neuroscientist and host of one of the world’s most downloaded science podcasts. The conversation is a lively, deeply informative, and often hilarious exploration of practical neuroscience—ranging from boosting immune function, optimizing sleep, and understanding nicotine, to longevity, how to interpret health trends, and the importance of meaningful connection in a tech-driven age.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Post-Holiday Brain Fog & Immunity Boosters

• Hosts share post-holiday sluggishness, illness, and falling out of routine
  • Jason describes his “brain getting real flabby” after too much downtime (04:00).
  • Andrew explains that cognitive “flabbiness” after time off is completely normal and often resolves quickly once regular activity resumes (09:11).
• Science-backed cold & flu remedies
  • Hot baths/showers: Mobilize the immune system—especially helpful in the early stages of illness. (09:33)
  • Morning sunlight: Enhances mitochondrial and immune function; even Scandinavian/Russian customs put babies outside in morning light (11:02, 11:25).
  • N-acetylcysteine (NAC): Robust evidence that NAC supplementation (600–900 mg, 2–3x/day) can dramatically lower chances of getting sick when exposed to viruses (16:07).
    • “...the one thing that the peer-reviewed research actually shows can help stave off flu.” —Huberman, (17:44)
  • Sauna vs. cold plunges:
    • Use heat (sauna, hot shower) when sick—drop cold exposure, as it can overstress the body.
    • Cold plunges are energizing for the healthy but too much of a stressor when fighting infection (13:38–14:12).

2. Nicotine, Caffeine, and Habit-Forming Substances

• Nicotine: nuanced risks and benefits
  • Nicotine is a stimulant that paradoxically can also relax, leading to heightened focus and alertness (19:00).
  • Nicotine alone (not tobacco): not carcinogenic, can be neuroprotective (may protect against Parkinson’s & Alzheimer’s), but is “highly habit-forming” and should be used sparingly, if at all.
    • “Nicotine itself is not carcinogenic...But it is highly, highly habit forming.” —Huberman, (21:16)
  • Vaping, smoking, snuffing, dipping: All cause cancer and/or other serious health issues; vaping is “bad” and can raise blood pressure/anxiety (19:14–20:05).
• Caffeine:
  • Most adults are functionally dependent. Regular use leads to a need just to feel “baseline.”
  • Sean avoids caffeine for fear of dependency and becoming someone “grumpy” without his morning fix (23:49–24:35).
• Cannabis & REM Sleep
  • Habitual cannabis use suppresses REM sleep, which is key for emotional processing, learning, and vivid dreaming.
    • “People who take cannabis to sleep...They're getting no REM sleep.” —Huberman, (31:17)
  • REM rebounds with abstinence, often leading to intensely vivid dreams (31:25).

3. Sleep Optimization, Patterns & Practical Tips

• How to maximize sleep quality
  • Deep sleep: Achieved earlier in the night, crucial for bodily repair.
  • REM sleep: Occurs later; increase temperature in the last hours of sleep to boost REM (31:25).
    • “Increase the temperature in your sleeping environment in the last hours of sleep...your REM sleep will increase.” —Huberman, (32:00)
  • Bedtime Regularity: Going to bed around the same time each night helps maximize deep sleep (32:55).
  • Dim, dark nights & bright mornings
    • Bright early-day light exposure + dimmed lights at night (especially before bed) are associated with less depression, anxiety, and improved sleep architecture (44:48).
    • “Our days are too dim and our nights are too bright.” —Huberman, (46:05)
  • Don’t force sleep; avoid ‘fighting it’
    • “Your brain will start to associate your bed with a battle with sleep. You do not want that...get up and get out of bed if it takes more than 30 minutes.” —Huberman, (42:06)

4. Supplements, Longevity & Proactive Health Habit

• Host supplement regimens
  • Sean shares taking metformin, nicotinamide riboside (NR), and resveratrol for longevity. Andrew clarifies mechanisms:
    • Metformin: Lowers blood sugar; beneficial for some, but should be monitored for need (38:32).
    • NR/NMN (NAD+ precursors): May boost energy & reduce inflammation, but human lifespan extension unproven (39:01–39:30).
    • Rapid hair and nail growth often reported—a sign of cellular turnover, though no trials on this (39:59).
• Resistance training for healthspan
  • Consistent strength/resistance exercise is key for preventing neurodegeneration and maintaining function with age (69:30).
    • “When people stop moving...there’s feedback to the brain that may help kickstart some of that neurodegeneration.” —Huberman, (69:30)
• Lifespan expectations
  • Dr. Huberman is optimistic this generation has a solid shot at routinely reaching age 100—if meaningful social connections, sleep, less alcohol, and movement are prioritized (63:02–64:18).
    • “100? Yes.” —Huberman, (63:10)

5. Understanding (and Sifting Through) Health Trends & ‘Biohacking’

• The science vs. the ‘trend’
  • The challenge: filter between evidence-based advice and “cold plunge, biohacking crew” fads or social media pseudoscience (55:31–56:31).
  • Good scientific teaching requires explaining the “why”—not just giving edicts (56:32).
• GLP-1s (Ozempic etc.)
  • Weight loss drugs are very effective but have side effects/caveats; context matters, and hyping or dismissing them outright can be tribal rather than rational (58:42–59:38).
• Conspiracy vs. Evidence
  • Dr. Huberman believes most people are reasonable and not as polarized as social noise suggests. Science and medicine still underpin effective self-care but communication and reason must improve (61:32).
  • “There is a league of reasonable people out there...not so polarized. They're not talking about chemtrails.” —Huberman, (59:28)
• Tech & attention
  • Phones/electronic stimulation increase restlessness and degrade the “palate” for social interaction and boredom. Dr. Huberman recommends deliberate phone-free social time, despite discomfort at first—this is essential for wellbeing (71:12–72:17).
    • “It’s like a palate cleanser...Putting your phone away, it'll feel boring, but that's where the good stuff is.” —Huberman, (71:37)

6. Alzheimer’s/Dementia Prevention & Outlook

• Sean’s question about Alzheimer's: His mother died of the disease; he inquires about actual progress towards a cure/prevention (66:05).
• Current state
  • Huberman: Both pharmaceutical companies and academic labs are actively researching. Motivations are genuine; “those theories need to go.”
  • Prevention:
    • Blood sugar regulation
    • Regular resistance training (for men and women)
    • Quality sleep
    • Limiting environmental toxin exposure (as in pesticides near homes)
    • Social engagement
  • Ketogenic diets can help some with dementia; not for everyone, “has to be truly ketogenic” (67:06–69:29).
    • “Everyone should be trying to...get the best sleep they can. It's so clear.” —Huberman, (68:46)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Nicotine itself is not carcinogenic...But it is highly, highly habit forming.”
  — Andrew Huberman (21:16)

• “You want your cortisol high early in the day...Once people start to understand a little bit of mechanism...they can filter [health trends] through a rational filter.”
  — Andrew Huberman (56:32)

• “Your brain will start to associate your bed with a battle with sleep. You do not want that.”
  — Andrew Huberman (42:06)

• “When people stop moving...there’s feedback to the brain that may help kickstart some of that neurodegeneration.”
  — Andrew Huberman (69:30)

• “There is a league of reasonable people out there that represents the majority of people that are not so polarized.”
  — Andrew Huberman (59:28)

• Memorable banter:
  Will suggests, “We’re gonna get a Big Mac and smoke a cig, just to mess with people’s brains” (65:04).
  Jason: “Mirrors in space is something I’ve been a proponent of...” (61:08).
  Will: “Bring back the art of winking. Start winking at people.” (73:43)
  Andrew: “Eat like an adult. Slurp your food, don’t drink your food.” (65:21)

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Important Timestamps

• 09:33 Andrew’s science-backed illness remedies: hot baths, morning light, NAC
• 13:38–14:12 Saunas vs. cold plunges when sick
• 19:00–21:16 The nuanced truth about nicotine and brain function
• 23:49–24:35 Sean’s perspective on caffeine avoidance
• 31:17 Effects of cannabis on REM sleep
• 42:06 Why not to “fight” insomnia or force sleep
• 44:48–46:05 Sleep “hygiene” — importance of light management
• 55:31–56:31 On sifting fads vs. science in public health advice
• 58:42–59:38 GLP-1s (Ozempic etc.) and rational perspectives
• 63:02–64:18 Strategies for longevity and the realistic 100-year lifespan
• 66:05–69:29 Alzheimer’s prevention, genetic risk, research progress
• 71:12–72:17 The “palate cleanser” effect of going phone-free

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Tone & Takeaways

The episode is an engaging blend of deep science, jokes, pop-culture references, and real action steps for listeners. Huberman’s insights, grounded in evidence but explained with clarity and warmth, encourage practical self-experimentation, awareness of how health advice is formed, and a renewed emphasis on community and genuine connection over digital distraction.

In short:

• Move your body, manage stress and blood sugar, prioritize sleep and sunlight.
• Filter health info thoughtfully; value context, mechanism, and nuance.
• Social bonds and time offline are vital for health and longevity.

Andrew, on his life’s work:
“I love learning and I love teaching... I'm on a mission to teach what I think is the best of science and medicine so that people can make it useful to themselves.” (49:26)

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For Further Listening

• For deeper dives, visit Andrew Huberman’s own podcast, “Huberman Lab,” for long-form episodes expanding on many of these topics.

Transcript

[Jason Bateman]

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[Andrew Huberman]

you want your spring break to feel like. And your kids pool day to feel like. And your hotel bed to feel like. Ooh. And room service to feel like.

[Sean Hayes]

Because at Hilton, hospitality feels like.

[Andrew Huberman]

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[Jason Bateman]

Would you like fresh towels?

[Andrew Huberman]

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[Sean Hayes]

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[Will Arnett]

Hey. Hey, Sean. I do wanna. I wanna get into this. I know we gotta do a cold open for the show, but I got. I'm flying in New York today, so I gotta.

[Sean Hayes]

Why are you going. Why are you coming around here? Why are you coming in?

[Will Arnett]

I gotta go take care of some stuff and I just don't. I mean, I'm not trying to be vague about it, but I know. I just gotta do some stuff. I gotta go to New York. I gotta go. I gotta come evict you from your apartment. Okay. Are you happy? Welcome to Smartless sm. Smart. Smart.

