Boost Your Energy & Immune System with Cortisol & Adrenaline | Huberman Lab Essentials

00:30:47
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFucddupQlk

概要

TLDRIn this episode, Andrew Huberman discusses the role of hormones cortisol and epinephrine in regulating energy levels and the immune system. He explains how these hormones are vital for proper body function, especially in managing stress and energy. Huberman provides practical strategies to optimize cortisol and epinephrine through lifestyle changes, such as morning sunlight exposure, exercise, and regulated meal times. He emphasizes the importance of managing stress for both mental and physical health, highlighting that while short-term stress can enhance immune response, chronic stress has detrimental effects.

収穫

  • ☀️ Morning sunlight boosts cortisol for energy.
  • 🏋️ High-intensity training raises cortisol and epinephrine.
  • 🛁 Cold exposure enhances alertness and immune response.
  • 🕰️ Regulated meal timing aligns with hormonal cycles.
  • 🔄 Short-term stress can enhance immune function.
  • 🧠 Keep cortisol and epinephrine in check to avoid chronic stress.
  • 🌿 Ashwagandha and apigenin can help reduce cortisol levels.
  • ⏰ Consistency in health routines aids hormone regulation.
  • 🍏 Diet impacts cortisol levels significantly.
  • ⚖️ Manage stress effectively to boost overall health.

タイムライン

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    In this opening segment, Andrew Huberman introduces the podcast's focus on actionable science-based tools for mental and physical health, specifically discussing the influence of hormones like cortisol and epinephrine on energy levels and the immune system. He highlights the connection between these hormones and energy management throughout the day, emphasizing the importance of understanding their role in sleep and overall health.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    Huberman explains cortisol's role as a steroid hormone, produced from cholesterol, and how its regulation is essential for immune function, memory, and mental health. He points out that while cortisol is vital, excessive levels, especially at inappropriate times, can cause issues. He also provides insight into epinephrine, dispelling misconceptions about it being purely a stress hormone and emphasizing its role in enhancing immune response and neuroplasticity.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    The biology of cortisol is examined, touching on how it is released from the brain and adrenal glands in response to stress. Huberman explains that cortisol prepares the body for activity and alerts the mind. He similarly outlines the process of epinephrine release and its impact on heart rate and alertness in the body as a response to stress or prompts for action.

  • 00:15:00 - 00:20:00

    Huberman suggests practical tools to optimize cortisol levels, recommending sunlight exposure shortly after waking to stimulate morning cortisol release, which boosts energy and focus throughout the day. He explains the significance of light intensity and duration in this process, urging listeners to prioritize outdoor light exposure without sunglasses to maximize benefits.

  • 00:20:00 - 00:25:00

    The discussion shifts to managing daily stress levels, emphasizing the importance of brief spikes in cortisol and epinephrine for mobilizing energy. Huberman addresses techniques such as Wim Hof breathing, ice baths, and HIIT to intentionally regulate these hormones, noting the need for balance to avoid chronic stress and its associated health problems.

  • 00:25:00 - 00:30:47

    Finally, Huberman outlines the negative consequences of chronically elevated cortisol and epinephrine on health, highlighting the need to turn off the stress response. He discusses the importance of a clear routine for sleep, diet, and exercise while introducing supplements like ashwagandha and apigenin for stress management. He reiterates the importance of regular practices to stabilize energy levels and optimize immune function.

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ビデオQ&A

  • What are cortisol and epinephrine?

    Cortisol is a steroid hormone crucial for energy and immune function, while epinephrine (adrenaline) aids in alertness and immune response.

  • How can cortisol levels affect my health?

    Cortisol supports immune function and energy levels, but chronically high levels can lead to health issues.

  • What practices can help regulate cortisol and epinephrine?

    Morning sunlight exposure, cold exposure, and high-intensity interval training can help control these hormones.

  • What is the significance of light exposure in the morning?

    Morning sunlight triggers cortisol release to improve energy and focus throughout the day.

  • How does stress affect the immune system?

    Short bursts of stress can enhance immune response, but chronic stress can weaken it.

  • What role does diet play in hormone regulation?

    Eating on a regular schedule, and particularly timing meals with daylight hours, can help regulate cortisol and epinephrine levels.

  • Can supplements help manage cortisol levels?

    Yes, supplements like ashwagandha and apigenin may help reduce cortisol levels and manage stress.

  • Is it necessary to change daily routines to manage these hormones?

    Yes, consistent practices around light exposure, exercise, and meal timing are key to regulating hormone levels.

  • What are some consequences of chronic high cortisol levels?

    Chronic high cortisol can lead to weight gain, increased hunger for unhealthy foods, and weakened immune function.

  • How can one use stress positively?

    Learning to manage short-term stress through practices like cold exposure or intensive exercise can boost energy and immune resilience.

