Andrew Huberman Reveals His Entire Evening Routine
Summary
TLDRThe speaker discusses their evening routine for optimal sleep and overall well-being. They emphasize the importance of carbohydrate-rich meals in the evening to reduce cortisol levels, leading to better sleep. The routine includes minimal screen time, reading, and dimming lights before bed. Supplements like magnesium, apigenin, and theanine are recommended for enhancing sleep quality. The speaker also highlights the benefits of practices like non-sleep deep rest (NSDR) for relaxation. They suggest keeping the room cool at night and gradually warming it before waking up to mimic natural outdoor conditions.
Takeaways
- 🌅 The speaker's evening routine begins with a final meal around 6:30-7:00 PM, consisting mainly of carbohydrates, which help lower cortisol levels and aid in sleep.
- 🍽️ The evening meal often includes pastas, rice, and soups, with some protein from clean animal sources. This shift in diet towards carbs helps transition to a more relaxed state.
- 📚 The evening is spent with minimal screen time, focusing on reading, talking, listening to music, and winding down. The speaker avoids high-stimulation activities before sleep.
- 💡 Lights are dimmed around 8-9 PM to prepare for sleep. Overhead lights are avoided, and efforts are made to keep the bedroom dark and free of electronics.
- 🕑 The speaker mentions that the peak in alertness happens 90 minutes before the natural sleep time, which is a normal physiological response.
- 🛌 The speaker practices 'Non-Sleep Deep Rest' (NSDR) regularly, especially if not enough sleep was obtained or if waking up in the middle of the night.
- 💊 Supplements like magnesium threonate or bisglycinate, apigenin, and theanine are taken 30-60 minutes before bed to promote deep sleep and relaxation.
- 🌡️ Maintaining a cool sleeping environment is important. The speaker suggests starting with a moderate temperature, cooling down during the night, and allowing it to warm up slightly before waking.
- 💤 Waking up once at night to use the bathroom is considered normal. The speaker advises keeping lights low during this time to avoid disrupting sleep.
- 🧠 Behavioral tools and routines are emphasized as the foundation for good sleep, as they help rewire the nervous system and improve long-term sleep quality.
Q & A
What time does the speaker usually go to bed, and how has this timing changed recently?
-The speaker generally goes to bed between 10 and 11 p.m., but has recently been going to bed much earlier due to finishing their last meal around 6:30 or 7 p.m.
Why does the speaker prefer carbohydrate-rich meals in the evening?
-The speaker prefers carbohydrate-rich meals in the evening because starches are known to reduce cortisol levels, which can promote better sleep by helping to block the cortisol response.
What does the speaker's typical daily meal structure look like?
-The speaker typically fasts until around 11 a.m., exercises before that time, and then has a low-carbohydrate meal for lunch, such as meat and salad. They may have a low-carb snack in the afternoon and a carbohydrate-rich meal for dinner.
What are the key behavioral tools the speaker emphasizes for sleep improvement?
-The speaker emphasizes that behavioral tools, such as regular meal timing, dimming lights in the evening, reducing screen time, and practicing non-sleep deep rest (NSDR), should form the foundation of sleep improvement as they help rewire the nervous system.
What are the three supplements the speaker recommends for improving sleep, and how should they be taken?
-The speaker recommends magnesium (either threonate or bisglycinate), apigenin, and theanine. Magnesium (100-200 mg) and apigenin (50 mg) should be taken 30-60 minutes before sleep, and theanine (100-400 mg) can be added to enhance relaxation and improve sleep depth.
Why should people with night terrors or who sleepwalk avoid theanine?
-Theanine can make dreams more vivid, which may exacerbate night terrors or sleepwalking in those who are prone to these conditions.
How does temperature affect sleep, according to the speaker?
-Temperature is the second most powerful stimulus for wakefulness. The body needs to cool down by 1-3 degrees to fall asleep and stay asleep, so keeping the room cool with warm blankets is recommended. The speaker also advises letting a hand or foot extend out of the covers to help regulate body temperature.