[Sean Hayes]

Jason, you're still coughing.

[Jason Bateman]

I'm still coughing. I'm still clearing. You guys both got it, right?

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, I'm doing a little better.

[Jason Bateman]

But you're still. You've got it in the. In the. In the lungs.

[Sean Hayes]

No, I don't.

[Will Arnett]

Everybody's working for the weekend.

[Sean Hayes]

See, I have enough energy to do that.

[Will Arnett]

I knew I could. For the weekend. Hey, band. Right now. Jb. Who's saying that you want a piece of my heartband.

[Jason Bateman]

Tiger bomb.

[Will Arnett]

Close.

[Jason Bateman]

White tiger.

[Sean Hayes]

Tiger bomb.

[Will Arnett]

Sort of.

[Jason Bateman]

Tiger. Tiger's milk.

[Will Arnett]

No. Tiger's milk. No.

[Sean Hayes]

Wasn't it lover boy?

[Will Arnett]

Yes, lover boy.

[Jason Bateman]

That's what I said.

[Sean Hayes]

That's weird, by the way. By the way.

[Will Arnett]

Honestly. And I don't want to get too philosophical because it's the new year and stuff like that, but it is. There is something to it. Everybody is working for the week.

[Sean Hayes]

God.

[Will Arnett]

You know, I'll tell you what.

[Jason Bateman]

We just went through the holidays here. Listener sure did.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah.

[Jason Bateman]

And every day seemed like a Saturday. And I was really excited about that. I loved it. But I feel like my brain got real flabby now. I'm afraid to go outside. I feel like I'll have culture shock if I run into somebody that's a serious person.

[Will Arnett]

Somebody. Last night, I was talking to jb. You and I were texting a little bit during the last weekend of football. We're dating this. When we're recording this, but we're talking about football and stuff. And I was talking to our old buddy Eli.

[Jason Bateman]

That right? Eh. Oh, I do miss Eli.

[Will Arnett]

Sweet Eli. And he was saying, the holidays are over. Like, tonight's the last night. Like it was the last football game of the regular season. Like it was the last weekend after

[Sean Hayes]

the thing and the year starts.

[Will Arnett]

And honestly, I gotta say, I'm. I'm really happy about that. I had. We were sick. We were all sick over the holiday from starting Christmas Day.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah.

[Will Arnett]

Had the thing, jb, that you. That you've had, Sean, which you've now had.

[Sean Hayes]

I think Jason gave it to me. Yeah.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah. That big Thanksgiving trike. Tri kiss that we. We labeled it. Right. Just as we were leaning in, we said, let's call this a tri kiss. And then you guys got it.

[Sean Hayes]

A turducket. It was a turducket kiss.

[Will Arnett]

So I'm just. I'm like. At this point, after we spent. Which was nice, again, we felt very fortunate. We got to be at home with the family, with all my kids. And we had sort of 10 days kind of sequestered on the East Coast. But I'm looking forward to emerging from this. Yeah. A little bit from this.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, I know.

[Jason Bateman]

We are. We're starting right back. We're at work now. 9:30 Monday morning. We're a little out of practice. Right. I'm really nervous about today's episode.

[Will Arnett]

I know nobody's done, and we haven't covered the weather or the traffic yet. I think there's a SIG alert on the 210.

[Jason Bateman]

How do you stretch out for a podcast?

[Will Arnett]

I don't know.

[Sean Hayes]

Jason, you're going to arrive in about 10 more minutes. I can tell.

[Will Arnett]

Jason's got his. Jason's got his. His. He's wearing a hoodie and he's got the hoodie up and he's got this. His headphones on the outside.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, I'm still trying to stay cozy. Like, I'm making fires still.

[Sean Hayes]

Wait. Yeah, tell me, but what do you mean, Jay, when you said that? Because I think the same thing when I. I was thinking about you. About, like, you. You were like, I love being cozy and watching movies and not going anywhere. I'm kind of the same way. And then. I know what you mean. Like, oh, shoot, this has to end. And like, the world starts again.

[Will Arnett]

Sean, you're really on the fence between the. Well, I got a couple things. A. There's that, because you say you like to cozy and do nothing, but the truth is you also like to just rifle things off a checklist so you never stop. Three in the morning.

[Sean Hayes]

I don't want to think about it because if I don't resp. I know we talk about this a million times. If I don't check it off or respond or something, then it lingers in my head. I'm like, I gotta do that. And I just don't want to think about it.

[Will Arnett]

I know. So there's your.

[Jason Bateman]

What's your. What's your email inbox look like? Is it clean or is it always zero?

[Sean Hayes]

Zero. I panic.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, me too. Empty. Except the only things.

[Will Arnett]

All the emails are in there, but they're just no new.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, I need. If it's still in my inbox, I need to respond to it.

[Sean Hayes]

That's right. That's how I feel.

[Will Arnett]

But you don't delete all the emails you got.

[Jason Bateman]

No, but I've been read.

[Sean Hayes]

But that's what. I'm amazed when I see people. Somebody. I'm amazed when somebody. I see somebody's phone. And the messages of the emails are like 2,300.

[Will Arnett]

That's a sign of. That's a sign of.

[Jason Bateman]

I don't know how to sync my accounts yet.

[Will Arnett]

No, no, no, no, no, no. You need to go and get an assessment if that's happening and you need to. Or an assistant. A deep. Not. No, not an assistant. That sort of betrays a deeper. Like, you need a lot of assistance at this point. And we're going to send somebody over to the house. The other thing is, jb, I want to know.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah.

[Will Arnett]

Over the holiday, how much wood did you go through?

[Sean Hayes]

Wood Chuck. Chuck.

[Will Arnett]

And Sean, that question is going to go for you, but it's going to be on a different subject. Go ahead, jb. How much wood did you get through?

[Jason Bateman]

Consistent with Sean's answer, I think I went through two loads.

[Will Arnett]

Very nice way to land that.

[Sean Hayes]

What did I say? I said you show up in about 10 minutes. It only took like four.

[Will Arnett]

He's back. He is back, you guys. 20, 26. Look out.

[Sean Hayes]

All right. Well, speaking of brain mushiness, this is perfect. My guest today is a fellow podcaster, but that's about where the overlap ends. He's got a.

[Will Arnett]

You can't even make your own writing sound natural.

[Sean Hayes]

Terrible.

[Will Arnett]

You wrote it and it makes it sound like it's red. It's insane.

[Sean Hayes]

Oh, I'll read the whole thing right in front of you. He's got a PhD in neuroscience. He's a tenured professor at Stanford School of Medicine in neurobiology and ophthalmology, and by courtesy, psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. His work's been featured in Time, BBC, Scientific American, basically every publication. That makes me feel dumb. His podcast is one of the most downloaded in the world. It's the cold, plunging, dopamine optimizing sun staring science genius, Andrew Huberman.

[Will Arnett]

Great.

[Sean Hayes]

Finally.

[Jason Bateman]

Good morning and happy New Year.

[Andrew Huberman]

Good morning. Happy New Year. How are you doing?

[Sean Hayes]

Great. Yeah.

[Jason Bateman]

How's your brain fog today? Are you flabby from the holiday?

[Andrew Huberman]

I spent this holiday, like I've spent so many holidays working in the past. It used to be grants and now it was doing book edits. But I'm very familiar with this what you called flabby brain thing that happens after about four days away from. I don't know if it's the grind or the work, but it's. It's a normal thing and you snap right back.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, yeah.

[Andrew Huberman]

Being sick doesn't help. I took some notes here as I was sitting there in the backdrop. This thing that's been going around is rough. A couple of. I'll just say there are a couple of things that are supported by the peer reviewed literature that can really help accelerate moving through something like what you all dealt with. I had it too, a couple of months ago. Three things. It turns out that the old practice of hot baths is actually quite good. You don't want to make it scalding, obviously, but you get into a just tolerably hot bath. I'm writing this down and it turns out it mobilizes some features of the immune system. In ways that can help you get over your sickness.

[Sean Hayes]

Why? Just because you sweat it out? Is that what I mean?

[Will Arnett]

No, dummy, just let him finish.

[Andrew Huberman]

You're activating some of the mobilization of some of the cells that go and scavenge for. For whatever it is that you're dealing with. This is particularly useful at the beginning. Your immune system has two different phases. There's kind of an innate phase where it's like any foreign invader gets kind of the same inflammation response. That's good. That's the kind of like, oh, you know, I'm feeling a little like under. I'm a little extra tired. Yeah, that's the time, ideally in the hour or two before bed, you take a nice hot bath or hot shower and then just get into bed. And you know, if you do that for a couple days in a row, you may be able to fend it off. If not, once you have it, keeping that practice up, provided you don't have a really high fever is really useful. That and I know I'm always talking about the morning sunlight.

[Will Arnett]

Please say smoking cigarettes at your circadian rhythm.

[Andrew Huberman]

No, but we can talk about nicotine if you want. A lot to say about nicotine, but getting some. What we call long wavelength light. So some sunlight or I'm not here to say red light therapy, but getting, getting some sunlight. This is very well supported by the literature because again, it, it's helpful for your mitochondrial function for your immune system.

[Sean Hayes]

Right.

[Andrew Huberman]

In. In Arctic countries, not so much Arctic, but in Scandinavia, in Russia, they actually put babies bundled up out in the cold in the morning to mobilize these.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah, we throw them outside here.

[Andrew Huberman]

We don't do that here. That'll get you child protection services.

[Will Arnett]

No, but up in, up in Canada, we'll toss her out. We'll toss her outside for sure.

[Andrew Huberman]

There are a couple other things we can talk about.

[Will Arnett]

But in any case, wait a second now. List. Andrew, nice to meet you. First of all.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, it's so great you're here. I've had you on for so long.

[Will Arnett]

Okay, shut up. Can I call you Huberman?

[Andrew Huberman]

You can call me whatever you want.

[Will Arnett]

Okay, how about God, because I refer to you as Huberman, as if I know you all the time because I've seen clips of yours online for years and stuff. And so I like a lot of the stuff you talk about. First of all, you lost Jason when you said bath because he just thinking about his own juices. He hates marinating in juices.