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  • 00:00:00
    welcome to hubman Labb Essentials where
  • 00:00:02
    we revisit past episodes for the most
  • 00:00:04
    potent and actionable science-based
  • 00:00:06
    tools for mental health physical health
  • 00:00:09
    and
  • 00:00:10
    performance I'm Andrew huberman and I'm
  • 00:00:13
    a professor of neurobiology and
  • 00:00:14
    Opthalmology at Stanford school of
  • 00:00:16
    medicine this podcast is separate from
  • 00:00:19
    my teaching and research roles at
  • 00:00:20
    Stanford it is however part of my desire
  • 00:00:22
    and effort to bring zero cost to
  • 00:00:24
    Consumer information about science and
  • 00:00:26
    science related tools to the general
  • 00:00:28
    public today we're going to focus on how
  • 00:00:30
    particular hormones influence our energy
  • 00:00:33
    levels and our immune system we're going
  • 00:00:36
    to talk about the hormones cortisol and
  • 00:00:39
    epinephrine also called adrenaline if
  • 00:00:41
    you're somebody who has challenges with
  • 00:00:43
    sleep or you're somebody who has
  • 00:00:44
    challenges getting your energy level up
  • 00:00:46
    throughout the day and getting your
  • 00:00:48
    energy level down when you want to sleep
  • 00:00:50
    today's episode is also for you and we
  • 00:00:52
    are going to talk about the immune
  • 00:00:54
    system and how to enhance the function
  • 00:00:55
    of your immune system I think it's fair
  • 00:00:57
    to say that most people would like to
  • 00:00:59
    have a lot of energy during the day if
  • 00:01:02
    you work during the day and they'd like
  • 00:01:04
    their energy to taper off at night and I
  • 00:01:07
    think it's fair to say that most people
  • 00:01:09
    don't enjoy being sick and it turns out
  • 00:01:11
    that the two hormones that dominate
  • 00:01:14
    those processes of having enough energy
  • 00:01:16
    and having a healthy immune system are
  • 00:01:19
    cortisol and epinephrine I just want to
  • 00:01:22
    cover a little bit about what cortisol
  • 00:01:24
    and epinephrine are where they are
  • 00:01:25
    released in the body and brain because
  • 00:01:29
    if you can understand understand that
  • 00:01:30
    you will understand better how to
  • 00:01:32
    control
  • 00:01:34
    them first of all cortisol is a steroid
  • 00:01:39
    hormone much like estrogen and
  • 00:01:42
    testosterone in that it is derived from
  • 00:01:45
    cholesterol so understand that
  • 00:01:48
    cholesterol is a precursor molecule
  • 00:01:50
    meaning it's the substrate from which a
  • 00:01:52
    lot of things like testosterone and
  • 00:01:54
    estrogen are made please also understand
  • 00:01:57
    that cholesterol can be made into
  • 00:01:59
    estrogen or testosterone or cortisol and
  • 00:02:02
    that cortisol is sort of the competitive
  • 00:02:05
    partner to estrogen and testosterone
  • 00:02:08
    what this means is no matter how much
  • 00:02:10
    cholesterol you're eating or you produce
  • 00:02:12
    whether not it's low or it's high if you
  • 00:02:14
    are stressed more of that cholesterol is
  • 00:02:18
    going to be devoted toward creating
  • 00:02:20
    cortisol which is indeed a stress
  • 00:02:23
    hormone however the word stress
  • 00:02:26
    shouldn't stress you out because you
  • 00:02:27
    need cortisol cortisol is vit you don't
  • 00:02:30
    want your cortisol levels to be too low
  • 00:02:32
    it's very important for immune system
  • 00:02:34
    function for memory for not getting
  • 00:02:36
    depressed you just don't want your
  • 00:02:38
    cortisol levels to be too high and you
  • 00:02:41
    don't want them to be elevated even to
  • 00:02:43
    normal levels at the wrong time of day
  • 00:02:46
    epinephrine or
  • 00:02:48
    adrenaline has also been demonized a bit
  • 00:02:51
    we think of it as this stress hormone
  • 00:02:53
    this thing that makes us anxious fight
  • 00:02:55
    or flight the fact of the matter is that
  • 00:02:56
    epinephrine is your best friend when it
  • 00:02:59
    comes to your immunity when it comes to
  • 00:03:02
    protecting you from infection and
  • 00:03:05
    epinephrine adrenaline is your best
  • 00:03:07
    friend when it comes to remembering
  • 00:03:09
    things and learning and activating
  • 00:03:11
    neuroplasticity we're going to talk
  • 00:03:13
    about that as well once again it's a
  • 00:03:14
    question of how much and how long and
  • 00:03:17
    the specific timing of release of
  • 00:03:19
    cortisol and epinephrine as opposed to
  • 00:03:22
    cortisol and adrenaline being good or
  • 00:03:24
    bad they're terrific when they're
  • 00:03:26
    regulated they are terrible when they're
  • 00:03:28
    misregulated and we will give you lots
  • 00:03:30
    of tools to regulate them better
  • 00:03:32
    cortisol biology 101 in less than 2
  • 00:03:36
    minutes your brain makes what we call
  • 00:03:39
    releasing hormones and in this case
  • 00:03:41
    there's corticotropin releasing hormone
  • 00:03:43
    CR is made by neurons in your brain it
  • 00:03:46
    causes the pituitary this gland that
  • 00:03:49
    sits about an inch in front of the roof
  • 00:03:51
    of your mouth and the base of your brain
  • 00:03:54
    to release
  • 00:03:56
    act act then goes and causes your
  • 00:03:59
    adrenals which sit above your kidneys
  • 00:04:02
    and your lower back to release cortisol
  • 00:04:05
    a so-called stress hormone but I would
  • 00:04:07
    like you to think about cortisol not as
  • 00:04:09
    a stress hormone but as a hormone of
  • 00:04:13
    energy it produces a situation in the
  • 00:04:15
    brain and body whereby you want to move
  • 00:04:19
    and whereby you don't want to rest and
  • 00:04:22
    whereby you don't want to eat at least
  • 00:04:25
    at
  • 00:04:27
