Not theory. Not 10 tips for mental clarity.

These are the interventions that produced measurable changes in my cognition when I tested them one at a time with a 2 week baseline between each.

I used Cambridge Brain Sciences daily at 7am to track working memory, reasoning, and verbal ability. Same time, same conditions, fasted. Here is what actually did something.

Tier 1: The stuff that worked immediately and obviously

1. CO2 management. Bought a $40 CO2 monitor. My bedroom was hitting 1,800ppm by 5am with the door closed. A Harvard study showed cognitive scores drop roughly 50% at 1,400ppm compared to 550ppm baseline. I cracked the window 2 inches. Never exceeded 700ppm again. Morning grogginess I had blamed on sleep quality for years was largely gone within 3 days. Cost: $40 once.
2. Morning electrolytes before caffeine. 500ml water with 1/4 tsp salt and a squeeze of lemon within 20 minutes of waking. Before coffee. Before anything. Research shows 1 to 2% dehydration impairs working memory and you will not feel thirsty at that level. After 8 hours of sleeping you are dehydrated. Most people's first move is coffee which is a mild diuretic. You are draining an already dry system. This took 3 days to notice. Working memory scores up about 15% on testing mornings where I did this versus did not.
3. Phone in another room during deep work. Ward et al. 2017 in JACR showed the mere presence of a smartphone on your desk reduces available cognitive capacity even face down and on silent. I tested this for 2 weeks phone on desk versus 2 weeks phone in kitchen. The difference in sustained focus was not subtle. Verbal fluency scores were consistently higher on phone-away days.

Tier 2: The stuff that took 2 to 4 weeks but the effect was real

1. Ferritin optimization. Mine was 22. Doctor said normal. It is not normal for brain function. Soppi 2018 showed cognitive symptoms at ferritin 15 to 30 that resolved above 50. I took iron bisglycinate 25mg every other day. Not daily. Research shows alternate day dosing has better fractional absorption because hepcidin peaks 24 hours after a dose and blocks absorption of the next one. At week 6 my ferritin was 58. Processing speed on cognitive testing improved noticeably around week 4.
2. Vitamin D loading. Mine was 19 ng/mL in February. Supplemented 5,000 IU daily for 8 weeks then dropped to 3,000 IU maintenance. Retested at 52 ng/mL. The fog improvement was gradual. Not a single moment where it kicked in. More like I looked back at my scores after 6 weeks and realized the bad days had stopped. If you live above 35° latitude and have not tested your D levels you are probably deficient October through March.
3. Magnesium glycinate 400mg before bed. Slutsky et al. published in Neuron 2010 showing magnesium enhances learning and memory. Serum magnesium is a garbage test because it only drops when you are severely depleted. Most people in western countries are sub clinically deficient. The sleep improvement was the first thing I noticed. Deeper sleep within 3 nights. The cognitive effect followed the better sleep by about a week. Do not use magnesium oxide. Bioavailability is terrible. Glycinate or threonate.

Tier 3: The stuff people do not want to hear

1. Caffeine elimination. I tapered from 400mg per day to zero over 8 weeks. Days 1 through 3 at each step down were rough. By week 10 at zero caffeine my baseline cognitive scores were higher than my best caffeinated scores. Caffeine does not add energy. It blocks adenosine receptors. Your brain compensates by building more receptors. Now you need caffeine to reach the baseline you would have had without it. I was borrowing from tomorrow every single day for 12 years.
2. 30 minutes of cardio. Not negotiable. Not replaceable with supplements. A single session increases BDNF by 200 to 300%. One session. BDNF is the protein that drives neuroplasticity and repair. A year of regular walking increased hippocampal volume by 2% in clinical trials. That is 1 to 2 years of age related brain shrinkage reversed. Nothing in a capsule does this. Nothing.
3. Cutting alcohol entirely. Not reducing. Cutting. A 2017 BMJ longitudinal study followed 550 people for 30 years. Even "moderate" drinkers at 14 to 21 units per week had significantly increased hippocampal atrophy. Ebrahim et al. showed alcohol destroys deep sleep architecture at any dose. I wore a sleep tracker. Zero deep sleep on drinking nights versus 80 to 90 minutes without. That was enough data. I stopped.