[Jason Bateman]

I don't understand the concept of it.

[Andrew Huberman]

A lot of men don't like baths.

[Will Arnett]

I saw it.

[Sean Hayes]

I hate it.

[Andrew Huberman]

A lot of men like baths. A lot of men don't.

[Jason Bateman]

The mass is wrong.

[Andrew Huberman]

Sauna would be fine. Sauna would be fine.

[Will Arnett]

Okay, so sauna. So interestingly, interestingly enough, and by the way, not that interesting, when I was starting to get this flu, I looked it up, I consulted, I did my own research, as they say, meaning I have Google. A lot of people like to talk about research. And what they mean is that they use the Internet like a bunch of fucking dummies. And it told me, because I've been a proponent of sauna and cold plunges,

[Sean Hayes]

and cold plunges always for more than

[Will Arnett]

10 years, early days. And they said to me, the Internet, they said, don't expose myself if I have the flu. That they were worried about because they said that your body's already working hard enough.

[Jason Bateman]

They were saying, don't do the cold plunge or don't do the hot.

[Will Arnett]

Don't do either. Because they were saying, because I've had quite hard enough. So this was the first time we, that when, when I was sick that I did not use the heat and, or the cold to try to combat it. And it ended up end up being harsher. And I, now that I'm hearing you, I'm like, I wish I had because historically I've always just gone in and I sauna early days when I start to feel that thing in my throat or whatever, and usually I'm able to stave it off.

[Andrew Huberman]

So you're saying, yeah, you know that the cold, deliberate cold exposure, right. Cold showers, cold plunges, this kind of thing, it is a stressor counter to what you hear out there. It does not raise cortisol, but it is a stressor. Your adrenaline spikes when you get in the cold, which is part of the reason you do it. And then when you get out, you get that long tail of dopamine and adrenaline that makes you feel much better and more alert, et cetera. That's fine under healthy conditions. I would say if you're battling something or you feel like you're coming down with something, use heat, sauna, hot shower, hot bath, whatever it is that works for you.

[Sean Hayes]

But how about that?

[Andrew Huberman]

I would drop the cold as you're getting into something that. Because it's a very potent stressor.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah.

[Andrew Huberman]

The thing about heat is if it's too hot, it can also be a stressor. I mean, when you're healthy, using the sauna as a way to get your heart rate up and kind of push it in there a little bit is good. By the way, useful tip. If you put a towel over your head or you know, you'll notice that Russian banyas, they wear those little.

[Will Arnett]

I have a sauna hat.

[Andrew Huberman]

Yeah, it insulates your brain from the heat so you can stay in longer. The impulse to get out is a brain thing. Not unless it's very, very hot. A burn thing. And then of course, if men, men want to conceive children in the next 90 days because of the 90 days spermatogenesis cycle. If you're going into the sauna, you need to put a cold packet. You're groin outside your shorts, guys. If you don't want children. Also don't use this as a surefire way to avoid having children. It's many accidents.

[Will Arnett]

You gotta stick your nuts in ice, eh?

[Jason Bateman]

Like wait, you're saying that the sauna will cut your sperm count?

[Andrew Huberman]

Absolutely. Heat and sperm, not a good combo. Which is why we're getting to anatomy here. Which is why the scrotum can extend and contract closer to the body. It's to maintain the optimal temperature for spermatogenesis.

[Sean Hayes]

How about that?

[Andrew Huberman]

Yeah. And so if you go in a sauna or a hot bath quite a bit in the 90 days prior to trying to conceive, you're going to limit the number of highly mobile sperm. That said, I'm sure many children have been conceived in saunas and hot baths and in hot conditions, hot tubs. But this is on average, right?

[Will Arnett]

No comment. No comment.

[Sean Hayes]

God, I would have had tons of kids by now.

[Jason Bateman]

Now let's, let's get back to what you were saying doctor about. Please expand on nicotine. As one of our co hosts here chews his nicorette gum.

[Will Arnett]

Sure.

[Jason Bateman]

Is that. It's not. What are you looking for? Freebies?

[Will Arnett]

I do a Zyn combo.

[Andrew Huberman]

Okay, I have a lot to say about this before I do that. Just very quickly, first of all, I want to put a full disclaimer. I have no financial relationship to what I'm about to describe in any way. There's a beautiful study published and it's on pubmed. I can send you guys the link if you want. And I learned about this from an ER doc out here in Los Angeles who needed to keep himself healthy during the winter season. N acetylcysteine, also called nac, is a glutathione precursor. There's a beautiful study showing that when they people signed up for a study where they would. Where they were deliberately exposed to people who had flu. Okay. And they either got NAC two or three times a day at about 600 to 900 milligrams per day or not.

[Sean Hayes]

But sorry, just describe what NAC is because you said that long word, I don't know what that is.

[Andrew Huberman]

N acetylcysteine. It's a precursor to something called glutathione, which is used in a bunch of different cellular processes. Normally, I think you don't need this, right? You don't need elevate glutathione. I know it's all the rage now to get glutathione drips and that sort of thing.

[Sean Hayes]

I don't know what that.

[Andrew Huberman]

I have a more conventional opinion about all that. But if you feel like you're coming down with something or you're going to be exposed to things or. Jason, you mentioned that you're heading off to New York. You've got work to do. You need to recover more quickly. The data on avoiding getting sick by taking 600 to 900 milligrams of N acetylcysteine two or three times a day when you're sick. Getting sick or trying to avoid getting sick is quite robust. In fact, there's a huge difference in the number of people all exposed to the same virus. Flu virus, in this case, that did not contract the virus. Some still did. It's in the high 20s, but had they not taken it, the control group was somewhere close to 80%. It's pretty impressive. And obviously check with your doctor, this kind of thing, but that's the one thing, you know, we hear about zinc, echinacea, all this stuff. It's the one thing that the peer reviewed research actually shows can help stave off fluid.

[Jason Bateman]

Is there any downside to taking it constantly?

[Andrew Huberman]

Some people will take a little bit each day. It is a little bit of what's called a mucolytic. So it will make your nose run just a little bit more. It's actually used to treat cystic fibrosis at very high doses, which is a buildup of fluid in the lungs. So it's a well known mucolytic. So it's going to help you drain out more as well. But no, there's really no downside.

[Will Arnett]

He wants to drain out. He all he heard was drain out. And he's so excited.

[Jason Bateman]

I'm losing water weight. I'm happy.

[Andrew Huberman]

I have a feeling that's related to our previous discussion.

[Will Arnett]

Wait a second, wait a second. We're not going to. An hour is not going to be enough time with you and Sean. We have so many. You open so many boxes.

[Jason Bateman]

But I want to know if our friend is. I want to know if our friend. Yeah. If our friend is safe.

[Will Arnett]

Cheering on the Zen because there's been so much. And I want to set it up by saying there's been so much about nicotine is good for you. People are now saying it's great, all this sort of stuff. And so I want to hear once and for all what your take is on nicotine and the various delivery systems. Great.

[Andrew Huberman]

Nicotine is a very interesting stimulant. It is a stimulant, but it's perhaps the only stimulant that also relaxes you at the same time.

[Will Arnett]

Thank you, Andrew, for coming on the podcast.

[Andrew Huberman]

Okay, so that's a very unique property. Right. It gives you that alert but focused. Kind of puts you in the groove that is so alluring to humans. So much so. And I'm gonna avoid going into a history about nicotine, but let's just say for hundreds of years, but in particular in the last hundred years, humans have figured out ways to get nicotine into their brain. And we know that smoking, vaping, dipping, and snuffing all cause cancer. And I did put vaping in there. Vaping is perhaps safer than smoking, but still causes lung damage, the contaminants, et cetera. Vaping is bad. I'm just saying.

[Will Arnett]

I mean, the science isn't back yet on what the burning of the metal and all that kind of stuff. And I will say anecdotally, when I tried to use one of the vaping products, I'm not gonna say which one, it increased my blood pressure, it increased my anxiety tenfold, and I went back off it.

[Andrew Huberman]

Yeah. I'll take a hard stance. Obviously, smoking, we now know.

[Will Arnett]

Still cool.

[Andrew Huberman]

Yeah. No one dips or snuffs, really, or people dip, but they don't.

[Will Arnett]

My grandfather used to snuff. He used to put a little bit on his.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, mine.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah.

[Andrew Huberman]

He used to. Literally putting tobacco up the nostrils. I can't even imagine. Okay, well, okay, so here's the deal. We went from smoking, dipping, vaping, and snuffing. Then we moved to what they used to call electronic cigarettes vaping, and then now oral nicotine is the main mode of delivery. Nicotine itself is not carcinogenic. This is very important. Doesn't cause cancer. Right. It's a stimulant that relaxes you. As I mentioned, it does raise blood pressure and it increases vasoconstriction. Vasoconstriction is just a clamping. Off of the little capillaries and vessels, in particular in the periphery, in the fingers, in other extremities and in the brain. And, you know, strokes and other things like that are cutting off a blood supply to small regions of the brain. So if your blood pressure is already high, not a good idea. If your blood pressure is naturally low and you're doing other things, for instance, sauna to vasodilate once a day or several. Maybe a few times a week at minimum. Or a hot bath if you're traveling, or a hot shower, taking some effort, especially before bed, to make sure that your capillaries are dilated. Not taking nicotine too late in the day. There is a space where I can now safely say what I'm about to say, which is, there is evidence. Let me do this backwards. People with Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, if they take nicotine, don't seem to get better. However, there is decent evidence in animals and humans that nicotine not delivered by vaping, dipping, smoking, or snuffing. Right. Can be protective against Parkinson's and Alzheimer's because it offsets. Seems to protect neurons against degeneration, which is the hallmark feature of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. That said, I'm going to feel very comfortable saying what I just said, but some people are going to say, wait a second, I don't want people starting to take nicotine to avoid getting Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. The blood pressure effect, the mild anxiety effect for certain people is significant. And here's the biggie. And then I'll just kind of peel back and hear what you guys have to say about this. The biggie is that it is highly. Nicotine delivered in any form is highly, highly habit forming. What do we call it? Addicting. Addicting is, you know, continued use despite harm to self or others. I call addiction a progressive narrowing of the things that bring you pleasure. By those two definitions, it's hard to call nicotine addicting. And yet I know many people that start with one pack of Zyn a day. One gum, one four milligram gum. Pretty soon it's two. Pretty soon it's four. Pretty soon it's a canister every three, four days. So if it's not addicting, it's highly habit forming. So that's, you know, those are. I'll occasionally take a piece of Nicorette. Yeah, yeah, sure. But I don't do it very often. I won't do it more than once every couple of weeks. Cause I love the potent effect, the

[Sean Hayes]

Problem is just to get through the day or something, you mean?