    first epinephrine or adrenaline 101 in
  • 00:04:31
    less than 2
  • 00:04:32
    minutes when you sense a stressor with
  • 00:04:35
    your mind or your body senses a stress
  • 00:04:37
    stressor excuse me from a wound or
  • 00:04:40
    something of that
  • 00:04:41
    sort a signal is sent to neurons that
  • 00:04:44
    are in the middle of your body they
  • 00:04:45
    called the sympathetic chain ganglia the
  • 00:04:47
    name doesn't necessarily matter they
  • 00:04:49
    release norepinephrine very quickly it's
  • 00:04:51
    almost like a a sprinkler system that
  • 00:04:53
    Just Hoses your body with epinephrine
  • 00:04:57
    that will increase heart rate will
  • 00:04:59
    increase Brea breathing rate it will
  • 00:05:00
    also increase the size of vessels and
  • 00:05:03
    arteries that are giving blood flow to
  • 00:05:05
    your vital organs you also release
  • 00:05:08
    adrenaline from your adrenals again s
  • 00:05:12
    riding at top your kidneys and you
  • 00:05:14
    release it from an area of your brain
  • 00:05:15
    called Locus cerus and that creates
  • 00:05:18
    alertness in your brain okay so we have
  • 00:05:21
    cortisol and we have epinephrine and
  • 00:05:24
    their net effect is to increase energy
  • 00:05:26
    so the first tool is to make sure that
  • 00:05:28
    your highest levels of cortisol are
  • 00:05:30
    first thing in the morning when you wake
  • 00:05:32
    up one way or another every 24 hours you
  • 00:05:35
    will get an increase in cortisol it's to
  • 00:05:38
    stimulate movement from being sleep
  • 00:05:40
    presumably horizontal to getting up and
  • 00:05:43
    starting to move about your day the best
  • 00:05:45
    way to stimulate that increasing
  • 00:05:48
    cortisol at the appropriate time is that
  • 00:05:50
    very soon after waking within 30 minutes
  • 00:05:53
    or so after waking get outside view some
  • 00:05:56
    sunlight even if it's overcast get
  • 00:05:58
    outside view some some sunlight no
  • 00:06:00
    sunglasses do that because in the early
  • 00:06:03
    part of the day you have the opportunity
  • 00:06:05
    to time that cortisol release to the
  • 00:06:08
    early part of the day it will will
  • 00:06:10
    improve your focus it will impr improve
  • 00:06:12
    your energy levels and it will improve
  • 00:06:14
    your learning throughout the day so
  • 00:06:16
    here's how it works on a sunny day so no
  • 00:06:19
    cloud cover provided that the sun is not
  • 00:06:22
    yet overhead it's somewhere low in the
  • 00:06:25
    sky could have just crossed the horizon
  • 00:06:27
    or if you wake up a little bit later it
  • 00:06:28
    could be somewhat low in the
  • 00:06:30
    Sky basically the intensity of light the
  • 00:06:33
    brightness is somewhere around 100,000
  • 00:06:35
    Lux Lux is just a measurement of
  • 00:06:37
    brightness on a cloudy day it's about
  • 00:06:40
    10,000 luxs okay so tenfold reduction
  • 00:06:44
    but bright artificial light very bright
  • 00:06:47
    artificial light is somewhere around a
  • 00:06:50
    thousand
  • 00:06:51
    luxs and ordinary room light is
  • 00:06:55
    somewhere around 100 to 200 lucks so
  • 00:06:58
    even if you have a very bright bulb
  • 00:06:59
    sitting right next to you that's not
  • 00:07:00
    going to do the job your phone will not
  • 00:07:02
    do the job not early in the day to get
  • 00:07:04
    the cortisol released at the appropriate
  • 00:07:07
    time you need to get outside so let's
  • 00:07:10
    just set a couple General parameters if
  • 00:07:13
    it's bright outside and no cloud cover
  • 00:07:16
    get outside for 10 minutes if it's a
  • 00:07:18
    cloudy day dense overcast you're
  • 00:07:21
    probably going to need about 30 minutes
  • 00:07:23
    if it's light Cloud broken cloud cover
  • 00:07:24
    it's probably going to be somewhere
  • 00:07:26
    between 10 and 20 minutes this is why
  • 00:07:28
    it's vital to get this light on a
  • 00:07:29
    regular basis to get that cortisol
  • 00:07:32
    released early in the day that sets you
  • 00:07:34
    up for optimal levels of energy now
  • 00:07:37
    throughout the day you're going to
  • 00:07:38
    experience different things most of you
  • 00:07:40
    are not spending your entire day trying
  • 00:07:42
    to optimize your health you know some of
  • 00:07:44
    you might be but most of you have jobs
  • 00:07:46
    and you have families and you have
  • 00:07:48
    commitments life enters the picture and
  • 00:07:50
    provides you stressors those will cause
  • 00:07:53
    increases in cortisol and
  • 00:07:56
    epinephrine the key is these blips and
  • 00:07:59
    cortisol and epinephrine need to be
  • 00:08:01
    brief you can't have them so often or
  • 00:08:05
    lasting so long that you are in a state
  • 00:08:07
    of chronic cortisol elevation or chronic
  • 00:08:11
    epinephrine elevation this system of
  • 00:08:13
    stress was designed to increase your
  • 00:08:16
    alertness and mobilize you towards
  • 00:08:17
    things get you frustrated and provide
  • 00:08:20
    the opportunity to change Behavior and
  • 00:08:22
    the reason it works is that cortisol
  • 00:08:25
    when it's released into the bloodstream
  • 00:08:27
    it actually can bind to receptors in the
  • 00:08:29
    brain it can bind receptors in the
  • 00:08:31
    amydala fear centers and threat
  • 00:08:33
    detection centers but also areas of the
  • 00:08:35
    brain that are involved in learning and
  • 00:08:37
    memory and neuroplasticity and this is
  • 00:08:39
    why I say that neuroplasticity the
  • 00:08:41
    brain's ability to change itself in
  • 00:08:42
    response to experience is first
  • 00:08:46
    stimulated by attention and focus and
  • 00:08:48
    often a low-level state of agitation so
  • 00:08:52
    understand that and you won't be quite
  • 00:08:55