What is the 'temperature minimum' and how does it relate to wakefulness?
-The 'temperature minimum' is the lowest point in body temperature during the 24-hour cycle, occurring about 2 hours before natural wake-up time. This temperature increase signals the body to wake up, and exposure to light during this period can help augment this natural rise in alertness.
What is the speaker's stance on the use of alcohol or cannabis for sleep?
-The speaker advises against using alcohol or cannabis for sleep, as both can significantly disrupt sleep quality. Instead, they recommend using supplements like magnesium, apigenin, and theanine to promote healthy sleep.
How does the speaker suggest adjusting the temperature settings on an Eight Sleep mattress to optimize sleep quality?
-The speaker suggests starting with a moderate temperature for the first few hours of sleep, then keeping it cold from around 3 or 4 a.m., and finally allowing it to warm up slightly around 4:45 a.m. to mimic the body's natural temperature cycle and support better wakefulness.
Outlines
🌙 Evening Routine: From Meals to Sleep Preparation
The speaker describes their evening routine, emphasizing the timing of meals and how their content—typically high in carbohydrates and lower in proteins—affects their alertness and sleep quality. They discuss the importance of meal composition, noting how low-carbohydrate meals during the day enhance focus and alertness, while carbohydrate-rich meals in the evening help lower cortisol levels and promote better sleep. The speaker avoids excessive screen time in the evening, preferring activities like reading and listening to music. They also gradually dim the lights to prepare for sleep, highlighting the importance of minimizing light exposure before bed to support a natural sleep cycle.
🧘♂️ Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR): A Game-Changer for Sleep
The speaker introduces Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR), a practice they use to compensate for inadequate sleep. They describe how a 30-minute NSDR session can make them feel as refreshed as if they had a full night's sleep. This technique is particularly useful when waking up in the middle of the night or after a restless sleep, allowing the speaker to relax and fall back asleep more easily. NSDR is also recommended for anyone struggling with insomnia or difficulty returning to sleep after waking up at night.
💊 Effective Supplements for Better Sleep
The speaker discusses the role of supplements in improving sleep quality, emphasizing that behavioral tools should be the foundation of any sleep strategy. They recommend magnesium threonate or bisglycinate, apigenin, and theanine, highlighting their benefits for promoting deep sleep and reducing anxiety. They caution that while supplements can be effective, they don't rewire the nervous system like behavioral changes do. The speaker notes the potential side effects of these supplements, such as vivid dreams from theanine, and advises consulting a doctor before use, especially for those with heart conditions.
🔥 Managing Body Temperature for Optimal Sleep
The speaker explains the importance of regulating body temperature to achieve optimal sleep, noting that a cooler environment at night supports better rest. They discuss how the body's temperature naturally rises and falls throughout the day, impacting wakefulness and sleepiness. The speaker suggests keeping the room cool and using blankets to maintain comfort, allowing the body to release excess heat through exposed skin. They also mention modern devices like the Eight Sleep system, which can be programmed to adjust bed temperature throughout the night to align with the body's natural temperature changes, enhancing sleep quality.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Carbohydrates
💡Magnesium
💡Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR)
💡Cortisol
💡GABA
💡Temperature Regulation
💡Melatonin
💡Light Exposure
💡Sleep Supplements
💡Forebrain Activity
Highlights
The speaker usually goes to bed between 10 and 11 p.m., but lately has been sleeping earlier due to adjusting meal times.
Evening meals are generally higher in carbohydrates, which helps reduce cortisol levels and promotes relaxation.
Low carbohydrate meals during the day promote alertness due to a mild adrenaline response.
The speaker fasts until about 11 a.m. and typically exercises before eating the first meal of the day.
Dinner usually includes foods like pasta, rice, or soups, which help shift the body into a more relaxed state.
The speaker avoids screen time in the evening and prefers reading books or listening to music instead.
Lights are dimmed starting around 8 or 9 p.m. to prepare for sleep, as sensitivity to overhead lights has increased.
