Transform Your Health by Improving Metabolism, Hormone & Blood Sugar Regulation | Dr. Casey Means

**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. My guest today is Dr. Casey Means. Dr. Casey Means did her undergraduate degree at Stanford University and her medical degree at Stanford University School of Medicine. She is one of the world's foremost experts in metabolic health. Today, we discuss how metabolic function and dysfunction impacts our health. In particular, we discuss mitochondria, which are involved in energy production within our cells and the various things that we can each and all do to ensure proper mitochondrial function, which is essential not just for things like body composition and physical and mental energy, but also our ability to regulate hormones, blood sugar, and much more. We discuss how exercise, even simple exercise like walking, as well as sleep, as well as more vigorous exercise and in particular nutrition, including the types of foods we eat, the timing of food intake, and the sources and quality of those foods impact our mitochondria and other aspects of metabolic function. We also discuss how particular micronutrients within specific foods can directly impact mitochondrial and metabolic health. Dr. Means explains how mitochondria, inflammation, and reactive oxygen species, which are the byproducts of metabolism in our cells, can combine to create conditions of obesity, as well as ways that we can manage those things or even reverse mitochondrial inflammation and reactive oxygen species dysfunction in order to reverse obesity, reverse diabetes, and enhance our health in myriad ways. By the end of today's discussion, you'll have a clear picture of the cellular processes that occur in the brain and body that underlie metabolic disease and metabolic health. And most importantly, you'll have a very clear picture of the actionable items that we can each and all carry out every day and every week in order to ensure metabolic health, proper mitochondrial function, and indeed, that can also impact body composition and overall feelings of well-being. I would also like to share that Dr. Casey Means has a terrific new book coming out. I know it's terrific because I've read it. It is entitled Good Energy, The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health. If you're interested in the book, we provided a link to the book in the show note captions. 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 Maui Nui Venison. Maui Nui Venison is the most nutrient dense and delicious red meat available. I've spoken before on this podcast and with several expert guests on this podcast about the fact that most of us should be seeking to get about one gram of quality protein per pound of body weight every day. Not only does that protein provide critical building blocks for things like muscle repair and synthesis, but also for overall metabolism and health. Eating enough quality protein each day is also a terrific way to stave off hunger. One of the key things, however, is to make sure that you're getting enough quality protein without ingesting excess calories. Maui Nui Venison has an extremely high quality protein per calorie ratio such that getting one gram of protein per pound of body weight is both easy and doesn't cause you to ingest an excess of calories. Also, Maui Nui Venison is absolutely delicious. They have venison steaks, they have ground venison and they have venison bone broth. I personally like all of those. In fact, I probably eat a Maui Nui Venison burger pretty much every day. And occasionally I'll swap that for a Maui Nui steak. And if you're really on the go, they have Maui Nui Venison Jerky, which has 10 grams of protein per stick at just 55 calories. If you'd like to try Maui Nui Venison, you can go to mauinuivenison.com/huberman to get 20% off your first order. Again, that's mauinuivenison.com/huberman. Today's episode is also brought to us by Eight Sleep. Eight Sleep makes smart mattress covers with cooling, heating and sleep tracking capacity. Now I've spoken many times before in this podcast about the critical need to get sleep, both enough sleep and enough quality sleep. When we do that, everything, our mental health, our physical health, performance in any sports or school, et cetera, all get better. And when we're not sleeping well or enough, all those things suffer. One of the key things to getting a great night's sleep is that your body temperature actually has to drop by about one to three degrees in order to fall and stay deeply asleep. And in order to wake up feeling refreshed, your body temperature actually has to increase by about one to three degrees. One of the best ways to ensure that happens is to control the temperature of your sleeping environment. And with Eight Sleep, it makes it very easy to do that. You program in the temperature that you want at the beginning, middle and end of the night. You can even divide the temperature for two different people, if you have two different people sleeping in the bed, and it tracks your sleep. It tells you how much slow wave sleep and rapid eye movement sleep you're getting. It really helps you dial in the correct parameters to get the best possible night's sleep for you. I've been sleeping on an Eight Sleep mattress cover for well over three years now, and it has completely transformed my sleep for the better. If you'd like to try Eight Sleep, you can go to eightsleep.com/huberman and save $150 off their Pod 3 cover. Eight Sleep currently ships in the USA, Canada, UK, select countries in the EU and Australia. Again, that's eightsleep.com/huberman. Today's episode is also brought to us by AeroPress. AeroPress is like a French press, but a French press that always brews the perfect cup of coffee, meaning no bitterness and excellent taste. AeroPress achieves this because it uses a very short contact time between the hot water and the coffee. And that short contact time also means that you can brew an excellent cup of coffee very quickly. The whole thing takes only about three minutes. I started using an AeroPress over 10 years ago, and I learned about it from a guy named Alan Adler, who's a former Stanford engineer, who's also an inventor. He developed things like the Aerobe Frisbee. In any event, I'm a big fan of Adler inventions. And when I heard he developed a coffee maker, the AeroPress, I tried it and I found that indeed it makes the best possible tasting cup of coffee. It's also extremely small and portable. So I started using it in the laboratory when I travel on the road and also at home. And I'm not alone in my love of the AeroPress coffee maker. With over 55,000 five-star reviews, AeroPress is the best reviewed coffee press in the world. If you'd like to try AeroPress, you can go to aeropress.com/huberman to get 20% off. AeroPress currently ships in the USA, Canada and to over 60 other countries around the world. Again, that's aeropress.com/huberman. And now for my discussion with Dr. Casey Means. Dr. Casey Means, welcome.