    so troubled about the little stress
  • 00:08:56
    increases that you experience throughout
  • 00:08:58
    the day now there are ways to leverage
  • 00:09:02
    stress epinephrine and cortisol in ways
  • 00:09:04
    that serve you and to do it in a
  • 00:09:06
    deliberate way there are also ways to do
  • 00:09:09
    that that increase your level of stress
  • 00:09:11
    threshold meaning they make it less
  • 00:09:14
    likely that epinephrine and cortisol
  • 00:09:17
    will be released so I want to talk about
  • 00:09:19
    the science of those practices because I
  • 00:09:20
    get asked about these practices a lot
  • 00:09:22
    things like Wim Hoff breathing which is
  • 00:09:24
    also called Tumo breathing things like
  • 00:09:27
    ice baths things like high-intensity
  • 00:09:28
    interval training
  • 00:09:30
    all of those things have
  • 00:09:33
    utility the question is how you use them
  • 00:09:36
    and how often you use them those tools
  • 00:09:39
    just like stress from a life event can
  • 00:09:43
    either enhance your immunity or deplete
  • 00:09:44
    it that's right those same practices of
  • 00:09:47
    ice baths Tumo breathing high-intensity
  • 00:09:50
    interval training or training of any
  • 00:09:51
    kind can deplete your immune system or
  • 00:09:54
    it can improve them excuse me they can
  • 00:09:56
    improve it meaning they can improve your
  • 00:09:58
    immune system
  • 00:10:00
    the key is how often you use them and
  • 00:10:03
    when and so I want to review that now in
  • 00:10:05
    light of the scientific literature
  • 00:10:07
    because in doing that you can build
  • 00:10:09
    practices into your daily or maybe every
  • 00:10:11
    other day routine that can really help
  • 00:10:13
    buffer you against
  • 00:10:15
    unhealthy levels of cortisol and
  • 00:10:17
    epinephrine meaning cortisol increases
  • 00:10:19
    that are much too great or that last
  • 00:10:21
    much too long epinephrine increases that
  • 00:10:24
    are much too great or that last much too
  • 00:10:26
    long let's say somebody tells you
  • 00:10:28
    something very troubling or you look at
  • 00:10:30
    your phone and you see a text message
  • 00:10:31
    that's really upsetting to you that will
  • 00:10:35
    cause an immediate increase in
  • 00:10:37
    epinephrine adrenaline in your brain and
  • 00:10:39
    body and chances are it's going to
  • 00:10:42
    increase your levels of cortisol as well
  • 00:10:44
    let's say you get into an ice bath or a
  • 00:10:47
    cold shower that will cause an
  • 00:10:49
    equivalent increase in epinephrine and
  • 00:10:52
    cortisol let's say you go out for
  • 00:10:54
    high-intensity interval training you
  • 00:10:55
    decide you're going to run some Sprints
  • 00:10:57
    you do some repeats or you're going to
  • 00:10:59
    do some weightlifting in the gym or you
  • 00:11:01
    decide that you want to do some hot yoga
  • 00:11:03
    you're going to increase your
  • 00:11:04
    epinephrine and cortisol levels and
  • 00:11:06
    guess what they increase your levels of
  • 00:11:08
    energy and alertness so if you're
  • 00:11:10
    somebody who struggles with energy and
  • 00:11:12
    alertness it can be beneficial provided
  • 00:11:15
    you get clearance from your doctor to
  • 00:11:17
    have some sort of protocol built into
  • 00:11:19
    your day where you deliberately increase
  • 00:11:21
    your levels of epinephrine and your
  • 00:11:23
    levels of cortisol so it's really
  • 00:11:26
    important to understand that the body
  • 00:11:28
    doesn't distinguish between a troubling
  • 00:11:30
    text message ICE Tumo breathing or
  • 00:11:33
    high-intensity interval training or any
  • 00:11:35
    other kind of exercise it's all
  • 00:11:37
    stress cognitively reframing that and
  • 00:11:40
    telling yourself I like this I enjoy it
  • 00:11:42
    is not going to change the way that that
  • 00:11:45
    molecule impacts your body and brain I
  • 00:11:48
    sort of chuckle because people would
  • 00:11:50
    love to tell you that all you have to do
  • 00:11:52
    is say oh this is good for me no what it
  • 00:11:54
    does to tell yourself that it's good for
  • 00:11:57
    you or that you enjoy it is it that it
  • 00:11:59
    liberates other molecules like dopam
  • 00:12:01
    dopamine and serotonin that help buffer
  • 00:12:04
    the epinephrine response now the way
  • 00:12:07
    that it does that I've talked about
  • 00:12:08
    previous episode but I'll just mention
  • 00:12:10
    that dopamine is the precursor to
  • 00:12:13
    epinephrine epinephrine is made from
  • 00:12:15
    dopamine and that's why if you tell
  • 00:12:17
    yourself you're enjoying something and
  • 00:12:20
    because dopamine is so subjective that
  • 00:12:22
    you can in some ways as long as you're
  • 00:12:24
    not completely lying to yourself you can
  • 00:12:26
    get more epinephrine you get more or
  • 00:12:29
    more ability to push through something
  • 00:12:32
    and you can sort of reframe it but it's
  • 00:12:34
    not really cognitive reframing the
  • 00:12:35
    cognitive part is the trigger but the
  • 00:12:37
    it's a chemical substance that's
  • 00:12:40
    actually occurring there it's dopamine
  • 00:12:42
    giving you more
  • 00:12:43
    epinephrine a bigger amplitude
  • 00:12:45
    epinephrine release and it gives you
  • 00:12:48
    some sense of control so here's a
  • 00:12:50
    protocol that anyone can use if you want
  • 00:12:53
    to increase levels of energy if you
  • 00:12:55
    suffer from low energy during the
  • 00:12:57
    daytime or whenever it is you'd like to
  • 00:12:59
    be alert pick a practice that you can do
  • 00:13:03
    fairly consistently maybe every day but
  • 00:13:05
    maybe every third day or every fourth
  • 00:13:07
    day maybe it's an ice bath or a cold
  • 00:13:10