[Andrew Huberman]

No, if I'm doing a particularly long session of writing or a particularly long podcast. But here's the thing. If you take a stimulant of any kind, caffeine, nicotine, any stimulant of any kind, regularly, pretty soon you need it just to get to baseline. I mean, most of us drink. 90% of the adult population of the world drinks caffeine every single day just to feel at their normal levels of alertness. And the reason there's so few studies on caffeine that are really solid is because no one wants to go through the wood. You'd have to go into caffeine withdrawal for two weeks to be.

[Sean Hayes]

That's why I don't drink. That's why I don't drink caffeine.

[Andrew Huberman]

You seem to have a lot of energy. I don't think you need caffeine, whereas I need caffeine. That's not why, like, you seem very alert. Like you're. Why, like you have an alertness to you.

[Sean Hayes]

Well, and I'm feeling.

[Will Arnett]

First of all, I just want to say again, you didn't. It's not like you started. You were like, early on, you're like, I'm not going to drink coffee because I don't want to be my baseline. To have to be.

[Sean Hayes]

No, no, not. Not that. No, that's not why. But I didn't want to drink coffee, you know, in high school and stuff when people are drinking, because I saw what people went through when they're like, don't bother me. I haven't in my coffee. Like, I don't want to be that person that I can't talk to you until I've had caffeine, you know, or I'm angry until I'm not woken up until I have caffeine. So I recognized that and I didn't. I never wanted to be that person. So. And then I never drank coffee. I've had soda, but I don't really drink soda anymore. And so, yeah, that's it.

[Andrew Huberman]

I mean, that's the reason I avoided cannabis. I don't have anything. You know, I think cannabis has. For some people, it can activate psychiatry, psychosis, high thc. For some people, they seem to be able to take it and not really have too much trouble with it. The people I knew growing up, growing up, excuse me, who used a lot of cannabis when they didn't have access to their cannabis, they were pretty difficult to be with. To be with. They had this kind of they were irritable. Yeah.

[Jason Bateman]

And we will be right back.

[Sean Hayes]

What do you guys love to do? I love to hang out with friends. I love watching movies. I love playing piano. I love music. I love art. I love theater. I love. I even love sports, believe it or not. Do what you love to end alls lets you turn something you love into a fundraising event to end Alzheimer's and all dementia. By doing something you love to do, you can make a big difference in ending Alzheimer's. All proceeds benefit the care, support and research efforts of the Alzheimer's Association. What's your thing?

[Jason Bateman]

Golf.

[Sean Hayes]

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[Jason Bateman]

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[Sean Hayes]

Like, like you need to be some kind of collector, have a lot of money or know the right people to buy original art.

[Jason Bateman]

Uh huh. But guess what? It's not true at all.

[Sean Hayes]

Oh thank gosh.

[Jason Bateman]

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[Sean Hayes]

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[Jason Bateman]

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[Sean Hayes]

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[Jason Bateman]

That's 10% [e-mail] that's S A A T C H I art.com.

[Sean Hayes]

And now back to the show.

[Will Arnett]

I've always said that there's nobody grumpier than a stoner who's. Who's not stoned. They're always the grumpiest people. And there's a real. You can really draw a pretty firm line there. And we're saying, jb, that people who like to.

[Sean Hayes]

JB just took a pee break.

[Will Arnett]

I think cannabis and when they're not using it, can be prone to being grumpy thoughts. Wait, so take it easy, man.

[Sean Hayes]

He just went to go grab some nicotine and some cannabis.

[Jason Bateman]

You're saying when people who use cannabis, they get grumpy when they're not using it?

[Andrew Huberman]

Yeah, when they don't have access to it, like.

[Sean Hayes]

Cause I was saying, Jay, I was saying I don't drink caffeine because I don't want to be like a grumpy person until I reach my base.

[Jason Bateman]

You know, I might be a tough person to gauge on that because I think my set sort of default idol is. I wouldn't say grumpy, but is. You know, I'm the guy who sits at the back of the room and doesn't do a lot of. Lot of talking. But I'll throw a bomb every once in a while.

[Sean Hayes]

That's right. And then leaves, you know, But.

[Jason Bateman]

But does that make me. I don't know. I got to work on my.

[Andrew Huberman]

You don't fit the bill of what I was thinking of. I was thinking about. About chronic weed smokers.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah, chronic weed smokers, you know? Yeah.

[Sean Hayes]

No, no, no.

[Jason Bateman]

That's not.

[Andrew Huberman]

Cannabis is definitely here to stay. It's kind of amazing how much the. The reality is changing is people sold everywhere there. There are some real issues. I think the big one that's very overlooked is that everyone talks about. Oh, the. You know, that the weed is so much stronger now than it used to be. It's true. THC levels are much higher. But here's the thing. I had a researcher on my show who Specializes in cannabis research. And he said when people take edibles, that's when they tend to go through the. Not overdose, like a lethal overdose. But it's very hard to gauge the kind of plane of high when people take edibles. If they don't take them regularly. That's what lands people in the ER with a psychic episode.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, me too.

[Andrew Huberman]

And people who are prone to psychosis definitely need to avoid high thc. A lot of the madness you see out there when you're eating it, it's

[Will Arnett]

hard to know how much is too much.

[Jason Bateman]

Cause, like, I might be hungry. And the cookies look good.

[Will Arnett]

That's the problem, dude.

[Jason Bateman]

Big brownies.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, I've OD'd on THC a couple. Not OD'd, but I've taken too much THC a couple times. And it was just like. I was lying on the bed one time, I took so much, and I was, like, rocking. And I'm like, scotty, Scotty. He's like, it's okay. It's gonna be okay. And I go, God, it's been like three or four hours. He goes, it's literally been. I was, like, freaking out. I slept with my eyes open the whole night. It was awful.

[Will Arnett]

I was not sleep, by the way.

[Sean Hayes]

No, it's not sleep.

[Andrew Huberman]

Yeah. Well, people who take cannabis to sleep of any kind, in any amount, they're getting no REM sleep, no rapid eye movement.

[Sean Hayes]

That's interesting.

[Andrew Huberman]

Everyone that comes off cannabis gets a. They talk about how incredible their dreams are, how vivid their dreams are. You get a REM rebound. REM is when you consolidate memories. REM is when you learn the most information. You consolidate what you learned. REM is essential. Just a little tip. Outside of cannabis, for anyone that wants to increase the amount of REM sleep they get, there's a wonderful trick, which is you'll have to adjust the thermostat if you don't have a way to adjust the temperature of your bed. But either way, increase the temperature in your sleeping environment in the last hours of sleep. So you want the room cold to fall asleep and stay deeply asleep. But toward morning, even if you have to heat up the room as you get toward morning, and your REM sleep will increase fairly.

[Sean Hayes]

I won't do it. I won't do it.

[Will Arnett]

You won't do it. You won't do it. And would you say that your REM sleep is really good?

[Sean Hayes]

I mean, it's okay, so maybe you should do it? No, but I mean, like, what wakes me up is when it's too Hot.

[Jason Bateman]

Are you saying, Doctor, that if a good. If I'm dreaming a lot and I'm kind of remembering a bit of my dreams, does that mean I'm getting rem?

[Andrew Huberman]

Yes, especially if the dreams are vivid dreams. We tend to get more REM toward the end of the night and more deep sleep at the beginning of the night. The way to get the. The brief description of this is that at the beginning of the night, you go into a deep, slow wave sleep. That's more about bodily repair. The dreams are kind of unusual. They don't really have a lot of emotional content. The way to maximize the amount of deep sleep, in addition to not drinking caffeine too close to bed, et cetera, all that is to try and get to bed at more or less the regular time, plus or minus 45 minutes. We're all human, right?

[Sean Hayes]

Right.

[Andrew Huberman]

Because you're going to capture that deep sleep and then the wave passes. The way to maximize your REM sleep is to basically make sure you sleep long enough. Okay, so some people need six, some people need eight hours, whatever it is, for you to feel refreshed. But that last part of the night, if you can increase the temperature. Now, Sean, it sounds like you have a high core body temperature. That's great. That reflects a high metabolism. Oh, you're all wonderful. So you might just need to keep the room a little bit cooler than most. This is all relative.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, yeah.

[Will Arnett]

Listen, can I just say, you. You're just making me think. So last night, this dream. This is not a joke. I was just thinking about. It just came to me. I had a sick dream last night and I was in the back of a truck. This is totally true. With a bunch of dudes. And we were all wearing.

[Sean Hayes]

Same dream.

[Will Arnett]

I'm not making this up. We're all wearing ghillie suits, right? Like those ghillie suits. Like a onesies, you know, like snipers wear when they go. When they're like, you know, trying to camouflage themselves. And the rest of our crew went off, and then this one guy goes, you and me? And we. We jumped off and we went in and then we put up a bunch of branches so nobody knew which way we went. We went off from our regular crew and then. And we went off on this path and we saw this. I'm not kidding. I'm just. We saw this hill and we saw this shadow of. And he's like, those are the Russians. And they were up on this hill. And we were going to go and try to outflank these. This like this sort of like Spetsnaz group over on the other. On this other hill. I'm just. It was so vivid.

[Jason Bateman]

Well, end of story.

[Will Arnett]

Hang on, let him speak.

[Andrew Huberman]

Well, there's actually what we say in science, a mechanistic weave here. That that's. So get this. One of the things that happens during REM sleep is your acetylcholine levels are high. Nicotine, believe it or not, is called nicotine because it binds to the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. People who take nicotine. And I'm not suggesting people go out and start taking nicotine. And I have no financial relationship to any company that makes nicotine whatsoever. Yeah, that when you boost your acetylcholine levels by taking nicotine activation of that system with nicotine, it actually will you

[Will Arnett]

turn into a sniper.

