← The Human Upgrade: Biohacking for Longevity & Performance
The Human Upgrade: Biohacking for Longevity & Performance
This Legal Sleep Powder Beats Melatonin Every Time : 1440
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Do you know what's in your water? You can eat clean, train hard, and take all the right supplements. But if you're drinking water that has pfas, microplastics, and heavy metals, your body spends all day fighting invisible toxins. Most filters make water look clean. Aquatru truly purifies it. Their patented four stage ultra reverse osmosis technology removes 84 verified contaminants, the stuff most filters can't touch. That includes forever chemicals, forever fluoride, and other toxins that disrupt your hormones and your mitochondria. Your water quality affects everything. Gut health, hormone balance, hydration, even how your brain functions. If you're drinking water with loads of contaminants, you're adding stress your body doesn't need. Start drinking water that supports your biology. Go to aquatruewater.com daveasprey and upgrade one of the most essential inputs in your life. That's a Q U A t r u water.com daveasprey 17 years ago, I realized that I was terrible at sleeping. Five minutes of deep, five minutes of REM no matter how long I slept. And I've been tracking my sleep ever since. And since that time, I've gotten to the point where I get almost perfect sleep every night. And I want to help you do the same. I've helped more than 100,000 people learn how to sleep like a professional. And first, you have to understand how your brain transitions into a sleep state. Because sleep doesn't start when you feel tired. It starts when your brain shifts out of that fast alert beta wave into a slower, calmer alpha wave. And if that electrical transition doesn't happen, you can be exhausted and lie awake for hours. And there's just one amino acid that can make that shift happen in under an hour. By changing your brain's electrical activity. Instead of sedating you in the next few minutes, I'm going to show you what alpha and beta brainwaves really mean at night. And the one amino acid that can shift your brain into the correct sleep state and the exact protocol that makes it work. And when I'm talking about brainwaves, I've run a neuroscience company for the last 10 years as a part of my portfolio. It's called 40 Years of Zen. So this is an area I've studied extensively, and many sleep supplements miss the mark because they just make you drowsy and, and they might even make your body feel like it's heavy, but your mind is still spinning. And that's why so many people fall asleep and Then wake up groggy and frustrated and exhausted. It's because your brain never enters the proper sleep architecture in the first place. Your chemistry says sleep, but the nervous system says stay alert. And without the right sleep architecture, you just get shallow sleep. It's entirely possible to sleep for 12 hours and get a terrible night's sleep. And when you have this problem, your REM sleep becomes unstable. This is when you should be dreaming. And the deep sleep phase, the one where your body does its self repair, makes growth hormone. It never really fully happens, so you wake up feeling like you slept, but you didn't recover. And your brain's electrical activity is controlling your deep sleep. And your brain runs on these rhythms called brain waves. We can measure brainwaves because they're electrical. We put electrodes on your head and run them into a computer and we can measure exactly what's happening. During the day, your brain stays mostly in a beta state. And beta is useful because beta brain waves can help you plan, analyze, and respond to stress. But beta waves also fuel overthinking and mental looping. And they can make you get stuck in hypervigilance. And stress gives you stronger beta waves, and so does blue light tells your brain it's still daytime, even at night. So together, that combination of stress and blue light can trap your nervous system into overdrive. And then even a small mental pressure will overstimulate your brain long after the lights go out. And when your brain's stuck in that beta state, the sleep switch never flips. So your brain's on and your body's completely drained. So overthinking isn't because there's something wrong with you. It's not a personality flaw, and it's not based on effort. It's because the electricity in your brain is, isn't doing what you want it to do. And this is why you can feel tired, but wired. Your body might feel calm. Your mind won't stop racing. And most supplements don't fix it because they don't change the electrical state. You can take melatonin, but if your brain's still firing on beta, it just won't work. And to fix it, you've got to shift your brain out of beta and into alpha. And until that shift happens, you're going to fight against your own nervous system. Alpha brainwaves are slower and smoother. I spent the last 10 years teaching people how to have incredibly powerful alpha waves. And it's an area of focus for me. This state is calm, but still alert. Not sleepy, but not Focused, either. It's like a meditation state. And alpha brainwaves can quiet the noise in your head, but they don't knock you out. So when your alpha waves go up, your stress goes down, and your brain's stress circuits power down in your prefrontal cortex of your brain responsible for overthinking. It just lets go. And that's when your brain stops controlling the night and allows sleep to happen. And melatonin, it's only going to work once you have alpha waves. And it doesn't force sleep, it supports it. And alpha waves are the doorway to getting that deep sleep. And without them, you're not going to have a great night's sleep, no matter what you do. So knowing that alpha waves are the key to entering proper sleep, well, it doesn't help unless you can create alpha brainwaves when you need them. And most supplements