    bath maybe it's a cold shower maybe it's
  • 00:13:13
    the cyclic in inhale exhale breathing
  • 00:13:16
    protocol I described if that wasn't
  • 00:13:17
    clear and people always ask for a demo
  • 00:13:19
    I'm not going to do the whole thing
  • 00:13:20
    right now but I'm willing to do a few
  • 00:13:22
    rounds of this or a few Cycles I should
  • 00:13:24
    say so it's
  • 00:13:26
    inhale I would do that more deeply more
  • 00:13:28
    like
  • 00:13:29
    like you do that 25 30 times repeatedly
  • 00:13:33
    you will start to feel warm people in
  • 00:13:35
    the yoga Community they say you're
  • 00:13:37
    generating heat you're not generating
  • 00:13:38
    heat you're releasing adrenaline inhale
  • 00:13:41
    exhale inhale exhale 25 or 30 times you
  • 00:13:43
    will feel agitated and stressed that's
  • 00:13:45
    because you're releasing adrenaline in
  • 00:13:47
    your body and that's because you're
  • 00:13:48
    releasing norepinephrine in your brain
  • 00:13:51
    and you'll be more alert so if all these
  • 00:13:53
    protocols all these activities are just
  • 00:13:56
    equivalent they're just stress then how
  • 00:13:58
    do we make them good for us how do we
  • 00:14:00
    actually benefit from them now of course
  • 00:14:02
    the cold itself can have some health
  • 00:14:05
    promoting effects it can increase Brown
  • 00:14:07
    fat thermogenesis and Metabolism
  • 00:14:09
    high-intensity interval training or
  • 00:14:10
    other forms of exercise of course has
  • 00:14:13
    cardiovascular effects that can be good
  • 00:14:15
    for us as does weight training Etc but
  • 00:14:18
    what we're talking about here are ways
  • 00:14:20
    to increase energy and to teach our
  • 00:14:23
    brain and body to teach ourselves how to
  • 00:14:26
    regulate the stress response so in
  • 00:14:28
    addition to the benefits of the actual
  • 00:14:30
    practices what we're talking about is
  • 00:14:33
    building a system so that when you
  • 00:14:36
    experience increases in epinephrine and
  • 00:14:38
    cortisol from Life events you're able to
  • 00:14:41
    better buffer those and we are also
  • 00:14:43
    talking about ways that you can increase
  • 00:14:45
    energy overall because that's what
  • 00:14:47
    today's episode is all about energy in
  • 00:14:49
    the immune system there's a biological
  • 00:14:52
    mechanism that's very important if you
  • 00:14:54
    want to do those things increase energy
  • 00:14:57
    and your immune system on demand learn
  • 00:14:59
    learn to buffer stress on demand in real
  • 00:15:01
    time and it means taking these
  • 00:15:05
    protocols these practices whether or not
  • 00:15:07
    it's cold water or ice bath or exercise
  • 00:15:10
    or any of those and making one small but
  • 00:15:15
    very powerful adjustment in how you
  • 00:15:16
    perform them but in order to make that
  • 00:15:19
    adjustment I can't just tell you the
  • 00:15:20
    adjustment I have to tell you the
  • 00:15:22
    mechanism so that you know if you're
  • 00:15:24
    doing it correctly or not this is really
  • 00:15:26
    a case where if you can understand a
  • 00:15:28
    little bit of mechanis M you will be far
  • 00:15:31
    better off than just adopting
  • 00:15:34
    protocols cortisol as I mentioned is
  • 00:15:37
    released from the adrenals it can have
  • 00:15:39
    action both in the body and in the brain
  • 00:15:42
    cortisol can cross the blood brain
  • 00:15:43
    barrier epinephrine cannot that's one of
  • 00:15:46
    the reasons why it's released both from
  • 00:15:48
    the adrenals in your body and released
  • 00:15:50
    from this brain stem area the locus
  • 00:15:52
    culus in your brain that's a powerful
  • 00:15:55
    thing because what it means is that the
  • 00:15:59
    body can enter states of Readiness and
  • 00:16:02
    alertness while the Mind remains calm so
  • 00:16:06
    I'm presuming at this point that you're
  • 00:16:08
    getting your morning light to time your
  • 00:16:09
    cortisol increase I'm presuming that you
  • 00:16:13
    want more energy or that you want to
  • 00:16:15
    increase your immune system's function
  • 00:16:17
    and its ability to combat infections of
  • 00:16:19
    various kinds now the simplest way to
  • 00:16:23
    describe how to do that would be in the
  • 00:16:24
    context of cold water or a breathing
  • 00:16:26
    protocol let's presume cold water so
  • 00:16:29
    let's say you decide you're going to
  • 00:16:30
    take a cold shower you get into the cold
  • 00:16:32
    shower and if it's cold enough that will
  • 00:16:34
    be stressful you will experience an
  • 00:16:36
    increase in epinephrine it will increase
  • 00:16:39
    your alertness now you're using this as
  • 00:16:41
    a practice as a tool to build you could
  • 00:16:45
    call it resilience but the ability to
  • 00:16:46
    stay calm in the mind while being
  • 00:16:48
    stressed in the body epinephrine in the
  • 00:16:50
    body and you do that by subjectively
  • 00:16:53
    trying to calm yourself now you can do
  • 00:16:55
    that by telling yourself it's good for
  • 00:16:56
    you by emphasizing your exhales anything
  • 00:17:00
    that you can do to try and stay calm
  • 00:17:02
    despite the fact that you are in a
  • 00:17:03
    heightened state of alertness you do
  • 00:17:06
    this with exercise you could do this
  • 00:17:07
    with music pretty much anything that
  • 00:17:09
    will give you a really heightened state
  • 00:17:11
    of
  • 00:17:11
    alertness offers you the opportunity to
  • 00:17:14
    try and stay calm in the mind what
  • 00:17:15
    you're trying to do at a mechanistic
  • 00:17:17
    level is to have adrenaline released
  • 00:17:21
    from the adrenals but not have
  • 00:17:24
    adrenaline epinephrine released from the
  • 00:17:25
    brain stem to the same degree so you're