The speaker practices Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR) almost daily, which helps restore energy and improve sleep quality.
Magnesium threonate or bisglycinate, apigenin, and theanine are key supplements taken to improve sleep.
Magnesium helps increase deep sleep, while apigenin, derived from chamomile, promotes a deeper transition to sleep.
Theanine, found in some energy drinks, eliminates anxiety and the jitters from caffeine, but it may cause vivid dreams.
The speaker recommends keeping lights low if waking up in the middle of the night to maintain sleep quality.
Carbohydrate-rich evening meals help retain water and prevent waking up frequently at night to use the restroom.
The speaker discusses the importance of maintaining a lower body temperature at night for optimal sleep.
Using tools like a sleep tracker or adjusting the temperature in the room can help enhance sleep quality.
Transcripts
what's your evening routine including
supplements from like take walk me
through 5 PM until your your lights out
falling asleep uh in bed yeah so I I
generally go to sleep somewhere between
10 and 11 p.m although lately I've been
going to sleep much earlier
um because I've been finishing my last
meal sometime right around 6 37. first
of all
um my evening meals are more Laden with
carbohydrates than they are proteins
typically not every day there's times
we'll have a steak for dinner or
something like that chicken soup or
whatever
but it's very clear that fasting and low
carbohydrate meals I'm not saying diets
overall but meals that those lend
themselves to more alertness and focus
and a lot of people say well how can
that be the brain uses glycogen you need
carbohydrate well when you are when you
eat a meal that is slightly devoid or
devoid of starches
it creates a sense of alertness because
there's actually a mild adrenaline
response so what I do is I basically I'm
rewinding a little bit into the earlier
part of the day but I fast until about
um 11 o'clock I usually get my exercise
at some point before 11 o'clock or noon
I'm not super strict about that then my
meal is generally something some meat a
salad
um something low carbohydrate if I train
really hard I might have some rice or
oatmeal or something like that and some
fruit and then in the afternoon I have a
snack which is also pretty low
carbohydrate because I want to have that
alertness and I'm drinking caffeine so
I'm kind of humming around
um doing my work and trying to get into
that high focus state for dinner I
generally will eat pasta or something
that includes more starches because
starches are known to actually reduce
cortisol levels in the body this is why
we eat Comfort Foods most Comfort Foods
involve eating foods that are pretty
carbohydrate Laden because there's um a
pathway involving carbohydrates and the
amino acid tryptophan that converts to
serotonin in and it essentially blocks
the cortisol response a lot of people
that are in very low carbohydrate diets
I have no problem with that if people do
ketogenic diets or low carb diets but
those people often have a hard time
sleeping
um they have to rely on a lot of sleep
supplements or medication uh we'll talk
about supplements in a minute because
there are some excellent ones so in the
evening I tend to eat pastas and rice
and soups and I still eat some protein
but I
um from clean animal sources because
that's what works for me but but I
generally Am shifting my whole system
towards more quiescence I might do a
little bit of work in the evening we are
not big
um screen people in the evening I do
read books
um generally we end up hanging out just
talking and listening to music and
things like that I might do some writing
on the computer but I'm not a big screen
time guy and I I should say I love
movies it just so happens that um uh I
ended up with somebody who doesn't have
much interest in in movies but is it is
a really terrific musician so sometimes
she'll play music and I'll read her work
and that's kind of my evening most days
sometimes dinner with friends or if it
will happen of course so right around
um eight or nine PM I start bringing the
lights down in fact I have a real
sensitivity to the overhead lights
because I'm so used to this pattern so I
start dimming the lights in the evening
overhead and then for the transition to
sleep
um I do keep my phone out of the the
bedroom as much as possible sometimes
I'll use it as an alarm but I'll put it
on airplane mode
if I'm feeling a little too alert I
remember two things one the biggest peak
in alertness actually occurs about 90
minutes before your natural to sleep
time a lot of people don't know this
this beautiful work from uh Chuck
eisler's lab he's an MD out of Harvard
Medical School and what he discovered in
tracking people's
