How to Exercise & Eat for Optimal Health & Longevity | Dr. Gabrielle Lyon

(uptempo 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. I'm pleased to announce that my new book, which I've been working on for more than five years, is now available for pre-sale purchase. The book is entitled Protocols: An Operating Manual for the Human Body, and within the book, you can find, as the name suggests, protocols for everything from how to improve and even optimize your sleep, for increasing your motivation and focus, for nutrition, that is specific nutritional guidelines to follow for health and performance, as well as exercise, stress control, your oral and gut microbiome, both of which are critical for brain and body health, as well as protocols for creativity and much more. Within the book, you'll also find the scientific basis, that is the mechanisms and specific studies that substantiate these protocols. And the book is designed to be incredibly easy to use, such that if you're suffering from a particular pain point in life, such as difficulty sleeping or excess stress or any number of different issues, that you can go to a specific chapter and protocol and begin to resolve that issue. So my goal in writing this book is that it not only be exceptionally practical, but that it also be extremely informative, that is teaching you a lot about the science that underlies the protocols that can improve your mental health, physical health, and performance. To order Protocols, go to protocolsbook.com, and there you will find links to any number of different vendors, and you can select the one that you prefer. Again, that's protocolsbook.com. My guest for today's episode is Dr. Gabrielle Lyon. Dr. Gabrielle Lyon is a medical doctor who did her clinical and research training at Washington University in St. Louis. She's an expert in geriatrics, in nutrition, in health, and longevity. And during today's episode, Dr. Lyon explains how if we are interested in our immediate and long-term health, muscle is the organ that we need to pay attention to. She explains how this is true for everybody, men and women alike, and that there are specific things that we all can and should do with our nutrition and our exercise in order to maximize the health of our muscular tissue. Now, in some cases, people will be interested in building more muscle, but it's important to point out that much of today's discussion is simply about improving the health of your muscular tissue and the specific ways to do that in order to support brain health, body health and movement, of course, as well as the health of every organ system in your body, again, placing a focus on improving muscular tissue itself as a way to improve all the organ and tissue systems of your body. Dr. Lyon explains the specific science and protocols that can be applied in your everyday life at the level of what you choose to eat or not eat, as well as how much of certain foods to eat or avoid, as well as specific training regimens, most of which take very little time, but they can vastly improve the health of your muscular tissue and therefore the health of your entire brain and body. I'm certain that by the end of today's episode, you will have a much more thorough understanding of what you can do to improve your immediate and long-term health and thereby potentially your lifespan, all of which are based on the most modern understanding from basic research, from clinical studies, and from practical application in the real world. 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. Now, I've spoken many times before on this and other podcasts and with several expert guests on this podcast about the fact that most of us should be seeking to get about one gram of high-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. Maui Nui Venison has an extremely high-quality protein-per-calorie ratio so that you can get that one gram of protein per pound of body weight easily and without ingesting an excess of calories. Also, Maui Nui Venison is absolutely delicious. I love their venison steaks, their ground venison. I love their bone broths, and I love their jerky, which is extremely convenient when you're traveling. Those Maui Nui Venison jerky sticks have 10 grams of high-quality protein per stick at just 55 calories. While Maui Nui offers the highest quality meat available, their supplies are limited. Responsible management of the axis deer population on the island of Maui means that they will not go beyond harvest capacity. So signing up for a membership is the best way to ensure access to their high-quality meat. If you'd like to try Maui Nui Venison, you can go to mauinuivenison.com/huberman to get 20% off your membership or first order. Again, that's mauinuivenison.com/huberman. Today's episode is also brought to us by Levels. Levels is a program that lets you see how different foods and activities affect your health by giving you real-time feedback on your diet using a continuous glucose monitor. One of the most important factors in both your short and long-term health is your body's ability to manage glucose, or what's sometimes called blood sugar. To maintain energy and focus throughout the day, you want to keep your blood glucose steady without big spikes or crashes. I started using Levels about three years ago as a way to understand how different foods and activities impacted my blood glucose levels, and it's proven incredibly informative for me in determining what food choices I make, when to eat, and when to time eating relative to workouts, sleep, et cetera. Indeed, using Levels has made it very easy for me to optimize my entire schedule and to understand where the flexibility in that schedule exists so that if I need to move a meal or I need to fast a little bit longer or if I need to work out fasted or not fasted, all of that can be adjusted while maintaining energy and focus and great sleep at night. If you're interested in learning more about Levels and trying a CGM yourself, you can go to levels.link/huberman. Levels just launched a new CGM sensor that is smaller and has even better tracking than the previous version. Right now, they're also offering an additional two free months of membership. Again, that's levels.link, L-I-N-K, /huberman to try the new sensor and two free months of membership.Today's episode is also brought to us by Helix Sleep. Helix Sleep makes mattresses and pillows that are customized to your unique sleep needs. Now, I've spoken many times before on this and other podcasts about the fact that sleep is the foundation for mental health, physical health and performance. Now, one of the key things to getting a great night's sleep is to make sure that you sleep on a mattress designed specifically for your sleep needs, and that's what Helix Sleep mattresses are designed to accomplish. If you go to the Helix website and take a brief two-minute quiz, it asks you questions such as, "Do you sleep on your back, your side, or your stomach? Do you tend to run hot or cold during the night?" Maybe you know, maybe you don't know the answers to those questions. In any case, they'll match you to the ideal mattress for your unique sleep needs. For me, that turned out to be the Dusk Helix mattress. I started sleeping on a Dusk mattress about three and a half years ago and it's been far and away the best sleep that I've ever had because it's customized to my unique sleep needs. If you would like to try Helix, you can go to helixsleep.com/huberman, take that two-minute sleep quiz, and Helix will match you to a mattress that's ideal for your unique sleep needs. Right now, Helix is giving up to 30% off mattresses and two free pillows. Again, that's helixsleep.com/huberman to get 30% off and two free pillows. And now for my discussion with Dr. Gabrielle Lyon. Dr. Gabrielle Lyon, welcome.