  • 00:17:28
    not just trying to buffer this you're
  • 00:17:29
    not trying to say oh this is good for me
  • 00:17:30
    this is good for me I'm going to grind
  • 00:17:32
    this out you're not trying to grind it
  • 00:17:33
    out you're trying to move through this
  • 00:17:36
    calmly while maintaining alertness in
  • 00:17:38
    the immediate period following that
  • 00:17:41
    practice your system your entire brain
  • 00:17:44
    and body are different your body is
  • 00:17:47
    actually primed to resist infection when
  • 00:17:51
    you have high levels of epinephrine in
  • 00:17:53
    it for short periods of time so the
  • 00:17:55
    scientific study that explored how
  • 00:17:57
    increasing adrenaline in the body can
  • 00:18:00
    improve immune resistance is grounded in
  • 00:18:02
    a well-known phenomenon that increases
  • 00:18:06
    in stress actually protect you against
  • 00:18:09
    infection in the short term so I want to
  • 00:18:12
    look at the classic data first describe
  • 00:18:15
    what was done and then I want to talk
  • 00:18:16
    about the more recent study which is
  • 00:18:18
    immediately actionable there are a
  • 00:18:20
    classic set of studies that are really
  • 00:18:22
    based mainly on the work of somebody
  • 00:18:24
    named Bruce mckuin who was at the
  • 00:18:25
    Rockefeller University in New York I'm
  • 00:18:28
    not going to go through all the details
  • 00:18:29
    of the study but essentially what they
  • 00:18:30
    were doing was exposing subjects to some
  • 00:18:34
    sort of infection either bacterial or
  • 00:18:37
    viral infection and inducing stress
  • 00:18:40
    sounds like a double whammy right you'd
  • 00:18:42
    think that maybe getting a little
  • 00:18:43
    electric foot shock or cold water
  • 00:18:45
    exposure or something to increase your
  • 00:18:48
    levels of stress and adrenaline would
  • 00:18:50
    just make the effects of the infection
  • 00:18:52
    worse but no quite the
  • 00:18:54
    opposite brief bouts of stress which now
  • 00:18:58
    you should be thinking about in terms of
  • 00:18:59
    cortisol and epinephrine release we
  • 00:19:02
    actually able to increase immune system
  • 00:19:05
    function the duration here is really
  • 00:19:07
    important because if stress stayed too
  • 00:19:10
    high for too long then yes indeed stress
  • 00:19:13
    can hinder the immune response but for a
  • 00:19:17
    period of about 1 to 4 days it actually
  • 00:19:19
    can protect you by way of increasing the
  • 00:19:22
    immune response there's a human study
  • 00:19:24
    that I definitely want to point out to
  • 00:19:26
    you because it it was published more
  • 00:19:29
    recently than the mchan work the title
  • 00:19:31
    of the paper is voluntary activation of
  • 00:19:33
    the sympathetic nervous system that's
  • 00:19:34
    the system that causes figh ORF flight
  • 00:19:36
    and AKA stress this is Cox Kox at all PN
  • 00:19:41
    proceedings of the National Academy of
  • 00:19:42
    Sciences 2014 and they incorporate the
  • 00:19:45
    ever famous Wim Hoff breathing here's
  • 00:19:47
    what they
  • 00:19:48
    did they injected people with
  • 00:19:53
    eoli and they had groups that either did
  • 00:19:57
    the sorts of breathing I've been
  • 00:19:58
    described ring that increase adrenaline
  • 00:20:00
    release although I should say I don't
  • 00:20:02
    think you need that breathing to get
  • 00:20:05
    adrenaline release you could do it with
  • 00:20:06
    cold exposure you could do it with other
  • 00:20:08
    things high-intensity interval training
  • 00:20:10
    as well and what they found was that
  • 00:20:15
    the response to the ecoli was quite
  • 00:20:18
    different in the people that had a
  • 00:20:20
    protocol in this case breathing to
  • 00:20:22
    increase adrenaline so this is a
  • 00:20:26
    remarkable study because what they found
  • 00:20:27
    was that The Fever The vomiting all the
  • 00:20:30
    negative effects of eoli many of them
  • 00:20:34
    and some cases all of them were greatly
  • 00:20:36
    attenuated by way of engaging the
  • 00:20:39
    adrenaline system the point is you can
  • 00:20:42
    control your immune system by finding a
  • 00:20:44
    way that you can increase adrenaline and
  • 00:20:47
    this runs counter to what we always hear
  • 00:20:50
    which is don't get too stressed or you
  • 00:20:51
    will get sick learn to control
  • 00:20:54
    adrenaline turn it on and turn it off
  • 00:20:56
    learn to control cortisol turn it on
  • 00:20:59
    with light in the morning try and turn
  • 00:21:00
    it off and then when it spikes because
  • 00:21:02
    of Life events learn to turn it off
  • 00:21:06
    learning to turn on and off
  • 00:21:08
    adrenaline AKA epinephrine and learning
  • 00:21:12
    to turn on and off
  • 00:21:14
    cortisol affords you the ability to turn
  • 00:21:16
    on energy and focus and your immune
  • 00:21:19
    system that's the most important point
  • 00:21:21
    from today's podcast and understanding
  • 00:21:24
    that it doesn't matter what protocol you
  • 00:21:26
    use maybe it's a cup of coffee and
  • 00:21:28
    running up a Hill five or six times that
  • 00:21:29
    will improve your immune system function
  • 00:21:31
    if you get adrenaline in your system you
  • 00:21:33
    can use a ice bath you can use a cold
  • 00:21:35
    bath it really doesn't matter so up
  • 00:21:37
    until now we've been talking about
  • 00:21:39
    increasing energy and increasing the
  • 00:21:41
    immune system by way of cortisol and
  • 00:21:44
    epinephrine but I'd be totally remiss if
  • 00:21:47
    I didn't cover how cortisol and
  • 00:21:50
    epinephrine if chronically elevated or
  • 00:21:53
    if elevated too high can have a lot of
  • 00:21:56
    detrimental effects your immune system
  • 00:21:58
