Science of Stress, Testosterone & Free Will | Dr. Robert Sapolsky

(music) 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, I have the pleasure of introducing Dr. Robert Sapolsky. Dr. Sapolsky is a professor of biology and neurosurgery at Stanford University. His laboratory has worked on a large variety of topics, including stress, hormones including testosterone and estrogen, and how the different members of a given species interact according to factors like hormones, hierarchy within primate troops, and how things like stress, reproduction, and competition impact behavior. One of the things that makes Dr. Sapolsky's work so unique is that it combines elements from primatology, including field studies, with human behavior, in essence trying to unveil how humans, as old world primates, are controlled by different elements of our biology as well as our psychology. Dr. Sapolsky is also a prolific author of popular books such as Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, The Trouble with Testosterone, and Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst. During the course of our discussion today, Robert also revealed to me that he is close to completing a new book entitled Determined: The Science of Life Without Free Will. And indeed, we discuss the science of life without free will during this episode. We also discuss stress and how best to control stress, and how stress controls us at both conscious and subconscious levels. We talk about testosterone and estrogen, and hormone replacement therapy, and how those impact our mind, our psychology, and our interactions with others. As with any discussion with Dr. Sapolsky, we learn about scientific mechanisms that make us who we are, and today we also discuss tools and how we can leverage those scientific mechanisms in order to be better versions of ourselves. I should mention that unlike most guest interviews on the Huberman Lab Podcast, this one had to be carried out remotely due to various constraints. So, you may hear the occasional audio artifact. Please excuse that. We felt that the value of a conversation with Dr. Sapolsky was well worth those minor, minor glitches. And indeed, the information that he delivers us is tremendously valuable, interesting, and in many cases, actionable as well. 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 ROKA. ROKA makes sunglasses and eyeglasses that are of the absolute highest quality. The company was founded by two all-American swimmers from Stanford, and everything about the design of the sunglasses and eyeglasses was created with performance in mind. There are several things I like about ROKA glasses so much. One of them is that the aesthetic of the glasses is great. Unlike a lot of performance glasses out there that you can wear while swimming and running, but also indoors, these glasses don't make you look like a cyborg. The aesthetic of them is really terrific, and they have a lot of different styles to select from. In addition to that, the quality of the lenses on both the sunglasses and eyeglasses are superb. The optical clarity is great. You can move from brightly lit areas to shadowed areas, and you don't get any degradation in the quality of the visual image, and that's absolutely essential. If you'd like to try ROKA glasses, you can go to roka.com and enter the code Huberman to save 20% off your first order. That's R-O-K-A dot-com and enter the code Huberman at checkout. Today's podcast is also brought to us by InsideTracker. InsideTracker is a personalized nutrition platform that analyzes data from your blood and DNA to help you better understand your body and help you reach your health goals. I've long been a believer in getting regular blood work done, and now with the advent of quality DNA tests, you can get a lot of information about your genetics and how that also impacts your immediate and long-term health. The reason I'm such a fan of getting blood work done is that it is really the only way to understand what's going on in your system at a level that can really inform your decisions about your immediate and long-term health. The problem with a lot of blood and DNA tests, however, is that you get numbers back about your hormones and your metabolic factors, et cetera, but you don't know what to do with that information. With InsideTracker, they have a very easy-to-use dashboard that gives you that information and then gives you some suggestions and directives about things you could change about your nutrition, about your exercise, and other lifestyle factors that can help you move those numbers in the direction that's best for you and for your health. If you'd like to try InsideTracker, you can go to insidetracker.com/huberman to get 25% off any of InsideTracker's plans. Just use the code Huberman at checkout. Today's podcast is also brought to us by Belcampo. Belcampo is a regenerative farm in Northern California that raises organic, grass-fed and finished certified humane meats. I eat meat about once a day. In general, my lunch or my breakfast consists of some meat, and that meat has to be a very high quality, and generally I'll eat some vegetable as well. And then I tend to eat pastas and rice and things of that sort later in the day or in the evening in order to facilitate the transition to sleep. So, I'm eating meat about once a day, and I always insist that the meat that I eat be of the very highest quality and that the animals were raised and maintained humanely. While conventionally raised animals are confined to feed lots and eat a diet of inflammatory grains, Belcampo's animals graze on open pastures and seasonal grasses resulting in meat that's higher in nutrients and healthy fats. In addition, they raise their animals in a way that's not just better for our health, but also has a positive impact on the environment. They practice regenerative agriculture, which means the meat is climate positive and carbon negative, so you can feel good about what you're eating at the environmental level and for sake of your health. You can order Belcampo's sustainably raised meats to be delivered to you by using my code Huberman at belcampo.com/huberman and entering my code Huberman to get 20% off your first time order. I'm partial to the ribeyes or the New York steaks. So, on one day I might have a ribeye, the next day I might have a New York steak. I also really like the meatballs. I'm a particular fan of the meatballs. So again, that's belcampo.com/huberman and enter the code Huberman at checkout to get 20% off your order. And now, without further ado, my conversation with Dr. Robert Sapolsky.Great. Well, thank you so much, Robert, for joining us today. I've been looking forward to this for a very long time. I appreciate it.