← The Human Upgrade: Biohacking for Longevity & Performance
The Human Upgrade: Biohacking for Longevity & Performance
Does This Sleep Fasting Hack Actually Cut Cortisol? : 1508
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Want to know which foods and supplements work best for your body? Viome takes the guesswork out of it. Their full body intelligence test reads your rna, not your DNA. So you see what's happening in your body right now. While standard labs measure around 100 markers, Viome's AI analyzes over 10,000 active pathways across your gut, oral and cellular health. Then it translates that into personalized food and supplement recommendations built for your unique biology. They'll tell you what foods to eat and which ones to avoid. They even create custom supplements and oral care products based on your results. So what you're getting is what will work for your body, not someone else's. Your results update as your lifestyle changes, so your plan evolves with you. Check it out@viome.com and use code 10Dave for 10% off. It's time to stop guessing and start knowing your body. You're losing hair on your head and collagen in your skin right now, even though you probably can't see it yet. That process speeds up as you age and it doesn't reverse on its own. But you can intervene at the cellular level. Studies show that specific wavelengths of red and near infrared light will stimulate your hair follicles. And that does support collagen production. Irestore has been making red light therapy devices that actually work for over two decades. And with their summer savings event, it's the perfect time to upgrade your hair and skincare. The Irestore Elite is their most advanced laser hair growth system, using 300 lasers and 200 LEDs, which helps you regrow thicker, healthier hair in about three months. And it is really easy to use. You can wear it while you're working, while you're reading or unwinding at night. And The Illumina Face Mask360 medical grade LEDs can turn red, infrared or even blue light at the same time to target all of your different skin concerns. Just 10 minutes a few times a week gives you brighter, smoother and healthier looking skin. I've been using the Eye Restore Elite and the Illumina Face mask while I work at home, but not on video. And they fit into my normal routine with no extra time cost. I really like it because I don't lose any time when I use it. Irestore is so confident you'll love their products that they give you a 12 month money back guarantee. That's because it actually works. You will see more hair. Irestore is kicking off their summer savings event with some huge discounts on their red light therapy devices. You can save on customer favorites like the Irestore Elite helmet and the Illumina face mask. Just head to irestore.com, use code Dave to take advantage of the sale sale. That's daveirestore.com Please support the show and tell them we sent you. Give your hair and skin the upgrade they deserve so you can feel confident and refreshed. There's a specific bio hack that cuts your cortisol in just about three hours while you sleep. And you haven't heard of it. It's called sleep fasting. No, I don't mean avoiding sleep. This is one of the most important sleep mechanisms I've discovered, and it's uniquely different from everything else you've tried. Blackout curtains, magnesium, melatonin, leaving your phone in another room. They're all really important. There's another thing that makes all of it work way I'm Dave Asprey, the father of biohacking, and I spent over two decades and over $2 million fixing my broken biology, my broken sleep, losing 100 pounds and learning the instruction manual for the human body and teaching it to millions of people. In my research, I learned about hacking a specific biological process that your body follows every single night and most people just don't know about it. Today, I'm going to show you exactly what it is, why breaking it keeps your cortisol elevated all night, and how to use sleep fasting to fix it. Starting tonight, every single night, your body is supposed to follow a specific biolog biological rhythm. Your stress hormone cortisol is supposed to drop to its lowest point in the middle of the night. But that massive drop in cortisol is a specific signal that opens a critical window for your biology. During that window, your body runs all the deep repair work that keeps you functioning properly. Think of it like an actual brainwash. It rebuilds muscle from the day's activity, releases growth hormone, and clears toxins from the brain. And that is how your body supports recovery while you sleep. The easiest way to understand how that window works is to think of your body at night like a massive restaurant kitchen. The kitchen simply can't close down and run its deep cleaning cycle for the night. While customers are still placing orders, the staff can't mop the floors, put the food away, or prep the stations for tomorrow. If they're still cooking on the line. The kitchen has to finish the very last order and get it completely out the door before the shutdown process can even begin. And your body works the same way. When the kitchen closes on Time. And the cleanup runs itself. Full cycle. You wake up, and you feel like everything got taken care of overnight. Your head's clear, your body feels light. Your physical energy is already there before you've even done anything. And your neck probably doesn't hurt either. But when the kitchen never fully closes, that deep cleanup cycle never actually runs. And you wake up carrying all of yesterday's unrepaired physical damage directly into today. Your head feels incredibly foggy and slow. And it's entirely because the repair work that was supposed to happen during sleep never actually got the signal to start. If your sleep is off, your body handles blood sugar less effectively the next day. So you can get sugar crashes and energy crashes and just unstable energy all day long. So you might reach for a sugary breakfast just to feel like a normal, functioning person. So you get a temporary spike in energy, but it crashes completely before lunch. You spend the rest of the afternoon running on fumes. By the time evening finally comes, you're physically exhausted, but somehow your brain is still racing, and you can't fall asleep. The next night, the whole brutal cycle starts again from an even worse position than the night before. At this point, you've probably tried everything to fix that problem. You bought blackout curtains, you started taking magnesium, you bought melatonin gummies, and you leave your phone in another room. Maybe you've even tried truedark glasses, which really help. But they're not the complete solution, because you have to address all of the biological reasons why the kitchen never closes in the first place. The reason the kitchen stays running has absolutely no nothing to do with how stressed you feel from work or what specific time you go to bed, or whether your bedroom is perfectly dark. It comes down to a specific biological mechanism you're triggering every single night without realizing it. And once I understood the connection, it completely changed how I approach human sleep. The specific mechanism is what I call sleep fasting. It's a