aren't going to do that. Although some breathing exercises and meditations can help. Most supplements are just working indirectly. They can sedate you, they can stimulate you, and they can mask symptoms, but they don't change the electrical state. And that's why they can feel hit or miss. What you actually need is something that slows your brain's rhythm, but you don't want to get knocked out. And there's one amino acid that does exactly that. It crosses the blood brain barrier in studies, and it directly changes how your brain works within 30 to 45 minutes. It alters how your neurons fire. So instead of sedating you, it just increases alpha waves. And this is the pattern your brain needs to start sleeping. At the same time, this supplement lowers your beta waves, so your racing thoughts begin to quiet down. It also shifts your brain's chemistry in a very specific way. It does this by increasing gaba, which is a neurotransmitter and an amino acid that is the calming signal that can reduce your stress and emotional reactivity. This supplement also lowers glutamate, which is an excitatory neurotransmitter that fuels overstimulation and mental noise. And the result is simple. Your mind becomes calm and clear and able to rest. And you don't feel foggy. You're not drugged. Your brain just stops with the overstimulation is completely different from sedatives, which just dull you and disrupt your sleep. Anyway. Even if you feel like you slept, sedatives often leave you groggy the next morning. But this amino acid doesn't do that, and people who use it correctly often say the same thing. Their mind doesn't shut off abruptly, it just stops holding out at thoughts. The mental volume turns down, and then the urgency fades, and your nervous system finally comes out of high alert mode. But you're not sedated. And that amino acid I'm talking about is called silver L Theanine. When you use it, your brain enters the exact electrical state that you need to be able to fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. Melatonin then can start working the way it's supposed to if you use it. And you might not need to if you have L Theanine. You can fall asleep quicker because your brain transitions through the right pathway. Your deep sleep improves because the shift is natural, not forced. And nighttime awakenings decrease because your stress circuits just stay quiet. And then when you wake up, you feel clear. Not because you got more sleep, but because you got the right sleep. But here's the problem. Most people use L Theanine the wrong way. When they do, they assume it doesn't work. L. Theanine only works if used in a way that matches how your brain naturally moves into sleep. And if you've heard of theanine, you've probably heard that it's calming. You take a small dose, like a hundred milligrams, and you expect it to knock out. And then when it doesn't, you think, oh, it doesn't work. And timing can make things worse. If you take it hours before bed, it kicks in long before your brain is ready for sleep. Or you have a big dinner that slows absorption. And then you take theanine. It doesn't kick in. And some people stack it with other sleep supplements that can confuse your nervous system. It might work with other supplements, but just make sure they're aligned. And a lot of people are inconsistent with using L Theanine. They'll take it some nights and they'll skip others. And if you make those mistakes, your brain doesn't get the full effect. You want a consistent electrical shift that's not too weak, that's not mistimed, and that's not overridden by else you did. So instead of a smooth transition into sleep, your nervous system gets mixed signals. Calm and stimulation at the same time is not a good way to go to sleep. And without consistency, your brain doesn't learn the pattern and just automate the process. This is why so many people quit. They don't experience the full effect because they don't use L Theanine with how sleep actually works. And to get the full benefits of L Theanine for sleep, you got to use it the right way. And that means starting with the right dose, you're going to need between 200 and 400 milligrams, not 100. Low doses that might work for focus during the day aren't going to achieve a sleep effect. And timing is also really important. Take it 30 to 45 minutes before bed so that it peaks right when your brain starts transitioning into sleep. Avoid caffeine for at least six hours beforehand, because caffeine raises beta, and you want to take L Theanine on a mostly empty stomach so your body can make full use of it. Better yet, pair it with magnesium or the amino acid glycine, which can strengthen the calming effect with no sedation. And then create the right environment with warm, dim lighting to reinforce your brain's electrical slowdown. In fact, here's another hack. In a published study in a journal, the TrueDark glasses. I'm wearing them right now. Actually decreased beta and increased alpha. 15 minutes of wearing the TrueDark glasses stacks perfectly with L Theanine. And then stick to the same timing every night so your brain learns the pattern and transitions automatically. Scan the code to get a discount on TrueDark glasses. When you do this, L Theanine stops being unpredictable, and it just becomes a reliable switch that your brain can follow. And if you do it for a while, maybe your brain will just learn to go to sleep and you won't even need L Theanine. But I find it still helps. And sleep can start to arrive just on its own. But even perfect L Theanine timing can fail if your environment isn't right. That's because different colors of light, including blue, but also other colors, can undo everything in seconds. And light isn't just something you see, it's information. Your brain is literally looking at all the different types of light as a recipe so it can decode whether it's time for sleep or not. And these colors of light, including