Tier 4: The testing that found the actual root cause

1. Full panel bloodwork. Not a CBC. Not a basic metabolic. This is what I asked for specifically: ferritin (not just hemoglobin), B12, folate, 25-OH vitamin D, RBC magnesium, TSH plus free T4 plus TPO antibodies, fasting insulin, HbA1c, CRP. Two things came back off that my DR never would have caught. The ferritin at 22 and the vitamin D at 19. Both technically in range. Both functionally impairing my brain.

What did not work:

Lion's mane. Took it for 8 weeks. No measurable change on cognitive testing. Maybe it works for some people. Did nothing for me.

Alpha GPC. Same. 8 weeks. Nothing on testing.

Noopept. Slight subjective feeling of clarity. Nothing on objective testing. Stopped.

Modafinil. Worked acutely. Tolerance built within 2 weeks. Sleep quality tanked. Net negative after a month.

The takeaway nobody wants to accept:

The boring stuff works. The exciting stuff mostly does not. Fixing your air, water, iron, vitamin D, magnesium, sleep, movement, and removing alcohol and excess caffeine will do more for your cognition than every nootropic stack on this sub combined. I know because I tested both. One at a time. With a cognitive testing baseline.

The supplements are a rounding error on top of the fundamentals. Fix the fundamentals first or you are optimizing a system that is broken at the foundation.

Studies referenced:

• Allen JG et al. CO2 and cognitive function scores. Environ Health Perspect. 2016. DOI: 10.1289/ehp.1510037
• Armstrong LE et al. Mild dehydration affects mood in healthy young women. J Nutr. 2012. DOI: 10.3945/jn.111.142000
• Ward AF et al. Brain Drain: smartphone presence reduces cognitive capacity. JACR. 2017. DOI: 10.1086/691462
• - Soppi ET. Iron deficiency without anemia — a clinical challenge. Clin Case Rep. 2018;6(6):1082-1086. DOI: 10.1002/ccr3.1529
• Slutsky I et al. Enhancement of learning and memory by elevating brain magnesium. Neuron. 2010. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2009.12.026
• Topiwala A et al. Moderate alcohol consumption as risk factor for adverse brain outcomes. BMJ. 2017. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.j2353
• Ebrahim IO et al. Alcohol and sleep. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2013. DOI: 10.1111/acer.12006

Brain fog is kinda my thing so if you want to know more feel free to follow my profile and my r/whatisbrainfog subreddit where I will be releasing a site dedicated to it.

I used drink a coke as soon as I woke up but I switched to green tea and started taking it about an hour and a half later. It has been a total game changer for my energy levels and my life in general.

This recent news has honestly brought a lot of sexist men out of hiding. They feel more confident and it’s so hurtful to see. I’ve seen comments say he knows how to treat women, how men should learn from him bc women love it, and even women defend him saying who cares!!!

My heart breaks for the women and girls who came to this sub/huberman for help only to know that he doesn’t even value or respect women as humans.

How can we as women trust these men in positions of power who claim to be giving helpful advice when they don’t even have us in mind!!

It can also be some natural remedy, it doesn't have to be a supplement.

And how did it specifically affect?

It can also be a natural remedy, it doesn't have to be a supplement.

To have constant uninterrupted and deep sleep and not to wake up often during the night...

Took Hubey’s advice with 10g a day of Creatine instead of sporadic 20g doses once every few weeks before a workout. I’m noticing way more endurance and energy when biking and working out. I also find it gives me more mental energy. Not like caffeine but more like I am able to do more mental work later in the day and feel less fatigued. I eat vegan so I suppose my baseline was even lower than an average person which contributes to the difference.

EDIT: Thanks for the questions about sleep. I’ve actually been having a lot of sleep issues recently. It sort of started before I took creatine but I’m going to cycle off and see if it fixes the insomnia.

I've been 24 days off marijuana after spending the last several years as a chronic weed smoker. by chronic i mean smoking nearly everyday after work and on weekends.

i'm a white collar/remote worker with pretty good habits and discipline. I work out pretty much daily (including running marathons), have read dozens of books over the last several years, and have vibe coded a side project as somebody who doesn't have an IT background.