um wakefulness and activity patterns is
that they're buzzing around all day
doing things ideally but then right
before their natural pulse and melatonin
takes off they have this peak in
activity and this I think um probably
Harkens back to some need to uh you know
Tamp down all the the safety leaks that
might be in one's environment
um and you know get everything prepped
because when you're asleep you're
actually pretty vulnerable to predators
and attack and things of that sort
that's the rationale nobody really knows
but you can essentially figure out your
net your best to bedtime by when you
have this big peak in activity and then
it kind of subsides so sometimes if I'm
feeling a little too alert and wide
awake what I'll do is I'll just remember
that that's going to pass naturally and
I I'm not neurotic about it but I have
to say I generally don't do too much
um screen time viewing or arguing or
parsing of hard you know ideas before
sleep I I try and kind of shut that down
and people vary but some people are just
really tend to be very forebrain
oriented as I call their thinking and
anticipating all the time it's good to
try and taper that off one of the
absolute most powerful tools that has
come into my life in the last decade and
then my lab works on and there are
people in Psychiatry at Stanford that
are also working on is a practice that I
call non-sleep depressed which is nsdr
you can do nsdr first thing in the
morning if you ever wake up and you did
not get enough sleep I often wake up and
feel I didn't get enough sleep I'll do a
30-minute nsdr and I come out of that
feeling terrific as if I got a full
night's sleep and I do this almost every
day at some point I might do it in the
afternoon or if you wake up in the
middle of the night and you're having
trouble falling back asleep I highly
recommend doing this because even if it
doesn't put you back to sleep it's
better than being awake and ruminating
and you're teaching yourself to fall
back asleep you don't have to do it
every day you could do it maybe once or
three times a week and what you're doing
is you're learning how when you wake up
in the middle of the night you go to the
bathroom you come back you're like oh no
my mind is racing what do I do instead
of getting on your phone you can start
to use some of the progressive
relaxation that you learned from those
scripts or you can actually do those
scripts and so I tend to do do those in
the evening or when I wake up in the
morning
and that greatly facilitates my
transition to sleep and and just being a
more rested person now in terms of
supplements I'm a big believer that
supplements are powerful and are a
terrific often a terrific replacement
for prescription drugs not that there
aren't terrific prescription drugs I
mean many people benefit from
prescription drugs I take a few
um but I think that
many people rely on things that are
excessive and and habit-forming
expensive and unnecessary but I will say
first off behavioral tools should form
the foundation of all your sleep tools
your wakefulness tools behaviors first
behaviors first behaviors first for one
simple but important reason which is
that behaviors rewire your nervous
system they so they engage what we call
neuroplasticity which is your nervous
system's ability to change you get
better at falling asleep when you do
nsdr or reverie you get better at waking
up and feeling alert when you view
bright light in the early part of the
day with supplements and and things of
that sort your system can react in the
moment but it doesn't rewire it doesn't
get better such that if you don't take
that thing you're just where you were
before now that said there are some
supplements that have been tremendously
helpful for me for sleep over the years
and I know now
that there are I you know uh humility
aside just from having blabbed about
these on various podcasts including mine
I think there are probably hundreds of
thousands of people taking these things
and I want to be very clear that I have
no Financial relationship to the whether
or not people take these things or not
we my podcast is sponsored by a by a
supplement company but I'm not even
going to mention it I just think find
the lowest cost high quality Source you
can
um there are many and so the three
things that really can help with the
depth and uh transition to sleep are
magnesium three and eight
t-h-r-e-o-n-a-t-e magnesium three and
eight an alternative which is just as
good as magnesium bis glycinate
um
b-i-s-g-l-y-c-i-n-a-t-e bis glycinate
either one and what you're looking for
is to get somewhere between 100 and 200
milligrams of those sometimes you'll see
on the bottle it says 2 000 milligrams
that's the elemental magnesium it'll
also see a smaller number go with the
smaller number
what does this do well it makes people