    over time will get battered and you
  • 00:22:00
    won't be able to fight infection off as
  • 00:22:01
    well right you can start laying down the
  • 00:22:05
    sort of classic pattern of cortisol
  • 00:22:07
    induced body fat why do we seek high fat
  • 00:22:11
    Andor high sugar foods when we are
  • 00:22:14
    stressed for a while why would that be
  • 00:22:17
    and the reason is that the so-call
  • 00:22:19
    glucocorticoids of which cortisol is a
  • 00:22:24
    glucocorticoid it's caused as we've
  • 00:22:26
    mentioned before by releasing hormones
  • 00:22:27
    from the brain and AC th from the
  • 00:22:29
    pituitary Etc but normally high levels
  • 00:22:32
    of glucocorticoid shut off the releasing
  • 00:22:36
    hormones in the brain and in the
  • 00:22:37
    pituitary they shut down in a so-called
  • 00:22:40
    negative feedback loop chronic stress
  • 00:22:43
    however stress that lasts more than four
  • 00:22:46
    to seven days causes changes in the
  • 00:22:50
    feedback loop between the adrenals and
  • 00:22:54
    the brain and the pituitary such that
  • 00:22:57
    now the brain and the tary respond to
  • 00:22:59
    high levels of glucocorticoids cortisol
  • 00:23:01
    by releasing more of them it becomes a
  • 00:23:03
    positive feedback loop and that's bad
  • 00:23:06
    it's a Cascade of stress equals more
  • 00:23:09
    stress equals more stress so this is why
  • 00:23:11
    it's very important to learn to turn off
  • 00:23:13
    the stress response so there's one study
  • 00:23:15
    that doin her colleagues did where they
  • 00:23:17
    stimulate chronic stress by increasing
  • 00:23:19
    corticosterone but
  • 00:23:21
    cortisol and they found that subjects
  • 00:23:24
    would in increase their consumption of
  • 00:23:26
    sugar and fat in fact they would even
  • 00:23:29
    eat lard and that led to all sorts of
  • 00:23:30
    things like type 2 diabetes um that led
  • 00:23:34
    to dysfunction in the adrenal output Etc
  • 00:23:38
    and so the real key is to learn to shut
  • 00:23:40
    off the stress response and you should
  • 00:23:42
    uh watch yourself next time you
  • 00:23:44
    experience stress if it's a short-term
  • 00:23:45
    bow of stress typically it blocks hunger
  • 00:23:49
    if it's a longer bow of stress typically
  • 00:23:52
    it triggers hunger in particular for
  • 00:23:53
    these so-called Comfort Foods sugary and
  • 00:23:55
    fatty foods other bad effects of stress
  • 00:23:58
    is that yes indeed stress can make you
  • 00:24:01
    go gray pigmentation of hair just like
  • 00:24:04
    pigmentation of skin is controlled by
  • 00:24:07
    melanocytes well it turns out that
  • 00:24:10
    activation of the so-called sympathetic
  • 00:24:13
    nervous system which is really just
  • 00:24:14
    another name for the system that
  • 00:24:16
    liberates adrenaline from the adrenals
  • 00:24:19
    and epinephrine in the brain drives
  • 00:24:22
    depletion of melanocytes in hair stem
  • 00:24:25
    cells so indeed there's a rate of age
  • 00:24:28
    that we will undergo based on our
  • 00:24:30
    genetics but stress will make us go
  • 00:24:32
    great how do I know the difference
  • 00:24:34
    between chronic and AC acute stress and
  • 00:24:36
    how do I keep chronic stress at Bay once
  • 00:24:40
    again getting your light and your
  • 00:24:43
    feeding and your exercise and your sleep
  • 00:24:47
    on a consistent schedule or consistent
  • 00:24:50
    is is going to be the most powerful
  • 00:24:52
    thing you can do in order to buffer
  • 00:24:54
    yourself against negative effects on
  • 00:24:57
    Mental Health and phys physical health
  • 00:24:58
    for that matter there are things that
  • 00:25:01
    one can take supplements prescription
  • 00:25:03
    drugs Etc all supplements of course have
  • 00:25:06
    to be checked out for their safety
  • 00:25:07
    margins for you because it's going to
  • 00:25:09
    differ from person to person you're
  • 00:25:10
    responsible for making sure they're safe
  • 00:25:12
    for you if you decide to use them one of
  • 00:25:14
    the most common ones is
  • 00:25:17
    ashwagandha it has a very strong effect
  • 00:25:20
    on cortisol itself how strong the
  • 00:25:23
    decrease in cortisol noted in humans is
  • 00:25:26
    14.5 to 27.9 9% reduction in otherwise
  • 00:25:30
    healthy but stressed humans the other
  • 00:25:33
    compound that I think deserves attention
  • 00:25:35
    is appenine a p i GE n i n appenine
  • 00:25:40
    which is what's found in chamomile I
  • 00:25:45
    take it before bedtime 50 milligrams the
  • 00:25:47
    major source of action is to calm the
  • 00:25:50
    nervous system and it does that
  • 00:25:52
    primarily by adjusting things like Gaba
  • 00:25:55
    and chloride channels but also has a
  • 00:25:56
    mild effect in reducing cortisol so
  • 00:25:59
    asoag gandha and Aenon together sort of
  • 00:26:02
    uh I would consider the most
  • 00:26:05
    potent commercial compounds that are in
  • 00:26:07
    supplement non-prescription form that
  • 00:26:10
    one could use if they were interested in
  • 00:26:12
    reducing chronic stress especially late
  • 00:26:15
    in the day by way of reducing cortisol
  • 00:26:17
    late in the day so you're probably
  • 00:26:18
    getting the impression that cortisol and
  • 00:26:20
    epinephrine are a bit of a double-edged
  • 00:26:21
    sword you want them elevated but not for
  • 00:26:24
    too long or too much you don't want them
  • 00:26:27
    up for days and days and days but you do
  • 00:26:29
    want to have a practice in order to
  • 00:26:31
    increase them in the short term
  • 00:26:35
    so we should talk about protocols that
  • 00:26:38
    can set a foundation of of cortisol and
  • 00:26:42
    epinephrine that is headed towards
  • 00:26:44
    optimal optimization is always going to
  • 00:26:46
