Exercise, Nutrition, Hormones for Vitality & Longevity | Dr. Peter Attia

**Andrew Huberman** (0:00)
Welcome to the Huberman Lab podcast, where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life.
I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. Today, my guest is Dr. Peter Attia. Dr. Attia is a physician who's focused on nutritional, supplementation-based, behavioral, prescription drug, and other interventions that promote healthspan and lifespan. His expertise spans from exercise physiology to sleep physiology, emotional and mental health, and pharmacology. Today, we talk about all those areas of health, starting with the very basics, such as how to evaluate one's own health status and how to define one's health trajectory. We also talk about the various sorts of interventions that one can take in order to optimize vitality while also extending longevity, that is lifespan. Dr. Attia is uniquely qualified to focus on the complete depth and breadth of topics that we cover. And indeed, these are the same topics that he works with his patients on in his clinic every day. Dr. Attia earned his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mathematics, and his MD from Stanford University School of Medicine. He then went on to train at Johns Hopkins Hospital in General Surgery, one of the premier hospitals in the world, where he was the recipient of several prestigious awards, including resident of the year. He's been an author on Comprehensive Reuse of General Surgery. He spent two years at the National Institutes of Health as a Surgical Oncology Fellow at the National Cancer Institute, where his work focused on immune-based therapies for melanoma. In the fields of science and medicine, it is well understood that we are much the product of our mentors and the mentoring we receive. Dr. Attia has trained with some of the best and most innovative lipidologists, endocrinologists, gynecologists, sleep physiologists, and longevity scientists in the United States and Canada. So the expertise that funnels through him and that he shares with us today is really harnessed from the best of the best and his extensive training and expertise. By the end of today's episode, you will have answers to important basic questions such as should you have blood work? How often should you do blood work? What specific things should you be looking for on that blood work that are either counterintuitive or not often discussed, and yet that immediately and in the long term influence your lifespan and health span? We talk about hormone health and hormone therapies for both men and women. We talk about drug therapies that can influence the mind as well as the body. And of course, we talk about supplementation, nutrition, exercise and predictors of lifespan and health span. It is an episode rich with information. For some of you, you may want to get out a pen and paper in order to take notes. For others of you that learn better simply by listening, I just want to remind you that we have timestamped all this information so that you can go back to the specific topics most of interest to you. Before we begin, I'd like to emphasize that this podcast is separate from my teaching and research roles at Stanford. It is however, part of my desire and effort to bring zero cost to consumer information about science and science related tools to the general public. In keeping with that theme, I'd like to thank the sponsors of today's podcast. Our first sponsor is Element. Element is an electrolyte drink with everything you need and nothing you don't. That means plenty of salt, magnesium and potassium, the so-called electrolytes and no sugar. Now, salt, magnesium and potassium are critical to the function of all the cells in your body, in particular to the function of your nerve cells, also called neurons. In fact, in order for your neurons to function properly, all three electrolytes need to be present in the proper ratios. And we now know that even slight reductions in electrolyte concentrations or dehydration of the body can lead to deficits in cognitive and physical performance. Element contains a science-backed electrolyte ratio of 1,000 milligrams, that's one gram of sodium, 200 milligrams of potassium and 60 milligrams of magnesium. I typically drink Element first thing in the morning when I wake up in order to hydrate my body and make sure I have enough electrolytes. And while I do any kind of physical training and after physical training as well, especially if I've been sweating a lot, if you'd like to try Element, you can go to drinklmnt.com that's lmnt.com/huberman to claim a free Element sample pack with your purchase. Again, that's drinklmnt.com/huberman.
Today's episode is also brought to us by Thesis. Thesis makes what are called Neutropics, which means smart drugs. Now, to be honest, I am not a fan of the term Neutropics. I don't believe in smart drugs in the sense that I don't believe that there's any one substance or collection of substances that can make us smarter. I do believe based on science, however, that there are particular neural circuits and brain functions that allow us to be more focused, more alert, access creativity, be more motivated, et cetera. That's just the way that the brain works, different neural circuits for different brain states. Thesis understands this. And as far as I know, they're the first Neutropics company to create targeted Neutropics for specific outcomes. I've been using Thesis for more than six months now, and I can confidently say that their Neutropics have been a total game changer. My go-to formula is the Clarity formula, or sometimes I'll use their Energy formula before training. To get your own personalized Neutropics starter kit, go online to takethesis.com/huberman, take a three-minute quiz, and Thesis will send you four different formulas to try in your first month. That's takethesis.com/huberman, and use the code Huberman at checkout for 10% off your first order. And now for my discussion with Dr. Peter Attia. Peter, thanks for joining me today.