Micronutrients for Health & Longevity | Dr. Rhonda Patrick

**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. Rhonda Patrick. Dr. Patrick is known to some of you as a podcaster and one of the premier educators in the landscape of mitochondria, metabolism, stress, and other aspects of brain and body health. Her podcast Found My Fitness is one of the premier podcasts in the world for disseminating knowledge about how the brain and body work and how we can use behavioral tools, micronutrients, supplements, and other protocols in order to maximize our immediate and long-term health. Dr. Patrick did her formal training in cell biology, exploring the links between mitochondrial metabolism, apoptosis, which is naturally occurring cell death, which is a healthy form of cell death that occurs in our brain and body throughout the lifespan, and cancer biology. She then went on to do post-doctoral training with Dr. Bruce Ames, investigating the effects of micronutrients, meaning vitamins and minerals and how they affect metabolism, inflammation, DNA damage, and the aging process. She has published landmark review articles and primary research, meaning original research articles in some of the premier journals in the world, including Science, Nature Cell Biology, Trends in Cell Biology, and FAFSAB. Indeed, Dr. Patrick is an expert in an extraordinarily broad range of topics that impact our health. For today's episode, we focus primarily on the major categories of micronutrients that are essential for brain and body health. I have to confess that before the discussion with Dr. Patrick, I was aware of only one of the categories of micronutrients that we discuss. And so you'll notice that I am wrapped with attention throughout the discussion. And I think that you'll want to have a pen and paper handy because she offers not only a very clear understanding of the biological mechanisms by which other micronutrients operate, but some very clear and actionable tools and items that we can all embark on if we are to optimize our brain and body health. We also discuss behavioral protocols. Dr. Patrick is well known for her understanding of the scientific literature on sauna and the use of heat and cold for optimizing things like metabolism, longevity, cardiovascular health. And I'm delighted to say that we discussed that as well. And how behavioral protocols can interface with supplement-based and nutritional protocols. I'm confident that you'll learn a tremendous amount of information from Dr. Patrick, much of which is immediately actionable. And if you're not already following and listening to her excellent podcast, you'll absolutely want to do that. It's foundmyfitness.com is the website where you can get access to that podcast. It's also on Apple and Spotify and YouTube as foundmyfitness. Dr. Patrick also has a terrific newsletter that I recommend signing up for. It's foundmyfitness.com/newsletter is where you'll find it. And it includes research on fasting, micronutrients, sleep, depression, fitness, longevity, and far more, along of course with actionable protocols. I'm pleased to announce that the Huberman Lab podcast is now partnered with Momentous Supplements. Our motivation for partnering with Momentous is to provide people one location where they can go to access the highest quality supplements in the specific dosages that are best supported by the scientific research and that are discussed during various episodes of the Huberman Lab podcast. If you go to livemomentous.com/huberman, you will see those formulations. I should mention that we are going to add more formulations in the months to come. And you will see specific suggestions about how best to take those supplements, meaning what dosages and times of day. And in fact, how to combine those supplements with specific behavioral protocols that have been discussed on the podcast and are science supported in order to derive the maximum benefit from those supplements. And many of you will probably also be pleased to learn that Momentous ships not just within the United States, but also internationally. So once again, if you go to livemomentous.com/huberman, you will find what we firmly believe to be the best quality supplements in the precise dosages and the best protocols for taking those supplements along with the ideal behavioral protocols to combine with those supplement formulations. 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 Athletic Greens. Athletic Greens is an all in one vitamin mineral probiotic drink. I've been taking Athletic Greens since 2012, so I'm delighted that they're sponsoring the podcast. The reason I started taking Athletic Greens and the reason I still take Athletic Greens once or twice a day is that it helps me cover all of my basic nutritional needs. It makes up for any deficiencies that I might have. In addition, it has probiotics which are vital for microbiome health. I've done a couple of episodes now on the so-called gut microbiome and the ways in which the microbiome interacts with your immune system, with your brain to regulate mood, and essentially with every biological system relevant to health throughout your brain and body. With Athletic Greens, I get the vitamins I need, the minerals I need and the probiotics to support my microbiome. If you'd like to try Athletic Greens, you can go to athleticgreens.com/huberman and claim a special offer. They'll give you five free travel packs plus a year supply of vitamin D3 K2. There are a ton of data now showing that vitamin D3 is essential for various aspects of our brain and body health. Even if we're getting a lot of sunshine, many of us are still deficient in vitamin D3. And K2 is also important because it regulates things like cardiovascular function, calcium in the body and so on. Again, go to athleticgreens.com/huberman to claim the special offer of the five free travel packs and the year supply of vitamin D3 K2. Today's episode is also brought to us by Element. Element is an electrolyte drink that has everything you need and nothing you don't. That means the exact ratios of electrolytes are an element and those are sodium, magnesium and potassium, but it has no sugar. I've talked many times before on this podcast about the key role of hydration and electrolytes for nerve cell function, neuron function, as well as the function of all the cells and all the tissues and organ systems of the body. If we have sodium, magnesium and potassium present in the proper ratios, all of those cells function properly and all our bodily systems can be optimized. If the electrolytes are not present and if hydration is low, we simply can't think as well as we would otherwise. Our mood is off, hormone systems go off, our ability to get into physical action, to engage in endurance and strength and all sorts of other things is diminished. So with element, you can make sure that you're staying on top of your hydration and that you're getting the proper ratios of electrolytes. If you'd like to try element, you can go to drink element, that's lmnt.com/huberman, and you'll get a free element sample pack with your purchase. They're all delicious. So again, if you want to try element, you can go to element, lmnt.com/huberman.