[Andrew Huberman]

Well, in your case, yes. But you will increase the amount of REM that you get a little bit that night when you sleep.

[Sean Hayes]

How about that?

[Andrew Huberman]

But Will, there's one thing I really have to give you, actually, for all the men out there and on this podcast, but it will offset some of the vasoconstriction and blood pressure increase of your nicotine. But I had a guy on my podcast who's a colleague of mine at Stanford, Mike Eisenberg. He's our head of Male Sexual Health and Hormone Clinic at Stanford.

[Jason Bateman]

Here we go.

[Andrew Huberman]

He's an MD, PhD. He is the top notch doctor in urology and this area. Okay. He's a serious scientist and clinician. His words. Every male 40 years or older should be taking low dose, meaning 2.5 to 5 milligrams of tadalafil each evening to lower their blood pressure, dilate their capillaries. At higher doses, this is known as Cialis. Right, Used for erectile dysfunction. However, this drug, tadalafil, was initially developed to treat blood pressure and to dilate the small capillaries of the brain and body in order to encourage prostate health and to encourage brain health. And there's a lot of evidence as to why this is a good thing. It's very inexpensive. It costs pennies. Now, because it's generic for people out there, you do need a prescription. But my colleague Mike Eisenberg, you know, he didn't tell me to say this, but when we're talking about vasoconstrictors, high blood pressure, stress, stroke, you know, some of the leading causes of death, you know, every male in particular, because of the prostate, women should talk to their doctors. Whether or not this is applicable to women. But it will help offset some of that blood pressure and vasoconstriction increase.

[Sean Hayes]

Well, that's amazing. You know, now, listen. Every single day. I know you talk about supplements, too. I wanted to bring this up to you because this is what I take, and it has the word nicotine in it. I take. I take metformin and then I take, like, nicotinamide is. I'm missing. And resveratrol.

[Andrew Huberman]

Okay, so you're taking nicotinamide.

[Sean Hayes]

I take it every day for, like, three years.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah.

[Andrew Huberman]

Which is in the NAD pathway. Okay, so let's break these into. Metformin is to lower blood sugar.

[Will Arnett]

How much. How long does he have to live? Just say it.

[Andrew Huberman]

I mean, you guys, I can do like an age guess thing, but everyone here looks like they're in their late 30s, early 40s.

[Sean Hayes]

Likewise.

[Andrew Huberman]

Yeah, thanks. Yeah, I just turned 50. I feel really good.

[Will Arnett]

We're all mid-50s. We're all over 55. Wow.

[Jason Bateman]

But can play. I don't know what kind of scripts you've got. We can play mid-30s, late-30s.

[Sean Hayes]

I don't know.

[Will Arnett]

Can even go boyish, like, you know what I mean? Like, he's.

[Jason Bateman]

He's.

[Andrew Huberman]

By the way, I loved your Macaulay Culkin episode. I. I listened to that. I was like, this guy is so grounded. I can't even imagine being famous from that young of an age, you know? And I mean. And he's like. And he's like, you know, he's hyper famous. He just seems so. So grounded. I'm sure he's gone through the wickets to get there, but I was very impressed at the person he is. He's talking about and how ground he's about everything from Legos to parenting to acting and just. It was awesome. It was great. Yeah, great. That came up because you were talking about child actors or something. I think I still frame him in Home Alone.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah.

[Andrew Huberman]

So supplements, to be very clear. I know I often get kind of put into that supplement cold plunge category. Look, get great sleep. Sunlight. I'm all about sleep sunlight. If you drink alcohol, limit it. Offset it with good behaviors. Cardio resistance training. I mean, I've been doing that stuff since I was in my teens. And I'm really committed to the behaviors come first. There is a place for some people for supplements. Metformin lowers blood glucose, blood sugar.

[Sean Hayes]

So I can have more cheesecake? Yeah.

[Andrew Huberman]

I mean, it seems to work for some people especially who tend to run high blood sugar levels.

[Sean Hayes]

Very high.

[Andrew Huberman]

Some people will know the kind of poor man's version of this is actually a tree bark extract called berberine, which accomplishes the same thing.

[Will Arnett]

Sean, writing it down.

[Andrew Huberman]

I mentioned that because. But then you would want to stop taking metformin. You'd obviously want to talk to your doctor. The other thing you're taking, nicotinamide riboside, is in the NAD pathway.

[Will Arnett]

Okay.

[Andrew Huberman]

NAD got a lot of attention a few years back as a potential longevity. Yeah, we all make nad, and levels of it drop off with age. There is no direct evidence yet in humans that increasing nad, either by taking what's called nr, which is what you're taking, or nmn, can extend lifespan. However, it does seem to increase energy. And nr, in particular, what you're taking seems to. There's some good human studies that it can reduce inflammation in the body.

[Sean Hayes]

Oh, nice.

[Andrew Huberman]

And I'll say also again, no financial relationship. Relationship to any nadnr.

[Sean Hayes]

Likewise, I take.

[Andrew Huberman]

I take sublingual NMN in the morning to increase energy and I nmn. You could either take NR or nmn. Here's the interesting thing about increasing nad. I notice this is just anecdotally, but so do other family members. Etc. When I take NMN or nr, my hair grows very, very fast. My nails grow very.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, me too.

[Andrew Huberman]

It definitely is doing something for growth of those cells for me. For me, too.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah.

[Andrew Huberman]

There's been no clinical trials on this. I would just continue with what you're doing if you feel good and you have a good doctor that you're working with.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah.

[Andrew Huberman]

And how do you feel? Do you wake up feeling pretty good, finally.

[Sean Hayes]

Thank you for asking. I feel great. I feel terrific. No, I feel I could. We need to do like a side comp, you know, zoom or whatever.

[Will Arnett]

Sean, can we get into. Will cost you. Can we get into a little bit? Because we touched on it and you do feel good. And there's very good observations. Sean does have. Tend to have a lot of energy in a really sort of. But. And I give you a lot of shit about it because I do love you and it's funny. But it's also. I do worry about your sleep. And Sean, also.

[Sean Hayes]

Sugar.

[Will Arnett]

Well, sugar. And there might be a correlation, and I'm sure there is, but Sean, and correct me if I'm wrong, you'll go to sleep at a relatively decent hour and you'll often wake up, and this has been for years. In the middle of the night.

[Sean Hayes]

That's right.

[Will Arnett]

And then you're up and you send emails and you text and you do stuff. You make phone calls and you're up and then that might be three, four in the morning. And you'll be up till like seven.

[Sean Hayes]

Correct.

[Will Arnett]

And then you'll go back to sleep for like two hours. One hour.

[Sean Hayes]

Two hours. Yeah. And I'll sleep really hard.

[Will Arnett]

And you'll sleep what you think is really hard because you're exhausted. But there's. And this isn't just sort of once a week. This is. That is the rule more than the exception.

[Sean Hayes]

That is correct.

[Will Arnett]

That that is how you get your rest.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah. Is that bad? Because I read one like, you know, I read a long time ago a doctor said, you know, we should all sleep like babies. Like if you're tired, lay down. If you're not, get up.

[Andrew Huberman]

I many nights do exactly the same thing. Sean, call me.

[Sean Hayes]

I would call you back.

[Andrew Huberman]

Okay, great. Yeah, we'll work side by side. You know, a couple of things. I mean, some people, there's a theory that some people have this sleep architecture just naturally that theory has been kicked around back and forth. Here's the thing.

[Sean Hayes]

Cause I sleep worse if I fight it.

[Andrew Huberman]

Don't fight it. One of the worst things you can do. This is very important for everybody listening. One of the worst things you can do is stay in bed trying to sleep for more than half an hour. Your brain is a prediction and sort of parrot association machine, which is nerd speak for you will start to associate your bed with a battle with sleep. That's right, you do not want that. Get up and get out of bed. If it takes you more than 30 minutes to try and get back to sleep, get up and get out of bed, go do something. It is a good idea, however, to have a more or less normal to bedtime that's right for you, like sleep hygiene. Yeah, well, and we know that some people do great going to bed late and some people go to bed earlier. Oftentimes people who wake up at three or four in the morning or two or three or four in the morning and can't get back to sleep, but are still tired and then need to go back to sleep. I'm raising my hand here as one of these people. Sometimes getting to bed a little bit earlier than you happen to be getting to sleep can help. Meaning getting into bed around 9, 9:30, falling asleep at 10, and then it just may be that you're not getting enough of that early deep sleep that your body craves. Because it's very easy to push through tiredness. It's hard. We can't make ourselves sleep. But I have some great tools to help you fall back asleep if you want them?

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah.

[Andrew Huberman]

But my first question is, what time do you go to sleep?

[Sean Hayes]

About 11 o'. Clock. Between 11 and 12. I'm always almost like sleeping by 12:15.

[Andrew Huberman]

Okay, so you're falling asleep quickly. So we could go through a lot of diagnostic aspects.

[Will Arnett]

And you're watching. And you're watching television generally up to that point.

[Sean Hayes]

No, right up to. Yeah.

[Will Arnett]

And looking at your phone.

[Sean Hayes]

Like last night we started watching the Godfather Part 2. I had to put that subtitle on because I couldn't hear. Anyway.

[Andrew Huberman]

Yeah. Such a great movie. Okay, I'm gonna give a general theme for everybody because some people are early risers and late night owls.

[Will Arnett]

But before you, before you get in, because this might be a part of it. And maybe you can answer this too, because I actually said it to my 17 year old last night. Again, I had heard, read, whatever, because we're all experts these days that going to bed earlier, getting those early, those first hours before midnight, and the importance of those hours versus post midnight, et cetera. Can you factor that into it too?

[Andrew Huberman]

Yeah, and it changes across the lifespan. So teens often need more sleep for social reasons. They're gonna push later sometimes and we just have to live with that. And like, no healthy kid wants to go to bed at nine o'.

[Will Arnett]

Clock.

[Sean Hayes]

Right, right.

[Andrew Huberman]

You know, it's is, you know, so I think it's important to eventually, by the time you hit your 30s, to figure out kind of what when would you go to sleep? If the rest of the world didn't exist, when would you wake up? And what's your natural rhythm? And it may be that this is just your natural rhythm, Shawn.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, that's what I mean. It could be.