blue, amber, violet, green, they tell your brain one thing. It's still daytime. And when that light hits your eyes at night, your brain stops making melatonin. That means if you're brushing your teeth in a brightly lit bathroom, you're doing it wrong. You overrode the L Theanine, and you told the mitochondria in your brain that, oh, it's the middle of the day, have some beta. And cortisol rises, beta gets stronger, your brain shifts back into daytime problem solving mode. And it can do this in five seconds of bright light. And it doesn't just happen with super bright screens, all these LED lights, these compact fluorescents, they trigger the same effect even at low brightness. Because your brain measures light differently than you do, it looks at wavelength and timing. Modern indoor lighting is far brighter than natural dusk. So your brain interprets it as a signal to stay alert. And that alert signal blocks the neural unwind that you need for alpha waves to take over. That's why L. Theanine sometimes feels weak or inconsistent. Without darkness at night, alpha waves can't fully dominate. L. Theanine might calm your brain, but your environment is sending it the opposite message. Theanine alone can't override your brain's reaction to light. So without darkness, your sleep pathways just never fully open. And the solution is really simple. You align your environment with your biology. After sunset, dim your lights as much as you can. Keep the light warm, keep it indirect. Think candlelight, not bright white incandescent bulbs. Turn off or at least dramatically dim all screens at least 60 minutes before bedtime. So your brain gets a light signal that it's time to wind down. You can use red or less ideally amber bulbs that don't disrupt melatonin and have less of an effect on activating beta waves. And if you want to watch a show or read without ruining your sleep, truedark glasses are the best option. These are going to block all the wavelengths that interfere with your sleep. That's blue, green, violet, and even amber. That way you can relax in the evening without disrupting your brain's natural rhythm. They're called truedark because your brain thinks it's dark, because we blocked all the colors that your body and your brain identify as being daytime colors. That way it's so much easier to drop into deep sleep. But even the perfect light setup won't fix everything. People make one final mistake. They look for one single fix. They think if they get the supplements, the light, or the timing right, sleep is just going to happen. But sleep isn't a single lever. It's a system. And systems only work when everything points in the same direction. If even one piece is off, your brain defaults back to alert mode. So late night emotional stimulation is one of the quickest ways to ruin progress. Intense conversations or even dramatic shows reactivate your brain's stress circuits. And work related thinking does the same thing. So if you're checking your messages right before bed and you wonder why you can't sleep, it's because you're thinking about work. And late night meals Spike your blood sugar and your insulin, which raises cortisol right when it should be dropping. And alcohol, it feels relaxing at first, but it disrupts your brain's calming signals later in the night. So if you track your sleep, you know, one drink ruins your sleep architecture for the entire night. And I wish it wasn't that way, but it is. And a warm bedroom keeps your nervous system alert because your body associates cooling with rest and recovery. So cool your bed off a little bit or cool your bedroom off a little bit. You can do either one. And then irregular sleep timing confuses your brain's internal clock, which makes it hard to predict when your alpha waves are supposed to rise. And this is just sending your brain and your body mixed signals. One part of your brain says, wind down. Another part says, stay alert. And another part says, well, last night you wanted me to be alert at this time, and tonight you want me to go to sleep. Which is it? And when that happens, beta waves take over, cortisol rises, and your brain stays in vigilance mode. And that's why sleep might feel fragile or inconsistent for so many of us. It's not because something's wrong with you. It's because your system is out of sync with the environment around you. And if you do your best to align every part of your system, sleep stops being a struggle. Start with L theanine 200-400mg. And I'm not selling you that. You can buy it from lots of places. It's just something that works. You can fix your light environment, remove that late night stimulation, have some conversations that are chill, and do your work early. And don't listen to or watch emotionally intense entertainment. Stabilize your blood sugar by finishing dinner a few hours before bed. And do your best to go to bed at about the same time every night. It makes a huge difference. That includes weekends, too, unfortunately. And when you do this, your brain stops guessing and it starts just automatically preparing for sleep. So when you follow these steps together, something critical happens. L theanine triggers alpha waves reliably, and then darkness amplifies your melatonin. Low stimulation keeps your stress circuits quiet. Your stable blood sugar prevents those cortisol spikes, and consistent timing improves your circadian rhythm. So which step is most important? None of them. No single step does it. All the system does. It's like a recipe for sleep. If you try to make a recipe and you're lacking a key ingredient, it's just not going to work. Sleep is like that, too. And when the system works, sleep stops feeling fragile and it just becomes effortless, the way it was always supposed to be.
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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 here. 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.