completely different concept from just eating fewer calories or trying to skip meals to lose weight. And it's not skipping sleep. It's based entirely on how your body decides. Decides whether to stay in an alert state or to switch into a deep repair mode at night. Every time you eat, your body activates a complex process that breaks down food, absorbs nutrients, and moves them where you need them. And that process continues for hours after a meal. It doesn't just stop when you go to bed. And the issue is that eating late, especially a large or heavy meal, can keep parts of your system more active than you want it'll raise your body temperature when it should be going down, It'll increase your heart rate when it should be going down, and it can even cause reflux. And those signals can and do interfere with your ability to fall into deep restorative sleep. Even if you don't fully wake up, your body physically can't shift in a deep sleep and run its repair mode while it's still actively processing food. It's biologically impossible to do both those things at the exact same time, because if your blood is in your gut processing food, it's not in your brain detoxing. That means the restaurant kitchen is still running at full capacity. As long as your digestion is still happening, your body can't switch into repair mode, which means the massive cortisol dip that signals the start of the repair work can't happen. And the overnight cleanup doesn't start. And for a very long time, I misunderstood how this worked. I've taught more than 100,000 people how to sleep very, very well at night, and understanding this was a big part of it. Cuz I used to believe that eating incredibly healthy food right before bed was perfectly fine because it is clean fuel. But the specific type of food you eat doesn't matter when it comes to this mechanism. It doesn't matter if you ate the cleanest organic meal. The physical act of digestion itself is what keeps the kitchen running. So eating a perfectly clean meal too close to bed will interfere with that cortisol dip just as effectively as eating complete junk food would. Scientists at Northwestern University ran a massive clinical study that proved exactly how powerful this mechanism is. They took 39 adults and tracked them for almost two full months. One group followed my recommendations to stop eating at least at least three full hours before their normal bedtime, which extended their overnight fast significantly. The other group kept eating exactly the way they normally did right up until they went to sleep. And the most important part of this entire study is that absolutely nothing else changed between the two groups. They ate the same exact food, they went to bed at the exact same time, and they lived their normal lives. The only difference was the specific time they stopped putting food into their bodies. The group that stopped eating earlier showed significantly lower cortisol levels during the middle of the night. And that massive dip that was supposed to happen to trigger the repair work actually did happen. Their heart rate was significantly lower when they slept, so their body was actually powering down. Instead of staying half awake to process food, their body shifted much more fully into deep rest mode, which the researchers measured through their heart rate variability. A higher heart rate variability, as you've learned, if you've seen any of my videos, means that your body is genuinely relaxed and it's running its repair cycle. It's excess exited sympathetic stress mode and gone into rest and digest mode. Their blood pressure dropped significantly more overnight, which is one of the most important biological signs. Your body's actually recovering from the day. And their blood sugar was incredibly steady the next morning, meaning the overnight repair that resets their metabolism actually ran the way it was supposed to. That one single change in timing made the difference. Absolutely nothing else was different in this study. Just the specific time they stopped eating relative to when they actually went to sleep. And every single one of those important biological markers improved dramatically. You don't need to drastically change what you're eating, or start a complicated new exercise routine, or even try to go to bed earlier than you normally do. You don't need to buy any expensive supplements or new equipment for your bedroom. You simply need to stop putting food into your body at least three full hours before you actually go to sleep. A lot of looking good is about biology. Your hair, your skin, just how you look. It's all a reflection of what's happening inside your body. And you can influence that directly. Red light therapy is one of the most powerful ways to do it. The right wavelength of light reactivates mitochondria in your cells. It wakes up dormant hair follicles and it accelerates your collagen production. And it works at the source. Irestore has been building clinical grade devices for this for over two decades. The iRestore Elite uses 300 lasers and 200 LEDs to stimulate hair regrowth across your entire scalp. People start seeing thicker, healthier hair in about three months. The Illumina face mask has 360 medical grade LEDs, provides red, infrared and blue light simultaneously. Red and infrared for collagen, anti aging and blood flow. And blue to control bacteria and acne and pore size 10 minutes a few times a week. And it just works. You can get both the Elite and the Illumina as a bundle right now at a big discount. And I use both as part of my longevity protocol. I Restore is so confident in their products that they offer a 12 month money back guarantee. That's a huge deal, but I don't think you'll want to give it back after you see the results. Go to irestore.com use code Dave for major savings. Again, it's irestore.com Dave. Your doctor said your Labs look normal. Okay, then why don't you feel like yourself? Why are you exhausted all the time? Why has your body stopped responding to the things that used to work? That's why Gatlin exists. Gatlin is a physician led optimization program for people who know something is off even when the conventional system says everything looks fine. It's also for people who want more energy, better recovery, better sleep and long term performance. Because the current system often waits for disease, Most people get 10 minutes with a doctor, a basic blood panel and a vague everything looks normal even when they still feel off. Gatlin does things differently. You speak with a licensed medical provider, you get comprehensive labs, and depending on your needs, your plan may include hormone support, thyroid support, peptide therapy, and longevity focused care personalized around your actual biology. Not one size fits all medicine. Feeling off shouldn't be dismissed just because it's common. Start your journey today at Gatlin.com Dave and use code Dave. That's G-A-T-L-A-N.com Dave Code Dave if you normally go to sleep at 11 o' clock at night, your last meal has to be completely finished by 8 o' clock or earlier. If you sleep at 10 o', clock, your last meal meals at 7 o' clock or earlier. And if you have a late night and you know you're not going to bed until midnight, your absolute cutoff time is 09:00'.
