Journal Club with Dr. Peter Attia | Effects of Light & Dark on Mental Health & Treatments for Cancer

**Andrew D. 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 marks the second episode in our Journal Club series with myself and Dr. Peter Attia. Dr. Peter Attia, as many of you know, is a medical doctor who is a world expert in all things healthspan and lifespan. He is the author of the bestselling book Outlive, as well as the host of his own terrific podcast, The Drive. For today's episode, Peter and I each select a different paper to share with you. We selected these papers because we feel they are both extremely interesting and extremely actionable. First, I present a paper that is about how light exposure during the morning and daytime, as well as dark exposure at night, each have independent and positive effects on mental health, as well as the ability to reduce the symptoms of many different mental health disorders. I've talked before on this podcast and elsewhere about the key importance of seeing morning sunlight, as well as trying to be in dim light at night. However, the data presented in the paper today really expands on that by identifying the key importance of not just morning sunlight, but getting bright light in one's eyes as much as is safely possible throughout the entire day and a separate additive effect of being in as much darkness at night as possible. I described the data in a lot of detail, although you do not need a background in biology in order to understand that discussion. And there's a key takeaway, which is that if you can't get enough light in your eyes during the daytime, you would be well advised to get as much darkness exposure at night. In other words, light and dark have independent and additive effects on mental health. And during today's discussion, you'll learn exactly how to apply light exposure and dark exposure in order to get those benefits. Then Peter presents a paper about novel treatments for cancer. I must say, it's an extremely important conversation that everybody, regardless of whether or not you may have had cancer or know somebody who's had cancer, ought to listen to. He highlights the current technology of cancer treatments as well as the future technology of cancer treatments and the key role that the immune system and the autoimmune system play in treatments for cancer. I assure you that by the end of today's Journal Club episode, you will have learned a ton of new information about light and dark and mental health, as well as cancer and the immune system and treatments for curing cancer. 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 8 Sleep. 8 Sleep makes smart mattress covers with cooling, heating and sleep tracking capacity. I've spoken many times before in this podcast about the fact that sleep is the foundation of mental health, physical health and performance. Now, a key component of getting a great night's sleep is that in order to fall and stay deeply asleep, your body temperature actually has to drop by about one to three degrees. And in order to wake up feeling refreshed and energized, your body temperature actually has to increase by about one to three degrees. One of the best ways to make sure that those temperature changes occur at the appropriate times, at the beginning and throughout and at the end of your night when you wake up is to control the temperature of your sleeping environment. And that's what 8 Sleep allows you to do. It allows you to program the temperature of your mattress and sleeping environment such that you fall and stay deeply asleep easily and wake up each morning feeling incredibly refreshed and energized. I've been sleeping on an 8 Sleep mattress cover for almost three years now. And it has dramatically improved the quality of my sleep. So much so that when I travel and I'm at a hotel or an Airbnb and I don't have access to my 8 Sleep, I very much look forward to getting home because my sleep is always better when I sleep on my 8 Sleep mattress cover. If you'd like to try 8 Sleep, you can go to 8sleep.com/huberman to get $150 off their Pod 3 mattress cover. 8 Sleep currently ships in the USA, Canada, UK, select countries in the EU and australia. Again, that's 8sleep.com/huberman. Today's episode is also brought to us by BetterHelp. BetterHelp offers professional therapy with a licensed therapist carried out online. I've been going to therapy for well over 30 years. Initially, I didn't have a choice. It was a condition of being allowed to stay in school, but pretty soon I realized that therapy is extremely valuable. In fact, I consider doing regular therapy just as important as getting regular exercise, including cardiovascular exercise and resistance training, which of course I also do every week. The reason I know therapy is so valuable is that if you can find a therapist with whom you can develop a really good rapport, you not only get terrific support for some of the challenges in your life, but you also can derive tremendous insights from that therapy, insights that can allow you to better not just your emotional life and your relationship life, but of course also the relationship to yourself and to your professional life, to all sorts of career goals. In fact, I see therapy is one of the key components for meshing together all aspects of one's life and being able to really direct one's focus and attention toward what really matters. If you'd like to try BetterHelp, go to betterhelp.com/huberman to get 10% off your first month. Again, that's betterhelp.com/huberman. Today's episode is also brought to us by Joovv. Joovv makes medical-grade red light therapy devices. Now, if there's one thing I've consistently emphasized on this podcast, it's the incredible role that light can have on our biology. Of course, I'm always telling people that they should get sunlight in their eyes as soon as possible after waking on as many days of their life as possible for sake of setting circadian rhythm, daytime mood focus and alertness, and improve sleep. Now, in addition to sunlight, red light and near-infrared light has been shown to have positive effects on improving numerous aspects of cellar and organ health, including faster muscle recovery, improved skin health and wound healing, even improvements in acne or that is removal of acne, reducing pain and inflammation, improving mitochondrial function and even improving vision itself. What sets Joovv apart and why it's my preferred red light therapy device is that it has clinically proven wavelengths, meaning it uses specific wavelengths of red light and near-infrared light in combination that trigger the optimal seller adaptations. Personally, I use the handheld Joovv every day. The handheld Joovv is about the size of a thick piece of toast. And I also own a Joovv panel that allows for full body exposure. And I use that one approximately five times per week for about 10 to 15 minutes per session. If you'd like to try Joovv, you can go to Joovv, spelled joovv.com/huberman.