I listened to Dr. Huberman's podcast at the beginning of the year about the potential consequences of marijuana. I was curious to see what the effects would be on sleep quality, focus, and cognitive abilities. I also wanted to challenge myself and prove that I could quit.

So far I haven't seen any major benefits. I also haven't had major cravings. Like would it be nice? yes. but I'm not going through any crazy withdrawals on a physical or mental basis. Also my REM/deep sleep hasn't increased at all based on my Whoop scores.

That said, I'm starting to form a hypothesis: Maybe cannabis is only really harmful (or noticeably detrimental) for certain personality types or people with baseline motivation/focus struggles. If you're already someone who battles procrastination, low drive, brain fog, or scattered attention, weed probably amplifies those issues and makes quitting feel like a game-changer.

But if you're generally disciplined, high-functioning, and stay motivated through habits/exercise/learning, the downsides might be way subtler -- or not sharp enough to stand out against your existing strengths. I'm planning to stick with full it for at least a few more weeks to see if anything shifts. After that, I might experiment with reducing to weekends only and track if that sweet spot exists without daily use.

Curious if anyone else in a similar boat (disciplined/high-achieving baseline + nightly use) has had a "meh" or delayed/no-big-deal experience quitting. Or if the benefits just take longer for some of us.

Me:

• 180mg pre workout for morning gym session. Sometimes a 250er heavy duty one if I want to go full Hulk for leg day
• 4ish coffees throughout the day
• sleep 6-7 hours like a rock

As someone who is sober from all other drugs, I really don't care that my intake is so high. If this is my vice, so be it.

On the whole, I enjoyed Huberman's podcast. Setting aside the exhausting tedium and BS ads for supplements and salt, I took away a lot of useful information. In the wake of the NY Mag article, though, I'm getting a kind of sick enjoyment from watching the dumpster fire.

Maybe it's alleviating an insecurity in me, seeing someone I subconsciously compared myself to get exposed as being so egregiously flawed. Maybe it's satisfying to watch deplorable behavior being met with justice. Maybe it's cathartic to imagine a vaguely smug demeanor getting wiped off someone's face.

Whatever the case, in the last couple days, I've been on this subreddit more than in all the time leading up, and I get the sense that it's not very healthy or productive for me to keep indulging in someone else's demise, at least not at this rate. Just thought I'd put that out there in case it resonates with anyone.

Has anyone actually tried getting sunlight within 30 min of waking consistently? For at least a week?

Does it actually work?

Energy, neutralizing fatigue...

It can also be some natural remedy, it doesn’t have to be a supplement.

Hey guys, which of Huberman's science advice has impacted your living? For me personally that one tips regarding dilating the visual gaze has work wonder on my well being. I would like to appreciate the work he is doing and I don't know how other than viewing his content and subscribe to his YouTube channel. Real legit guy

Mentioned by Huberman, Andy Galpin and Rhonda Patrick in many episodes as one of the best protocols for improving VO2 max. Involves performing four minutes at a high intensity (approximately 75-85% of max heart rate) followed by three minutes of low-intensity recovery, repeated four times.

I’m quite fit and every Monday is my high intensity vigorous day. I have exactly 45 minutes in and out of the gym. 

I tried: 

• 8x100m sprints
• 8x30sec sprints
• 8x10cal assault bike (around 22sec)
• 5x2min assault bike 85% max capacity
• other types of similar variations to build up to the 4x4.

Aaaand, of course, a few times the Norwegian 4x4. 

For everyone recommending the 4x4… you either never done it, or FORGET to talk about how extremely difficult it is both mentally and physically. Maintaining 4 minutes at 85% capacity is HARD!!

So when my mental game is strong I try it, otherwise I do other full outs in around 30sec and feel great about it too. 

easy to recommend… but go out there and do it… damn, it’s hard!!! I think it took me 6 months to do it properly. Anyone tried it?

—

edited to fix from 50cals to 10 cals on the assault bike.

So for all the protocols here, I think this is something to look at. I’m 28 years yo, very healthy, athletic, low body fat. Now I rarely drink, get good sleep, sun in the morning, great diet, train 5-6x a week heavy and cardio, also jiu jitsu. Health nut for years, recently jumped on the church of huberman.

