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Back to #521: Dr. Andrew Huberman — a Neurobiologist on Optimizing Sleep, Performance, and Testosterone, with Andrew Huberman.

Why Seek Sugar With a Numb Mouth?

On The Tim Ferriss Show, neurons in the mucosal lining of the gut sense fatty acids, amino acids, and sugar. They like fat. They like amino acids for the umami flavor and because amino acids are vital to protein repair, metabolism, and protein synthesis. They like sugar.

When you eat something with fatty acids, amino acids, or sugar, the neurons, which are part of the vagus nerve, send a signal up to a little cluster of neurons in the neck called the nodose ganglia. The nodose ganglia then stimulates deep brain centers to release dopamine.

Data from Duke University show the drive does not depend on taste. Even if you numb the mouth, or gavage a person or an animal and put the substances into the stomach, you will seek more of the foods. You seek sugar, amino acids, and fat more when you ingest the foods, independent of how they taste.

Grokipedia·Duke University

Transcript

#521: Dr. Andrew Huberman — a Neurobiologist on Optimizing Sleep, Performance, and Testosterone ·

The Tim Ferriss Show

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  1. Why View Sunlight Right After Waking Up?Andrew Huberman says light viewing behavior has perhaps the strongest effect on levels of alertness and on the capacity to fall asleep and get a good night's…
  2. How Did an Earlier Cortisol Pulse Ease Depression?Andrew Huberman says morning light exposure triggers dopamine release.
  3. How Does Two Days of Light Cover a Nine-hour Jump?Andrew Huberman says the temperature minimum is the anchor for shifting sleep before a trip to Europe.
  4. When Does Andrew Huberman Take Ashwagandha?Andrew Huberman starts ashwagandha late in the day once stress has lasted more than two or three days.
  5. Why Did Andrew Huberman Coin Non-sleep Deep Rest?Andrew Huberman coined non-sleep deep rest so people who avoid the name yoga nidra will still use the practice.
  6. How Does a Physiological Sigh Cut Stress So Fast?Andrew Huberman says the physiological sigh cuts stress the fastest while a person is still engaged in life.
  7. What Spiegel Eye Roll Score Did Tim Ferriss Get?Andrew Huberman says Tim Ferriss would score probably about a four on the Spiegel eye roll test, and a four is very hypnotizable.
  8. Why Does Andrew Huberman Mix Tools for Brain Change?Andrew Huberman says people keep behavioral tools, nutrition, supplementation, prescription drugs, and brain-machine interface devices in separate bins.
  9. What Fight Made Andrew Huberman Turn His Life Around?Andrew Huberman realized he was in serious trouble after a fight on July 4th, 1994. He was 19.
  10. Did Bill Gates Really Drop Out of College?Andrew Huberman took a leave of absence from UC Santa Barbara. He did not drop out. A leave of absence is a mechanism most universities have.
  11. Why Did Andrew Huberman Almost Get Kicked Out of Hoffman?Andrew Huberman says the Hoffman Process was most transformative for him in forgiveness.
  12. Why Did Andrew Huberman Go Back Into a Shark Cage?Andrew Huberman's safety tanks were empty inside a shark cage, and he calls it the biggest nightmare. One thought hit him: he was going to go home alive.
  13. Does Turmeric Block Dihydrotestosterone?Andrew Huberman says turmeric is a fairly potent dihydrotestosterone antagonist.
  14. How Did Fadogia Agrestis Lift Andrew Huberman's Testosterone?Andrew Huberman says some people take far too much Fadogia Agrestis.
  15. What Testosterone Dose Sits Between Normal and Blasting?Andrew Huberman says sports testosterone replacement is a middle path people created on the internet.
  16. How Much Water Does the Galpin Equation Call for?Andrew Huberman says hydration is a big factor in cognitive function, and people often overlook it.
  17. Why Wait Ninety Minutes Before Morning Caffeine?On The Tim Ferriss Show, most people would benefit from waiting ninety minutes to two hours after waking before they ingest caffeine.
  18. How Do You Undo Too Much Coffee Before Bed?Andrew Huberman says caffeine can be countered in one direct way and two indirect ways. The direct way is to raise glucose.
  19. How Does Andrew Huberman Want Useful Tools to Spread?Andrew Huberman says his one request follows a laboratory saying, and he notes the saying is certainly not unique to laboratories: watch one, do one, teach one.

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