feel a little drowsy and it greatly
increases the depth of their deep and
the amount of deep sleep if you're a
sleep tracker type with whoops or auras
you'll see this about five percent of
people don't like magnesium 3 and 8 and
bis glycinate because it gives them
stomach upset you'll know the first time
um but most people do just fine the
other thing is a really powerful
supplement which is wonderful is
apogenin API g-e-n-i-n apogenin is a
derivative of chamomile
both of these things and I should say
that 50 milligrams is the target there
and there's only one source that I know
of I have no relationship to them but
that's Swanson and these things are
available online these are both pretty
low cost the three and eight can get
expensive
um I take this glycinate and apogenin
and you take them about 30 to 60 minutes
before sleep and most people report
having an incredibly improved sleep
are they habit forming not that I am
aware of should you check with your
doctor Matt if yes if you have
especially if you have a heart condition
taking magnesium because of the way
neurons work you it's an electrolyte and
you might want to check for that purpose
but I think um most Physicians I think
would put these well within the margins
of safety but check with yours now
there's a third supplement which is
theanine
t-h-e-a-n-i-n-e theanine is an
interesting one
theanine magnesium 3 and 8 and apogenin
all trigger the activation of a neural
hormone excuse me a neuro a transmitter
in the brain called Gaba which tends to
shut off our forebrain Gaba incidentally
is also what goes up if you have one or
two alcoholic drinks the problem is
drinking alcohol before sleep really
screws up your sleep even if you're not
drunk it really screws up your sleep a
lot of people ask about cannabis and THC
uh Matt Walker the great Matt Walker or
you know from Berkeley who's the
preeminent sleep doc uh scientist rather
will tell you that THC and marijuana in
various forms and alcohol are really
disrupting people's sleep but listen
people are going to do what they do but
these supplements trigger a healthy
release of Gaba theanine anywhere from
100 to 400 milligrams
is a kind of a powerful third component
of this three and eight or this
glycinate apogen and stack and theanine
is interesting though your dreams will
get very Vivid people who have night
terrors or who have um uh who Sleepwalk
should not take theanine theanine is
actually showing up in a lot of energy
drinks now companies are sneaking
thinning into drinks during the day and
even into coffee because it eliminates
anxiety a little bit and it eliminates
the Jitters you can drink twice as much
caffeine you could drink four of the
same energy drink that normally you
could only have one of if they stop
cleaning in there so you might also want
to take a look I'm not a big fan of
energy drinks I am drinking some yerba
mate tea this morning but
um that's all that's in it
um but theanine is a great addition to
this evening
um uh supplement stack and I do that
about 30 to 60 minutes before sleep one
last point about sleep if you wake up in
the middle of the night
turn on as many lights as you need in
order to navigate around safely but
again try and keep the lights low and
waking up once in the middle of the
night to use the restroom is perfectly
normal a lot of people think oh I woke
up now my sleep is disrupted my sleep
tracking score my recovery isn't good
um I'm a big fan of sleep trackers but I
don't use one I go on subjective
feelings of wakefulness during the day
just remember insomnia clinically
defined is whether or not you're falling
asleep during the day because you're
having trouble sleeping at night a lot
of people think they have insomnia with
what they actually have is anxiety about
waking up and they they're just
concerned that they've heard all the
terrible things that happen if you don't
get enough sleep so I think that hits
the on the major things obviously you
don't want to drink so many fluids
before sleep that you're waking up all
night to use the restroom one of the
nice things about a carbohydrate
um Rich meal in the evening is
carbohydrates actually hold water for
every gram of carbohydrate you're going
to hold some water anyone on a low
carbohydrate diet will notice that they
lose a lot of weight they think they're
leaner they're actually excreting a lot
of water so that's key and then the
temperature thing is really big we
haven't talked about temperature but
second to light temperature is the most
powerful
um stimulus for wakefulness actually
when you wake up in the morning it's
because your body temperature is rising
and well we could do a little experiment
right now
um so what time do you typically wake up
in the morning uh I wake up around five
so so you're what we would call