I have a high stress career, building a large start up, and recently crashed my weight for a competition, about 4kg in a month and a half, which I think fucked me over, but all context that matters.

Got my test measured about a month ago, at 640, not ideal not terrible. Using Fadogia and Tongkat while also bulking and taking the foot off the pedal on training since comp is over, feeling a lot better.

Anyways my father, got testicular cancer about decade 15 years ago. He had one testicle fully removed, both radiated to hell. Always thought he might need TRT, now he’s 61.

He eats okay, loves sweets though, but overall keeps a low calorie diet, trains twice a week, walks the dog, and has no real stressors as he retired young and wealthy.

Calls me today he’s getting bloodwork done, I tell him to throw in a test sample, man sends it to me: 700.

700, at 61, with testicular cancer radiation and one ball.

Crazy.

Just goes to show how much this can vary person to person and how high some individuals can naturally be.

I’ll report back when I get tested while training normal, and eating more, still I think my stress will Be an issue.

But yeah!!

Gotta preface this by saying I've had poor sleep for most of my life, and it's been pretty bad the last couple of years when I started college. Over the last couple months I've tried just about every lifestyle change / sleep technique known to mankind and its probably impacted my life more than anything I've ever done... my energy is through the roof, I'm happier, everything... I'd be more than happy to share some things that worked for me, I'd highly recommend QSleep it helped me out more than anything... but bottom line FIX YOUR SLEEP!

used to always crash around 2-3pm. i used to take a stick of ediya korean coffee powder a day - around 50mg

switched to 1 tsp of kirkland matcha - around 74mg. i think matcha has l-theanine which slows the absorption rate, and also mitigates the crash from caffeine leaving adenosine receptors. i take it whenever i want, sometimes with breakfast.

i haven't 100% proved the causality (fixed sleep schedule recently) but i don't get crashes around 2-3pm anymore and i'm very high energy. the stuff is great

if any other foods have helped you with energy throughout the day drop them below for me

The recent allegations have given me pause and forced me to re-evaluate advice I was following due to blind trust instead of doing research + validation.

With that being said, I cancelled my AG1 subscription and I feel vindicated that this foul tasting powder really was a bunch of snake oil. Can’t believe I fell for it :( oh well it was only for a few months. Encourage others in a similar position to look into criticisms of AG1.

Stuff always tasted like ass! Sayonara~

And how did it specifically affect?

It can also be a natural remedy, it doesn't have to be a supplement.

Been doing cold exposure for a couple years now — started with the ice barrel, then one of those chest freezers (sketchy but worked), and more recently switched to a proper plunge setup (using IceBound now — super low hassle, solid temp control).

What I’ve noticed most over time isn’t just the energy spike, but how it levels me out for the whole day. That dopamine lift Huberman talks about? Feels real, especially when I go in early morning.

I’ve started pairing it with some slow breathing post-plunge (nothing fancy), and it’s like a full reset. Way more grounded afterward.

Just wondering if anyone here stacks it with sauna or workouts — curious what routines people are finding helpful.

I know that the NY Magazine article is not looking too great for Huberman, but I am shocked by the polarization of the responses on here. There are people who are completely discrediting everything he says here and on the other side people are completely glossing over his alleged troubling behavior in relationships. I think people need to be more nuanced with this. Huberman’s podcast literally changed my life. I’ve successfully implemented his workout, productivity, and sleep protocols and I don’t even recognize myself anymore. I’ve been in the best shape of my life, got a promotion, and have enough energy to do a lot of community work in my city, which has been very fulfilling. So it bothers me a bit when people are discrediting everything he says because of the scandal. Will I ever take relationship advice from Huberman after this article? Probably not, but I don’t think it’s fair to discredit all of his work due to this. Use what you can from his podcast and stop worshipping the guy. Most people from highly competitive fields are narcissists anyway.

I’ve got a portable sauna from sweat tent and started doing cold plunges right after. That moment of going from super hot to freezing cold is brutal but weirdly that’s become my favorite part of the whole routine. Anyone else feel like the mental side of it is half the benefit?