[Andrew Huberman]

It is true that you can create lighting environments that are best for sleep and wakefulness. And it's very simple. I'll just make this very, very simple. You want very bright mornings and you want dim, dark nights. In fact, there's a beautiful study out of the UK that showed with more than 80,000 human subjects that just making your days brighter, working near a window. Obviously I'm big on getting sunlight in your eyes first thing in the morning, but if you can't do that, bright lights inside, getting outside as much as you can during the morning, especially before 10am, whatever you can get, even if you're taking the kids to school, et cetera, and then dimming the lights in the evening, I'm not saying everyone has to go to a red light environment and look like a biohacker. Dimming the lights, bringing the lights down Dimming your screen. That in combination. That in combination greatly offsets depression, anxiety, symptoms of ocd, mania. So much so that even if people are in dark environments during the day, if they make their nighttime environment truly dark, they benefit. And there's a whole story about cortisol behind this, but for time's sake, I won't get into it, but this is a very real thing and a modern life has completely inverted this. Our days are too dim and our nights are too bright. So just try and adjust things a little bit in each direction.

[Sean Hayes]

I don't understand how people can sleep with like blacked out curtains. Like if I wake up and it's, you know, and it's bright outside, but

[Jason Bateman]

it's like trapped underground.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, exactly. Or like in a drug, you know, you know, three day drug excursion. But like so I have to sleep with. Right. That's good to sleep with the curtains open so light comes in in the morning. Right.

[Andrew Huberman]

It's great. I think everyone should invest because it's very inexpensive in a very. In a comfortable eye mask. You know, one of these soft eye masks that velcro in the back so you can adjust it, you know, not

[Will Arnett]

one that's just like your eyes and that lets your eyes.

[Andrew Huberman]

Yeah. Lets them breathe a bit. And then, you know, you may try this for me one night. Sean, get ahold of some earplugs that are those. They're like wax. There's like a firm wax that you put on the outside of your ears. You don't jam.

[Sean Hayes]

Oh yeah.

[Andrew Huberman]

You may be waking up because there's noises in your environment that you're not aware of. Of. And just see if you're noises are coming from. You know, I'm thinking, this is you. I'm think, I'm thinking,

[Will Arnett]

Oh, man, Scotty.

[Sean Hayes]

No, I sleep with a fan on because it's so to block out all noise.

[Andrew Huberman]

And I, I think you're doing great.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, my biggest fan.

[Andrew Huberman]

And if you can afford to get back to sleep a little bit that, that sleep that you said you sleep really hard late in the morning. Yeah, that's rem. You're dropping back.

[Will Arnett]

Sean, have you thought about Propofol,

[Sean Hayes]

by the way? I get it.

[Jason Bateman]

Steady drip.

[Sean Hayes]

I get it.

[Jason Bateman]

Hey, hey, doc, what got you into medicine? You have a parent that was in it or did you have a fascination with health when you were a kid or both?

[Andrew Huberman]

Okay, well, I'm a researcher, not a clinician, so I profess a lot of things. I'm not going to. I want to be clear about that. But. But my dad's a theoretical physicist, so I was exposed to a lot of science.

[Will Arnett]

So none of it's been proven good. Just for what it's worth, I like

[Andrew Huberman]

that the Internet would say we don't know anything. I mean, it's kind of scary what's happening now with kind of like calling all fact into my question. So here's the deal. My dad is an academic. He came here from Argentina, first generation immigrant and, and to study physics. And I grew up in the South Bay area at a time before the personal computer, et cetera. But I was surrounded by science and technology as a kid. Always loved biology, always loved fish. I've got my fish tanks. I've always been fascinated by animal behavior, human behavior. And then in high school, I went to a quite good public high school for reasons related to, you know, teenage rebellion and home environment. I rebelled against all of that and got really into the skateboarding punk rock scene in the Bay Area and have a lot of friends who went on to start skateboard companies. And I got. We could talk stories about that at some time. I was actually Tony Hawk's dad took me to his house when I was a kid. So I got to sleep in Tony's room. No, Tony wasn't there. People always ask Tony when he was there. And I got exposed to a lot of action sports and music culture and really loved that. But it wasn't until college that I circled back to science and biology. I realized I need to get good at something. I wasn't very good at skateboarding. I wasn't going to be an athlete or a musician or anything like that.

[Will Arnett]

You look like you could be an athlete, though.

[Andrew Huberman]

Well, I've always worked out. I've always done skateboarding, soccer, swimming, running, lifting. I enjoy sports, but I wasn't very good. I wasn't bad, but I wasn't very good. And so I had the, the good sense, fortunately, and some input to go, you know, what do I really love and what could I get good at? And I love learning and I love teaching. I love learning. I love teaching. That's just kind of like who I am. I can't help myself. And so I got really into psychology and biology. At that time, they called it biopsychology. There was no field of neuroscience. And I started working in a laboratory and I got super serious about school. So I did my undergraduate, my master's, my PhD, did a postdoc at Stanford and eventually was hired back to Stanford as a tenured faculty member, running a lab and doing experiments with my hands is pure joy for me. I don't do it these days because of the podcast, but I still teach at Stanford. I still have my position there. And nothing makes me happier than learning information that I think people can make use of and telling them, and not telling them what to do, but just going, hey, you might want to check this out, or you're not sleeping well, or, hey, maybe your sleep is just fine. And I feel like there's been very little opportunity out there in formal education to teach scientists and physicians, clinicians how to communicate with the general world. And it's usually like they're have to market their book or they're talking about their thing. I love actually talking about other people's science. I hardly ever talk about the science from my lab, but we've published lots of papers and have fun doing that. We could talk about that, but I just love learning and teaching. And so. So like I said, I'm 50 and I'm just like in bliss. The podcast lets me teach very broadly. Stanford's been super supportive. I still teach to students there. And I guess it was faded through my dad. My mom's a writer, my dad's obviously a scientist. But I feel like the only downside of getting old for me is, er, is that I'm excited about what science and medicine are going to discover and I just want to learn about it. It's not even so much that I can use it. I'm not thinking about eternal life or anything. It's like, like think about how much we've learned in the last 10 years about Gene editing, immunotherapies for cancer. I'll make a hard stance here, and I'm not doing this for any political reasons. I mean, whether or not you were like, pro or anti or skeptical about vaccines during the pandemic, these MRNA technologies are incredible for cancer. Let's just leave. Let's just. You can edit this out if you need to, but let's leave Covid aside.

[Will Arnett]

Let's get into cancer chemtrails after this.

[Andrew Huberman]

But no, no, but these. You know, I went on Bill Maher and talked about this, and I take a lot of heat for this cause I'm sort of at the interface between the standard academic medical community and the kind of wellness I hate the word, but biohacker community. And they're really like at loggerheads. But the truth is there are pearls of wisdom all over the place. But science and medicine are the bedrock of everything I described. It's, you know, the only reason we even know what glutathione is or, or that light and temperature impact sleep cycles. And I mean, it's so important. And I'm like, I'm on a mission to teach what I think is the best of science and medicine as I can see it, so that people can make it useful to themselves and understand that one of the reasons that we are where we are these days is because of science. And I just love it.

[Sean Hayes]

Right?

[Andrew Huberman]

We'll be right back.

[Jason Bateman]

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[Sean Hayes]

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[Sean Hayes]

And back to the show.

[Will Arnett]

There's so much noise out there and there's so many people out there now professing, like, a lot of people learned about that they should sleep with their room at 68 degrees because they heard Tom Brady say that in an interview, right? So, like, we're all. Everybody's getting their, like these little bits and pieces and they're going, I heard that. You should. I just did it myself.

[Sean Hayes]

Everything's a trend.

[Will Arnett]

The sleep before midnight. I heard that. You should get this. The vaccines. I heard this. And there are so many people out there who are speaking about in this space, whether it's wellness or medicine or whatever they're calling themselves. And you even. I forget the term you use. The sort of. The. What'd you say? The sort of the cold plunge, the biohacking. The biohacking cold plunge crew. Everybody's a fucking expert. There's all these fucking people. And there's a little bit of fatigue because part of me is like, God, it feels like I want to put everybody in the same bath. They're all anti vax, fucking chemtrail, fucking nobody. Don't trust the government. Don't trust anything. And there's just so much of that out there that it's like, what the fuck? Do? What is. What is realism?

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, exactly.

[Andrew Huberman]

So what I like to do is take a step back and think, okay, you know, why do people end up in these bins, right? Like, not how did we get here? But kind of like, where. Where are people showing up to the table? And I think that I said a lot in favor of science and medicine. I'm now going to say as an insider, what I also know, which is that the field of science and medicine has done a mediocre job of explaining why. The why behind things. They tell people what to do. But people like to understand the why. People are deeply rational at some level until they're not. Right? And so I think that something I really believe in is that how people come to learn information strongly impacts whether and how they use that information. One of the reasons I do longer form podcasts where I explain mechanism. Okay. Is because I do think that if you understand that bright light, cold water, exercise, and caffeine will spike your cortisol in the morning, and guess what? You want your cortisol high early in the day and dim light, lack of caffeine Cooler temperatures will lower your cortisol in the evening and help you sleep. Once you understand that, you want that seesaw tilted high in the morning. High cortisol, you want this. I don't care if you're male, female, pregnant, young, old, whatever, and low cortisol in the evening, Lower your heart rate, do some long exhale, breathing, et cetera. Once you understand there's a mechanism behind it, then when somebody says cold plunge is great, and you say, yeah, but early day makes more sense than later day. Or how about bright light early in the day makes sense. You need your cortisol. High cortisol sets a wave front of energy for the day. You want it low later in the day. Once people start to understand a little bit of mechanism about dopamine, about cortisol, about sleep, then all the stuff coming at them, they can filter it through a rational filter. Wait, does this make sense based on the bulk of what we know now when it comes to things like vaccines and prescription medication, let's take a slightly less barbed wire version of this. But that's very timely, which is all this stuff about the GLP1s, right? People are saying, oh, you know, so many people are on GLP1. What is that? It's very interesting, the weight loss, the weight loss thing.

[Sean Hayes]

Oh, like Ozempic or whatever.

