How to Safeguard Your Hormone Health & Fertility | Dr. Shanna Swan

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. My guest today is Dr. Shanna Swan. Dr. Shanna Swan is a professor of environmental medicine and public health at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. She is a world expert in how exposure to various toxins and compounds in the food and environment impact our reproductive health. She focuses on how these compounds in our air, in our food supply, in our water supply, in cosmetics, even in household items, impact the developing fetus, children, and adults at the level of their reproductive biology, so things like testosterone and estrogen and the pathways within the brain and body that are impacted by testosterone and estrogen, but also how all those things in our environment and that we put into our body impact our health on a daily basis and our long-term health. So during today's discussion, you will learn why fertility rates are indeed dramatically dropping from year to year and have been for quite some time now. You'll also learn why testosterone levels are dropping, why sperm counts are dropping, why things like polycystic ovarian syndrome are increasing in women, and what we can do about it. In fact, during much of today's discussion, Dr. Swan emphasizes the things that you can do every single day and that, in fact, turn out to be very simple. They involve certain things to do and certain things to avoid in order to limit your exposure to these environmental toxins and their impact. So by the end of today's episode, you will be highly informed by the world expert on endocrine disruptors and environmental toxins, and you will also be highly informed in terms of how you can have agency, how you can take control of your health in relation to these various compounds. 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 LMNT. LMNT is an electrolyte drink that has everything you need and nothing you don't. That means the electrolytes, sodium, magnesium, and potassium, in the correct ratios, but no sugar. We should all know that proper hydration is critical for optimal brain and body function. In fact, even a slight degree of dehydration can diminish your cognitive and physical performance to a considerable degree. It's also important that you're not just hydrated, but that you get adequate amounts of electrolytes in the right ratios. Drinking a packet of LMNT dissolved in water makes it very easy to ensure that you're getting adequate amounts of hydration and electrolytes. To make sure that I'm getting proper amounts of both, I dissolve one packet of LMNT in about 16 to 32 ounces of water when I wake up in the morning, and I drink that basically first thing in the morning. I'll also drink a packet of LMNT dissolved in water during any kind of physical exercise that I'm doing, especially on hot days when I'm sweating a lot and losing water and electrolytes. There are a bunch of different great-tasting flavors of LMNT. And now that we're entering the winter months, at least here in the Northern Hemisphere, LMNT has their chocolate medley flavors back in stock. I really like these chocolate flavors, especially the chocolate mint when mixed into hot water. And of course, despite being a bit colder outside, hydration is still critically important. In fact, a lot of people don't realize this, but even when it's cold out, it's easy to get dehydrated, and that's because the air is dry, and so even though you don't notice the accumulation of sweat on your skin, you can still be losing a lot of water and electrolytes. If you'd like to try LMNT, you can go to drinklmnt.com/huberman to claim an LMNT sample pack with the purchase of any LMNT drink mix. Again, that's drink LMNT, spelled L-M-N-T, so it's drinklmnt.com/huberman to claim a free sample pack. Today's episode is also brought to us by ROKA. ROKA makes eyeglasses and sunglasses that are of the absolute highest quality. I've been wearing ROKA readers and sunglasses for years now, and I love them. They're lightweight, they have superb optics, and they have lots of frames to choose from. I'm excited to share that ROKA and I have teamed up to create a new style of red lens glasses. These red lens glasses are meant to be worn in the evening after the sun goes down. They filter out short wavelength light that comes from screens and from LED lights, the sorts of LED lights that are most commonly used as overhead and, frankly, lamp lighting nowadays. I want to emphasize, ROKA red lens glasses are not traditional blue blockers. They're not designed to be worn during the day and to filter out blue light from screen light. They're designed to prevent the full range of wavelengths that suppress melatonin secretion at night and that can alter your sleep. So by wearing ROKA red lens glasses, they help you calm down, and they improve your transition to sleep. Most nights I stay up until about 10:00 PM or even midnight, and I wake up between 5:00 and 7:00 AM, depending on when I went to sleep. Now I put my ROKA red lens glasses on as soon as it gets dark outside, and I've noticed a much easier transition to sleep, which makes sense based on everything we know about how filtering out short wavelengths of light can allow your brain to function correctly. ROKA red lens glasses also look cool, frankly. You can wear them out to dinner or to concerts or out with friends. So it turns out it is indeed possible to support your biology, to be scientific about it, and to remain social after all. If you'd like to try ROKA, go to roka.com, that's R-O-K-A dot-com, and enter the code Huberman to save 20% off your first order. Again, that's R-O-K-A dot-com, and enter the code Huberman at checkout. Today's episode is also brought to us by BetterHelp. BetterHelp offers professional therapy with a licensed therapist carried out entirely online. Now, I've been doing weekly therapy for well over 30 years. In fact, I consider doing regular therapy just as important as getting regular exercise, including cardiovascular exercise and resistance training exercise, which of course I also do every week. Now, there are essentially three things that great therapy provides. First, it provides a good rapport with somebody that you can really trust and talk to about any and all issues that concern you. Second of all, great therapy provides support in the form of emotional support, but also directed guidance, the dos and the not-to-dos. And third, expert therapy can help you arrive at useful insights that you would not have arrived at otherwise. With BetterHelp, they make it very easy to find an expert therapist with whom you can really resonate with and provide you with these three benefits that I described. Also, because BetterHelp is carried out entirely online, it's very time-efficient and easy to fit into a busy schedule with no commuting to a therapist's office or sitting in a waiting room or looking for a parking spot. So if you'd like to try BetterHelp, go to betterhelp.com/huberman to get 10% off your first month. Again, that's betterhelp.com/huberman. And now for my discussion with Dr. Shanna Swan.Dr. Shanna Swan, welcome.