    be a series of regular practices that
  • 00:26:48
    you do every day so sleeping at certain
  • 00:26:50
    times light at specific times food at
  • 00:26:52
    specific times certain foods Etc and
  • 00:26:54
    that's highly individual but there are
  • 00:26:55
    some universals and we've covered a
  • 00:26:57
    number of those in the discussion today
  • 00:27:00
    meal timing meal schedules has a
  • 00:27:03
    profound effect on energy levels and as
  • 00:27:06
    I mentioned before the energy I'm
  • 00:27:08
    referring to is not glucose energy so
  • 00:27:11
    what I'm talking about is neural energy
  • 00:27:12
    epinephrine and
  • 00:27:14
    cortisol fasting and timing ones eating
  • 00:27:18
    are two sides of the same coin when our
  • 00:27:20
    blood glucose is low cortisol and
  • 00:27:22
    epinephrine are going to go up anytime
  • 00:27:24
    we hav't eaten for 4 to 6 hours levels
  • 00:27:27
    of epinephrine and cortisol are going to
  • 00:27:28
    go up pretty substantially one thing
  • 00:27:30
    that many people do to great benefit is
  • 00:27:33
    they follow a so-called circadian eating
  • 00:27:35
    schedule they eat only when the Sun is
  • 00:27:38
    up they stop when the sun is down more
  • 00:27:40
    or less the other way to think about
  • 00:27:43
    this is they stop eating a couple hours
  • 00:27:44
    before sleep and they eat more or less
  • 00:27:46
    upon waking assuming that they're waking
  • 00:27:48
    up more or less around the time the sun
  • 00:27:50
    rises maybe plus or minus 2 hours now
  • 00:27:53
    let's say you decide to do what I do
  • 00:27:56
    which is I skip breakfast I drink water
  • 00:27:58
    I delay my caffeine for 90 minutes to 2
  • 00:28:00
    hours and then I drink my caffeine and
  • 00:28:02
    then my first meal is typically around
  • 00:28:04
    lunchtime 11:30 or 12 so I've got a
  • 00:28:06
    cortisol increase I've got my sunlight
  • 00:28:08
    in the morning so I'm getting a big
  • 00:28:10
    pulse in energy early in the day and yes
  • 00:28:12
    there's a little bit of agitation I am
  • 00:28:13
    hungry sometimes early in the day
  • 00:28:15
    sometimes no but my grillin system is
  • 00:28:17
    used to kicking in right around noon at
  • 00:28:21
    the point where I eat as long as I don't
  • 00:28:23
    eat
  • 00:28:24
    carbohydrate in my case I know that my
  • 00:28:26
    epinephrine levels are going to stay
  • 00:28:28
    stay pretty high so for me it's usually
  • 00:28:30
    meat and salad or something of that sort
  • 00:28:32
    or fish and salad so fasting is a tool
  • 00:28:36
    for many reasons can increase growth
  • 00:28:38
    hormone Etc but today I'm talking about
  • 00:28:41
    fasting as a tool to bias your system
  • 00:28:44
    toward more epinephrine adrenaline
  • 00:28:46
    release and toward more cortisol release
  • 00:28:48
    but still low enough that it's not
  • 00:28:50
    chronic stress that it's not causing
  • 00:28:52
    negative health effects one has to learn
  • 00:28:54
    how to regulate these hormones with
  • 00:28:56
    behavior with nutrition perhaps with
  • 00:28:58
    supplementation I also want to mention
  • 00:29:00
    again that I think there's great benefit
  • 00:29:01
    to having a practice that perhaps you do
  • 00:29:03
    every other day but if you can't maybe
  • 00:29:05
    every third day or every other day of
  • 00:29:08
    deliberately increasing your adrenaline
  • 00:29:10
    in your body while learning to stay calm
  • 00:29:12
    in the mind so that you learn to
  • 00:29:14
    separate the brain body experience the
  • 00:29:16
    idea is to stay calm in your mind so
  • 00:29:18
    that then you can regulate your action
  • 00:29:20
    so once again we've covered a ton of
  • 00:29:23
    material I hope right now you're
  • 00:29:25
    thinking okay am I in a state of chronic
  • 00:29:28
    stress am I under activated or could I
  • 00:29:30
    afford to increase my levels of
  • 00:29:32
    adrenaline cortisol to improve my
  • 00:29:34
    relationship to my immune system and to
  • 00:29:37
    energy neural energy and I hope that
  • 00:29:40
    you'll think about some of the ways in
  • 00:29:42
    which cortisol and adrenaline are not
  • 00:29:46
    good or bad that stress isn't good or
  • 00:29:48
    bad but short-term stress is healthy
  • 00:29:50
    alertness and energy is healthy even if
  • 00:29:51
    it puts you at the edge of agitation
  • 00:29:54
    that's an opportunity to learn how to
  • 00:29:55
    control these hormones better and I hope
  • 00:29:58
    hope that if you're in a state of
  • 00:29:59
    chronic stress that you'll do things to
  • 00:30:01
    start tamping down some of that stress
  • 00:30:04
    and that you realize that your nervous
  • 00:30:06
    system and your hormone system are
  • 00:30:07
    linked but they're linked in ways that
  • 00:30:09
    you can control that we don't have to be
  • 00:30:11
    slaves to our hormones and certainly not
  • 00:30:13
    the hormones that cause us stress we can
  • 00:30:14
    learn to control those both to the
  • 00:30:16
    benefit of our body and benefit of mind
  • 00:30:19
    thank you for joining me for what I hope
  • 00:30:21
    was an informative discussion and an
  • 00:30:23
    actionable discussion about how to
  • 00:30:25
    increase energy and the immune system by
  • 00:30:28
    way of cortisol and adrenaline
  • 00:30:30
    epinephrine I really appreciate your
  • 00:30:33
    willingness to learn new topics as well
  • 00:30:35
    as to embrace and think about new tools
  • 00:30:37
    and whether or not they're right for you
  • 00:30:39
    and as always thank you for your
  • 00:30:41
    interest in science
  • 00:30:44
    [Music]
タグ
  • Cortisol
  • Epinephrine
  • Hormones
  • Energy Levels
  • Immune System
  • Stress Management
  • Health
  • Sunlight Exposure
  • Exercise
  • Nutrition