[Andrew Huberman]

Very, very interesting peptide that we knew about from Gila monsters. You know, it was discovered in Gila monsters, these reptiles that only need to eat once every year or so a smart biologist said. How come they don't get hungry all year long? Turns out they have very high levels of. Of GLP1. Circulating isolated the peptide. We now have GLP1s as perhaps the first really effective treatment for obesity and diabetes. Amazing. And it's also turning out to be very effective that we need more data. But for people who have what they now call alcohol use disorder can really reduce cravings for alcohol and sugar. So what happened was the medical community came out and I know that's what they call alcoholism now. Yeah, everything's yeah. Pseudonym Hi, my name is Will and

[Will Arnett]

I'm an alcohol use disorder.

[Sean Hayes]

It's interesting.

[Andrew Huberman]

The only the people who have no trouble with the word alcoholic. I have a lot of friends, I go to meetings. Like they are like alcoholics, right? Former alcohol, they go, they're part of.

[Sean Hayes]

Right.

[Andrew Huberman]

But everyone, you know, anyway, here's what's really, I think so vital for us to understand is that, you know, if you look at the GLP1s, they're very effective at lowering body weight. They are high cost because they're still not generic versions of them out there. The wellness biohacking community was very disparaging of this, like, oh, this is just a shortcut. This is bad for you. There were some side effects and indeed you have to be careful with these things. I'm not taking them, but I know people that do and they can be taken safely. But the moment that the GLP1s hit the compounding pharmacy market and it was inexpensive, it was suddenly like the wellness biohacking community was like, oh, okay, this is great. This is just like a supplement. No problem. So people are just too entrenched in the camp they're in. I like to think Will. I don't know. You tell me. I like to think that there is a league of reasonable people out there that represents the majority of people that are not so polarized. They're not talking about chemtrails. And now I'm getting hate from the chemtrail people. I don't believe in chemtrails.

[Jason Bateman]

I believe in chemtrail. I have no idea what that is.

[Andrew Huberman]

There are people that think that. That the government is using chemicals from airplanes across the sky to reflect sunlight

[Will Arnett]

and block the sun to reduce the effects of global warming, etc. Or depend on the day. Oh yeah, yeah.

[Andrew Huberman]

There were plans to put a mirror in space not that long ago to

[Will Arnett]

reflect sunlight and they try to conflate it with cloud seeding which is a totally different. Which has been done since the 50s. That's crazy.

[Jason Bateman]

Mirrors in space is something I've been a proponent component of the way it is true.

[Will Arnett]

Okay. That's the way you look and look

[Jason Bateman]

back into time effectively.

[Will Arnett]

He. He went. We had Neil Degrasse Tyson and Jason had a very robust conversation with Neil about time travel. About time travel using.

[Jason Bateman]

It has to do with the speed of light and stuff like that. Doc, you wouldn't understand.

[Andrew Huberman]

No, but my father would.

[Will Arnett]

So. Yeah.

[Sean Hayes]

So wait.

[Will Arnett]

Theory.

[Andrew Huberman]

So in theory.

[Will Arnett]

So the.

[Andrew Huberman]

The important thing I. Here's what I'm hoping. Hoping we're 2026. Here's what I'm hoping that the. There are.

[Sean Hayes]

What are you most excited about 2026?

[Andrew Huberman]

There are mo. Because there's so many useful tools that don't involve taking anything supplement or drug that are very useful. There are also very useful prescription drugs out there that have helped save lives. And I, you know, and I think, I think people are coming to that clarity now. And there are also some over the counter supplement things that can help that are not as extreme as either. But I think that we are finally seeing a blending between the silos of these extremes of conspiracy theory versus unless there's a double blind, placebo, controlled study, there's no way I'm gonna do it. Type people. And I think Los Angeles, to be fair, I've lived west of Interstate 5 my entire life. Northern, Southern California, middle of the state. Los Angeles is the place where this stuff got blended together.

[Sean Hayes]

Okay.

[Andrew Huberman]

And as a. Because people here are experimental.

[Sean Hayes]

Okay, Right.

[Andrew Huberman]

They're experimental. They like to try things and see what works and things get marketed and get put out there.

[Will Arnett]

There are no bad. There are no bad suggestions, you know, special.

[Sean Hayes]

Back to Jason's original question. So your dad was. I'm kidding.

[Will Arnett]

I know. So I do want to do. I was thinking, we talked about my dad.

[Andrew Huberman]

He's still active as an 82 year old scientist and he's physically. Well, I love that. Yeah, I love that. Still super strong.

[Will Arnett]

He doesn't look like, he doesn't look like that dude who's trying to biohack his age, Right?

[Jason Bateman]

Right.

[Andrew Huberman]

Oh, not at all. No, no, no. He's quite viral and robust. Okay.

[Jason Bateman]

Would you agree that our generation, like us, us four ding dongs, have a good shot of living to be 100? That this generation.

[Andrew Huberman]

Yeah, easy.

[Sean Hayes]

Oh, really?

[Andrew Huberman]

100? Yes. So I think 120 is probably the genetic limit, natural genetic limit on age. I think at this point, at this point, I. Look, I, I posted something yesterday that I just found online of a. A confirmed 90 year old guy, not on any hormone augmentation.

[Sean Hayes]

Oh, I just saw that.

[Andrew Huberman]

20, 20 push ups and real push ups. And the best part is in front of his kids and grandkids, he's got his family there, takes his glasses off, gets down on the floor and he does 10 full, like chest to the floor, full repetition, full range pushup, stops midway, teases his son about doing partial reps and then goes back and does the remaining 10 and then stands up and. And basically, guys, 90 years old. It's so clear that because to answer your question, Jason, by drinking a little bit less, focusing on sleep a little bit more, working on limiting our stress a bit or a lot more, doing things that really bring us meaning. This is huge. We know this from all the blue zone stuff, but from everything else, social connection, like really trying to put the phone away and drop in with people and really, that's such a critical.

[Will Arnett]

Critical, Sean.

[Andrew Huberman]

It's wonderful. It's also biological, right? It's biopsychological, how it benefits us. Plus you know, nutrition's gotten better. I think that it's harder. The problem is it's expensive to access good food. Right. But nutrition's gotten better than it was in the 90s. We're no longer messing around with trans fats. Not everyone's smoking. If you're using nicotini, hopefully you're using it.

[Will Arnett]

The nerds aren't smoking.

[Andrew Huberman]

You know, I know a lot of nerds. I'll you tell, tell you, I know a Nobel prize winning neuroscientist. Everyone in my community knows who he is. And the first time I met him, about 15 years ago, he chewed no fewer than five pieces of Nicorette during our meeting. And I said, why do you do it? He said, it's protective against Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. And he said, but you don't want to smoke because it'll give you cancer. So that's an anecdote. But, you know, so I want to

[Will Arnett]

take a photo that you and me, we're going to go out, we're going to go to. We're going to get a cheese, we're going to go get a Big Mac and smoke a cig, and we're going to post it online just to fuck with people's brains. All right, Just to cause it. Let's just do it. Fair enough.

[Jason Bateman]

New science out.

[Will Arnett]

You know what I mean? Just fuck it. Just. Just to mess with them.

[Andrew Huberman]

So they all eat a cheeseburger?

[Will Arnett]

Yeah. Good.

[Andrew Huberman]

I eat meat, cheese, fish, eggs. I mean, I eat fruits and vegetables. You know, I eat like a human. I eat like an adult. The thing to do is eat like an adult. Slurp your food, don't drink your food.

[Will Arnett]

Sean, what'd you have for breakfast today? Be honest. Go.

[Sean Hayes]

I haven't had anything except what's coming up.

[Will Arnett]

What's coming up?

[Sean Hayes]

I'll probably have a cinnamon roll. There's a cinnamon roll in there. There's a. Also a chocolate chip cookie and also there.

[Will Arnett]

Oh, my.

[Andrew Huberman]

Yeah, but I'll probably have you take them at Foreman.

[Will Arnett]

What'd you have yesterday? What'd you have yesterday morning when I called you and you were on the way? You were in the car with Sean.

[Sean Hayes]

I did really good. I had carrots and cucumbers dipped in ranch.

[Will Arnett]

No, actually, when you drove.

[Sean Hayes]

Oh, I went to Portillo's. Yeah, Yeah, I drove to Portillo's in Buena Park. There's one in Buena Park.

[Jason Bateman]

Oh, I was going to say you're in Chicago.

[Andrew Huberman]

So sugar is your thing, huh, Sean?

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, it's too bad. Anyway, Listen, Andrew, we only have a couple minutes left because we're taking way too long and I just want to know just your as fast as you can because I don't want to keep you. My mom died of Alzheimer's and I like talking about it just to learn more about what causes it and how to prevent it. And I took the, is it APO1, APO4 gene or whatever. I don't have the gene. It doesn't mean I can't get it, but I'm less likely to get it because I'm not right. Predetermined through genes. But what, you know, anytime a report comes out that we're three to five years away from a cure or we're three to five years away from something positive about conquering this horrible, horrible disease. I don't know if you've been around it, but it's just awful to see somebody go through it. Is that the pharmaceutical companies like making sure we don't come up with a cure? Like what are the realistic feelings about the future of cure for it?

[Andrew Huberman]

Yeah. Well, first of all, I'm really sorry. It's devastating. I don't think people can understand until they see someone who's alive but deteriorating. And it's awful. The pharmaceutical companies are absolutely working very, very hard to try and solve this problem, as are many labs. I'll just put in a plug funded by US taxpayers. I have to say my lab was funded by NIH for many years. This is the, this is the thrust of, of discovery not just in the United States, but all over the world like this.

[Will Arnett]

Ha.