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Clock.
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But earlier is still better. You can think of this exact time as setting a firm closing time for your internal restaurant kitchen. Once that specific closing time hits, the kitchen physically shuts down and your body naturally starts switching into deep repair mode. By the time you actually get into bed, your entire digestive system is already winding down instead of still running at full speed. The only real challenge that might come up during that three hour window is feeling incredibly hungry right before bed. If you feel hungry in that specific window, it's almost never real physical hunger. What you're feeling is your blood sugar being completely unstable from the way you've been eating. Or maybe you're feeling dehydration. And that specific feeling naturally sorts itself out within just a few nights. Once your body adjusts to the new biological pattern and you drink more electrolytes. If you can push through that first few days of that uncomfortable feeling, it gets significantly easier really quickly. And if you absolutely need something to help you get through that three hour window, drink herbal tea or basic electrolytes. They'll make a huge difference. And that's because they don't trigger the massive digestive response that keeps the kitchen running all night. And once you start doing this consistently, the physical changes show up really fast. In the first two or three nights, you'll notice you fall asleep significantly faster. If you're tracking your sleep with a ring or a band, it'll show the data. It's because your body's not still actively trying to finish a meal when you lie down, so it's already prepared to rest. You'll spend far less time staring at the ceiling because your biology has already started calming down long before you even got into bed. By the end of the very first week, you'll start sleeping completely through the night instead of snapping awake at three in the morning for no reason at all. There is a reason. You just don't know what it is. And you will start waking up just before your alarm goes off feeling like your body actually finished the deep repair work that it was trying to do overnight. That feeling might be really unfamiliar to you. If you've been stuck in the old broken pattern for a long time the way I was, within two full weeks, your entire morning routine will feel noticeably different and easier. That foggy slow start lifts your energy will hold steady throughout the morning and into the afternoon instead of just crashing right before lunch. And your evenings will actually feel calm instead of that terrible pattern of being completely exhausted but still not being able to fall asleep. The important key to making all of this work is consistency, because missing that three hour window even occasionally keeps you the kitchen running when it should be closed. And it sets your biology back. But your body responds to this specific mechanism faster than almost any other biological change you can make. Except perhaps truedark glasses. Because light matters and food timing matters. One single good night is enough to physically feel the difference, and one consistent week is enough to feel the massive shift across your entire day. Most of the longevity and biohacking protocols that I recommend ask you to actively add something new to your life. I often take teach about a new supplement stack or a new morning routine, or a new daily habit that you have to put on top of everything else you're already doing. And I care about efficiency. And this specific hack asks you to simply remove something instead. Your body already knows exactly how to repair itself overnight because it's been trying to do this every night for your entire life. All you've been doing is accidentally keeping the kitchen open way past closing time and wondering why the deep cleanup never gets done. So stop eating at least three hours before. Before you go to bed tonight. Pay very close attention to how your body feels when you wake up tomorrow morning and look at your sleep tracker if you're using one. Once you physically feel the difference and maybe see the data, you'll understand exactly why this mechanism works and you'll never want to go back to the old way.
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A Human Upgrade Formerly Bulletproof Radio was created and is hosted by Dave Asprey. The information contained in this podcast is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended for the purposes of diagnosing, treating, curing, or preventing any disease. Before using any products referenced on the podcast, consult with your healthcare provider carefully read all labels, and heed all directions and cautions that accompany the products. Information found or received through the podcast should not be used in place of a consultation or advice from a healthcare provider. If you suspect you have a medical problem or should you have any healthcare questions, please promptly call or see your healthcare provider. This podcast, including Dave Asprey and the producers, disclaim responsibility for any possible adverse effects from the use of information contained herein. Opinions of guests are their own and this podcast does not endorse or accept responsibility for statements made by guests. This podcast does not make any representations or warranties about guest qualifications or credibility. This podcast may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products or services. Individuals on this podcast may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to herein. This podcast is owned by Bulletproof Media.