temperature minimum is 3 A.M meaning
that your low point in body temperature
across the 24 hour cycle is probably
somewhere around three or four a.m and
then as it starts to rot so a
temperature minimum is not a specific
temperature it's a time in the 24 hour
cycle it's about two hours to 90 minutes
before your natural waking I'm not
talking about the waking that happens in
the middle of the night and you go back
to sleep I'm talking about the weight
the typical wake-up time where you would
rise okay so for you your temperature
minimum is about 3 A.M and then your
body temperature is going to start
increasing increasing of that cortisol
release if you can get light exposure as
that slope is um Rising as it's
increasing then you're going to augment
a faster increase okay if you were to
view light or get up at 2 A.M it would
actually jet lag you it would actually
shift you in the opposite direction as
if you were waking up in some other
location in the world so that
temperature minimum is kind of a nice
thing to keep in mind we'll get back to
it in a minute but what happens is your
body temperature is going to go up and
then somewhere around three or four in
the afternoon maybe for you because
you're a really early riser maybe about
two or three in the afternoon it's going
to hit a temperature peak the
temperature peak is interesting the
temperature peak you would think oh
that's my time of greatest wakefulness
it's actually when you're going to feel
a little bit of a drop in energy in the
afternoon and then it starts dropping
you actually feel pretty good in the
evening and then temperatures should
continue dropping because in order to
fall asleep and stay asleep you need
your body temperature to be about one to
three degrees lower than it was in that
in the afternoon so one thing you can do
is you can keep the temperature in your
home a little bit lower at night and
just stay under blankets
um I did a whole episode on this but I
and I don't want to get too far into it
but
um we actually dump heat mainly through
the palms of our hands the upper half of
our face and the bottoms of our feet
there's a special portals between the
blood and the skin there beautiful name
it was discovered by Colleen Craig
Heller at Stanford these are called
glabris Skin
um there's uh special for the
aficionados you have arteries
capillaries and veins and in these
particular locations it basically only
goes to Art From arteries to veins you
skip all the little estuaries that are
the capillaries between them and you're
able to basically dump heat more easily
during the middle of the night the best
thing to do is to have warm blankets on
top of you and be in a cold room and
then if you get too warm you will just
naturally in your sleep you'll just
extend a foot or a hand out you've
probably heard sleep with socks on
terrible idea
um I don't know why that caught on that
makes no sense whatsoever you you want
to be able to dump heat in the middle of
the night because if you get too hot
you'll wake up now some people say wait
I was in a classroom and when I was in
college and it was always when it was
warm in the afternoon then it would get
hot that I would fall asleep yeah that's
true too it has more to your digestive
patterns than anything else but um so
it's I think it's called the post
perennial dip which is just nerdy speak
for after lunch you get sleepy uh but if
you can extend a handout that's great
because if the room is too hot what are
you gonna do you're not going to put
your hand into a bucket of ice next to
your bed I mean most people don't have
that device some people use these chili
pads or ate sleep or these kinds of
things I I um actually don't have one
personally I tend to run kind of warm oh
yeah
that's an interesting question like I
use an eight sleep and it it can adjust
the temperature throughout the night so
how should I adjust that to optimize the
quality of my sleep should I start from
cold and like gradually go warm or
should I just do cold all night yeah
great question
um I was sent one I still need to set it
up but I don't have any relationship to
them yet I think that perhaps they were
curious about forming one but so I need
to try it um so you want it to be cool
uh so I would say moderate temperature
at the beginning of the night for the
first two or three hours of sleep then
you want to keep it cold until about
that three or four a.m point and then
starting right around 4 45 your body is
naturally heating but if you were to
allow it to heat up then I think you
would wake up more quickly
um
like yeah you want to start with like an
average temperature and then go colder
and then go warmer
that's right you want to mimic what
would happen if you were sleeping
Outdoors essentially
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