[Andrew Huberman]

I'm working hard behind the scenes to try and make sure that funding is maintained. Those discoveries get turned over to companies which pharma companies which test drugs on animals and then humans. So it is happening. Yes. They're not trying to keep us sick. Those theories need to go. Also think about the finance. If it was just purely financial incentive, the person that comes up with a treatment for Alzheimer's, is there a cure? Like, okay, right, what can we do? Obviously, blood sugar management seems to be one important piece. It used to be people were starting to talk about quote unquote, type 3 diabetes. Not a real thing. Some people do seem to benefit from a ketogenic diet for offsetting some age related dementia, but not everybody. But it has to be truly ketogenic. And it's hard to stay on a ketogenic diet. Okay, some people rare, not everybody. But managing your blood sugar. It does seem that the effects of exercise and quality sleep and avoiding environmental Toxins and I can talk about that in a moment. Are significant toward offsetting age related dementia. People with these gene repeats are at higher risk. I'm great to hear that you don't have these repeats. But everyone should be trying to. I hate the word optimize. Trying to optimize on a daily basis. I should say in real life context, get the best sleep they can. It's so clear that resistance training doing some form for women and men. This is like a whole new world now, right. He used to tell women you need resistance training. They'd be like, I don't want to be too big. This kind of thing. Resistance training for strength in particular. So if you can get strong without getting bigger by training with very, you know, safely. Yeah, yeah. These are the things.

[Will Arnett]

Low weights, tons of reps. Yeah.

[Andrew Huberman]

Or okay, I would go the other direction. But, but, but in any case the, to maintain strength, it's not sufficient to just walk and garden and do yoga. I'm sorry, I know there's some yogis there. I agree it's not sufficient.

[Sean Hayes]

And yeah, you need weight. You need weight.

[Andrew Huberman]

And so maintaining, maintaining healthy blood sugar

[Will Arnett]

which goes back to. Do you lift, bro? I mean honestly that's just.

[Andrew Huberman]

Well now it's you lift girl. Because I'll tell you, I have, I, I have a female training partner and she's a beast. But she's not big, she's just super strong. She women and you know, I have a mom in her 80s. I'm trying to tell her like listen, you need to lift heavy for you objects. You need to do this. People when they stop moving. I know it sounds like the usual advice, but when they stop moving, sedentary feedback to the. Well there's feedback to the, to the brain that may help kickstart some of that neurodegeneration. That said, there are some genetic predispositions nowadays we're all much better off because we all know that don't do's. The environmental toxin thing is interesting. There was data that living next to a golf course put people more at risk for Parkinson's. These are correlative things we are now discovering. Okay, this goes in the opposite direction Will where people were, you know, all this like roundup stuff and you know, cancer causing agent that turns out that was a real thing.

[Will Arnett]

Oh yeah. You know, so we have a friend

[Andrew Huberman]

who's limiting exposure to, to environmental toxins to the extent that you can is going to be good. But you don't need to be hyper paranoid about these things. So I believe There will be a solution.

[Sean Hayes]

I just think like your time, your time is your time. Like you're, you know, eat right, exercise. Yeah, eat right, exercise.

[Will Arnett]

Do good.

[Jason Bateman]

We could have saved an hour.

[Andrew Huberman]

And stay, and stay and stay socially engaged. You know that my big push for 2026. I know we're out of time, but, and forgive me, I like to fire hoses. People have useful things. I know they come here to hear you guys, not the guests.

[Sean Hayes]

No. This is fascinating.

[Andrew Huberman]

Well, is. We like any technology humans build, it takes about 10, 15 years before we go, oh, my goodness, we really screwed up. And we're now realizing that with. Here's the thing, people will listen to things for a long time, but they like to view things now in rapid succession. And when you put your phone away, it's gonna feel a little boring for a bit.

[Will Arnett]

Good.

[Andrew Huberman]

Your brain, it's like a palate cleanser between life events. Putting your phone away, it'll feel like you'll feel restless, you'll feel bored. Engaging with people socially or even with your thoughts. Getting back to that a bit. I have a lockbox for my phone that it's locked in there for portions of the day. And it's rough, right? You're like online, all these, these movies, all this stimulation is very exciting. Listening to podcasts is great. Audio long form stuff is great. This is my push. People put your phone away for a short while and drop in with people. And yes, it's going to feel boring for a bit, but then that's where from the health promoting and kind of life enriching stuff, that's where the good stuff is.

[Will Arnett]

I completely agree. And again, I see it because Jason and I both have teenagers. We see with the kids on the phones, et cetera. And I see with my own kids as my. I've mentioned this many times. My big regret was giving my kids phones too early. But then I see it in myself. And if you guys, if you can. And this again, this is just an observation. I started noticing in public places where I just sort of try to clock people on their phone. Not just randomly, but especially people going in, like, let's say going into an elevator or going to a restaurant, they order a coffee. I was in New York last week and I watch people when they had. They make an order and then they have a minute where they gotta wait and everybody just out of habit pulled out of their phone. And sometimes they do it out of insecurity because they don't want to look like they got nothing to do. So they want to look like they're doing something. Otherwise they feel exposed and they feel too vulnerable in that moment to just stand there and be present. Check it out. It's really fascinating. If you start watching people in stores, in restaurants or whatever.

[Sean Hayes]

I'll do it on an elevator, Will. Like, if I go in an elevator and I'm with somebody and I'm just. I'll pull up my phone. Cause I'm.

[Will Arnett]

What am I gonna say, by the way? And the other guy does it too.

[Andrew Huberman]

Super entertaining.

[Will Arnett]

Don't know how to engage.

[Jason Bateman]

You know what's fun is to not. It's to not pull it out on an elevator and just stare at someone and just.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah, the whole time when everybody's looking out towards the door, you just. You just stand looking inwards and then

[Jason Bateman]

wait till they look at you and then. Then just raise your eyebrows like, what? I'm not on my phone. That's weird, isn't it?

[Will Arnett]

And also bring back the art of winking. You know, start winking at people.

[Jason Bateman]

Slow wink will really offset someone real nice.

[Sean Hayes]

Andrew, we're winking at you. Thank you for coming today. Honestly, this is so great. Like, I could listen to you for hours and. And a half and, and so I just. I'm a huge fan and I love.

[Jason Bateman]

Thank you for starting our year off just right, sir.

[Andrew Huberman]

Well, thanks, guys. I want to say, and I know I'd speak for many, many people, I'm a huge fan.

[Jason Bateman]

Oh, please.

[Andrew Huberman]

What you guys know, I know everyone's always jockeying you guys, but here's the deal. What from. From a very young age in many of your cases, but still now you really enrich the world with really entertaining and really stimulating thought provoking stuff. And I think long form podcasts, movies, tv, that stuff I actually think can enrich us in a real way. And so that's not what I'm referring to when I talk about the phone stuff. And I think we all know. So I just want to say thank you. It's an honor and pleasure to be here and I'm a big admirer of the work you do. Thank you, dude.

[Will Arnett]

Thank you, man.

[Jason Bateman]

Thank you, buddy.

[Sean Hayes]

Thank you, pal.

[Will Arnett]

Keep fighting the good fight. Thank you so much.

[Sean Hayes]

I'd love. Yeah, you have to come back and I have so many more questions.

[Andrew Huberman]

Anytime, please.

[Sean Hayes]

Thanks, Andrew.

[Andrew Huberman]

All right.

[Jason Bateman]

Thanks, Andrew.

[Andrew Huberman]

Cheers, guys.

[Sean Hayes]

He's one of those guys that he kind of said it, that he breaks down all that information so you can digest it in a way, you know, that, that we can understand it. And like, how does the person Know all that.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, it is great. That's something that didn't. Yeah. That didn't exist a. Well, I mean what like WebMD and stuff like that started to like, you could, you could just go there and start asking a bunch of questions. You didn't need to like make a doctor's appointment and stuff. And now like chat. GPT will kind of break it down a little bit more for you. But these, these podcasts or even like Tik Tok or Instagram, you get these little bite sized pieces of information. But as he said, you do have to kind of like thin out what is just the entertainment crap.

[Sean Hayes]

And what's science based stuff.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah, yeah. And like what's on going Conspiracy shit. And what. That's what I was saying. Like there's so many people out there. At least he's a guy who's, you know, a professor at Stanford. So you have to try to like I'm going to try to lean towards the people who have a little more sort of academic credentials.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah. I mean science is still science and the other stuff is sort of. I guess it's always been there, but it never had, as we've talked before, it never had the, the platform, the amplification, the microphone that it does today. And so it does seem like, well, what do you know, like now like you know, you never know what's real. No, it's just that the noise just got noisier. The science is still there and still valid. You just have to self edit this new level of volume for nonsense and put it back down to its right size.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, I mean like and all the stuff that he does at Stanford and like, like he's into ophthalmology. You couldn't even, you couldn't even. Like.

[Will Arnett]

Sean, you know what? I was gonna. Okay, you know what I was.

[Jason Bateman]

And then just basic.

[Will Arnett]

Just because you had the. No, hang on. I think that Sean, this is what I wanted to get to because you. You've had a few and I can feel you building up because you couldn't even get through your own setup.

[Sean Hayes]

No, that's okay.

[Will Arnett]

But I want to say as I heard you, as I heard him talking to you and you were talking about your sleep and I was thinking like the different things, the light, the sound, the thing, the bedtime. And maybe, maybe all you really need for a good night's sleep is just a good old fashioned lala.

[Jason Bateman]

Bye. Bye.

[Sean Hayes]

I was going to do neurobioscience.

[Will Arnett]

Smart.

[Jason Bateman]

Worse.

[Will Arnett]

Smart. Less smartless is 100% organic and artisanally. Handcrafted by Michael Grant, Terry, Rob Armjarv and Bennett Barbaco. Smart Less

[Sean Hayes]

the Emmy winning comedy Scrubs is back. The beloved original cast, including Zach Braff, Donald Faison, Sarah Chalk, Judy Reyes and John C. McGinley, scrub back in at Sacred Heart Hospital for all new hilarious and heartfelt stories. And there's a healthy injection of colorful new characters, including a fresh group of newbie interns and coworkers, nemeses Vanessa Bayer and Joel Kim. Booster the new season of scrubs Wednesdays at 8, 7 Central on ABC and stream on Hulu. This podcast is brought to you by Kleenex Lotion Tissues Cold season is like the ultimate plot twist sudden, unwelcome and unpredict. Luckily, you can be prepared with Kleenex lotion tissues that protect, soothe and moisturize your skin. Keep a box in the car or close by, especially on those cold mornings. They're not just soft, they're made with coconut oil and aloe for added comfort. Whether it's binge watching season or cold and flu season, Kleenex lotion tissues are always a smart move. For whatever happens next, grab Kleenex.