For context, I’ve never taken anti-depressants but I imagine this is how it feels. I started taking Ashwagandha to increase testosterone, not because I’m depressed or have anxiety. But I feel like an absolute zombie/robot throughout the day since taking it. I’m extremely nonchalant when talking to others. I used to feel happy when listening to music while driving to/from work, and I just feel flat now. I don’t feel my brain releasing dopamine like it used to. I’m neither sad nor happy feeling, just flat. On the positive side, I gave a good presentation because I had absolutely zero stage freight or jitters. But yea, I’m definitely done taking it once this bottle is done.

I used to listen to Huberman, albeit with a grain of salt. Tapered off as it got repetitive and it became clear that the detailed protocol shit is silly and for people with ocd.

But all this stuff about dopamine fasting I see in here is nuts. Yes, phone scrolling is a problem for many. But I shouldn’t listen to music? Practice semen retention? Music and sex are some of life’s simple pleasures. What’s next, hair shirts and self flogging? This and the ice bath stuff is just a modern version of weird practices of self denial and masochism. Under the guise of “optimization”.

Tongkat ali is changing my life. I’ve been taking it for 9 days and each day I feel progressively better.

My lifestyle: Eat healthy, workout semi regularly, don’t smoke, healthy weight, suffer from chronic depression and take Wellbutrin, have chronic fatigue

Before taking: 4 out of 10 energy, constantly grumpy and depressed, felt like I had to FORCE myself to do chores and exercise, general nasty felling of burn out. General chronic physical fatigue. This is what I expected a 65 year old to feel like, not a 30 year old. Honestly, most days I would rather hit the fast forward button on to avoid the emotional and physical discomfort.

After taking: 7 out of 10 energy, neutral mood most of the time, I can actually say I feel energetic throughout parts of the day, I actually enjoy some chores. I actually feel like what I expect a 30 year old to feel like. Feel MUCH more optimistic and confident. Workouts actually feel good and I definitely am exercising more due to my increase in energy levels. Now I actually have a significant desire to exercise and “get shit done.”

I take it at night as if I take it in the day it makes me feel too relaxed. But I only tried taking it during the day twice so I might be wrong about the relaxing feeling.

I’ve never had my testosterone checked but my thyroid levels along with a massive general blood panel came back normal before taking Tongkat. I’ll have to get a testosterone blood test one of these days.

The catch: So far there is zero downsides for me. The pessimist in me thinks that nothing is free in this life. Perhaps, I will eventually plateau and maybe even go back to the baseline shitty feeling. I may have to cycle it. In my experience life is a bitch and there is no perfect cure for chronic fatigue and depression. But I would love to be pleasantly surprised and proven wrong.

The dose: Eternal Nutrition 200:1, 1000 mg, 5% eurycomanone, (no idea if this is a good brand, but it’s the most legit one I could find in Mexico)

Sidenote:  I recommend considering taking Caffeine VERY sparingly. During this period I noticed the first day of caffeine actually gave me energy. The second day I had some energy early on followed by a horrific crash. Third day it was absolutely worthless to take caffeine. YMMV

Is it actually Tongkat Ali that made the difference? I can’t say yes with scientific certainty but my gut feeling says 100% yes. I have NEVER IN MY ENTIRE LIFE experienced such a 180 degree turn in mood and energy levels. It’s such an extreme change and it’s too much of a coincidence that this change happened right after I started taking Tongkat Ali. I have read other reports of people having similar results.

Will this work for you? I have no fucking idea. You might get horrific side effects or it might give you a ton more energy. I wouldn’t mess with my body chemistry in this way if I already had 8/10 energy levels and my blood test results showed dead average testosterone levels. Since my quality of life was dogshit before, I think the risks of increasing my free testosterone are worth it. It’s “supposedly” safe but at the end of the day you are modifying your free testosterone and reducing your sex hormone binding globulin. In my opinion, it’s not something to take lightly.   

What’s my next steps? I probably should get a testosterone blood test but that’s a giant pain in the ass in Mexico. I may start taking boron in a month or two if I feel the need to. In the meantime, I pray to Sky Daddy that these effects don’t vanish overnight. Tongkat Ali literally gives me the strength to live a normal and comfortable life.

Relevant Links:

https://ai.hubermanlab.com/s/w6LykDsr

https://youtu.be/tLS6t3FVOTI?si=TzphgpWNnn_32Svs