🎯 All Moments (21)
Click any moment to jump to that point in the video
The Structural Importance of Key Nutrients for Cognition and Memory
Andrew Huberman explains the fundamental reason behind his curated list of brain-beneficial nutrients: they directly support the physical structure of neurons and other brain cells essential for cognition, focus, and memory. He differentiates these crucial structural effects from broader, though still positive, modulatory benefits like improved sleep or reduced inflammation.
How Highly Palatable Foods Hijack Your Dopamine System & How to Reset It
Understand how consistently eating progressively sweeter and highly palatable foods shifts your dopamine system, making you believe only those foods are rewarding. Learn that your perception of attractive and rewarding food can be adjusted over time, allowing your dopamine system to reward less palatable, healthier options.
Creatine: More Than Just Muscles – Fueling Your Brain
Andrew Huberman discusses his personal use of creatine as a foundational supplement for general brain and neuron support, explaining that he supplements to consistently reach a 5-gram daily threshold rather than relying solely on dietary intake of meat.
Food First: Getting Brain-Boosting Nutrients from Diet vs. Supplements
Andrew Huberman clarifies that all the brain-enhancing compounds he listed can be obtained from food. He explains that supplementation can help reach higher levels, and shares his personal reason for using supplements for certain nutrients he doesn't enjoy in food, emphasizing that dietary sources are always an option.
Your Brain's True Taste Preference: The Insular Cortex
Andrew Huberman explains how taste perception is processed deep within the brain, particularly in the insular cortex, which integrates internal body states (interoception) with taste. This reveals that what you 'like' is a brain phenomenon, not just a tongue sensation, influencing your perception of food quality.
The Three Pathways Driving Your Food Choices
Andrew Huberman breaks down the three distinct mechanisms that shape our food preferences: direct taste perception on the tongue, subconscious gut-brain signaling based on nutrient content, and learned associations. He emphasizes how the third pathway offers a powerful 'leverage point' for individuals to rewire what they find tasty.
Avoid This Mistake When Consuming Artificial Sweeteners
Learn how pairing artificial sweeteners with calorie-dense foods can disrupt your blood sugar management and lead to increased insulin secretion, even when consuming diet drinks alone later. This moment offers practical advice on when to consume artificial sweeteners to avoid negative metabolic impacts.
The Three Subconscious Signals That Drive Your Food Choices
Andrew Huberman explains the three primary, often subconscious, signals that influence what foods we choose to eat: gut-brain communication, metabolic accessibility for the brain, and our belief system about the food's benefits.
The Artificial Sweetener Experiment: Rewiring Your Brain's Reward System
Andrew Huberman explains the difference between hardwired and softwired preferences, noting that while some are innate, there's significant room for change. He details an experiment showing how artificial sweeteners, despite lacking caloric value, can eventually trigger dopamine release and become preferred through repeated ingestion, demonstrating the brain's capacity to rewire taste associations and reward systems.
The Gut's Secret Influence: Neuropod Cells & Dopamine Reward
Andrew Huberman explains how specialized 'neuropod cells' in your gut sense nutrient content (amino acids, sugars, and fatty acids) and send subconscious signals to the brain. This signaling triggers dopamine release, which drives motivation and seeking for those specific foods, highlighting a powerful, often unnoticed, mechanism of food preference.
The Most Important Food Element for Brain Function (It's Not Glucose!)
Andrew Huberman reveals that, aside from water, fat is the most critical food element for brain function, as it forms the structural integrity of neurons and their membranes, which is essential for electrical activity and communication.
Unpacking Your Food Preferences: The 'Yum, Yuck, or Meh' Analysis
Andrew Huberman introduces the fascinating mechanisms behind why we like the foods we like, moving beyond simple hardwiring for sugar and fat. He outlines three distinct channels in our body and nervous system that determine our food preferences, referring to it as the 'yum, yuck, or meh analysis,' and delves into the first channel: taste on the mouth, covering sensations of chewing, consistency, and the five basic tastes (bitter, sweet, umami, salty, sour).
Beyond Taste: What Your Brain Truly Craves is Metabolic Activity
Andrew Huberman offers a profound insight into the fundamental reason we eat: our brain isn't just seeking taste, dopamine, or blood glucose. Instead, it's fundamentally seeking things that enable neurons to be metabolically active. Understanding this deeper drive is crucial for anyone looking to change their relationship with food and make healthier choices.
Blueberries & Berries: The Brain-Boosting Power of Anthocyanins
Learn about the powerful compounds called anthocyanins found in dark berries like blueberries, blackberries, and black currants. Huberman explains how these thin-skinned, purplish berries have strong data supporting their ability to improve brain function, possibly by lowering inflammation, and recommends daily consumption.
Rewire Your Food Preferences: Taste is Not Hardwired
Andrew Huberman reveals that taste preferences are not immutable and can be uncoupled from the brain's reward systems. He explains that taste is an internal representation linked to the body's needs, not just simple liking, making it possible to rewire one's sense of taste and preference for particular foods.
The Mind-Blowing 'Belief Effect' on Your Physiology: The Milkshake Study
Explore a fascinating study by Aaliyah Crumb where people's physiological responses to an identical milkshake (insulin, blood glucose, satisfaction) were drastically altered based on what they were told about its calorie and nutrient content. This highlights the powerful 'belief effect' and how our subjective thoughts directly impact our physical body.
Optimize Your Brain with Omega-3s: Sources & Daily Dosage
Andrew Huberman explains the importance of Omega-3 fatty acids, specifically EPA, for brain health and cognitive function. He provides dietary sources like fish, chia seeds, and walnuts, and recommends a daily intake of 1.5 to 3 grams of EPA, suggesting supplementation if dietary intake is insufficient.
Boost Focus & Brain Health: The Power of Choline (and Eggs!)
Andrew Huberman explains how choline is crucial for the biosynthesis of acetylcholine, a neuromodulator essential for focus and concentration. He highlights eggs, especially egg yolks, as the primary dietary source and suggests a daily intake of 500mg to 1 gram for optimal brain function, noting its relevance to Alzheimer's treatments.
Unlock Brain Power & Mood: How to Supplement Creatine for Cognitive Benefits
Andrew Huberman explains that creatine, commonly known for muscle building, also serves as a fuel source for the brain, enhancing frontal cortical circuits related to mood regulation and motivation. He recommends supplementing with at least 5 grams per day of creatine monohydrate for cognitive benefits.
Rewire Your Brain to Enjoy Healthy Foods in Just 7-14 Days
Discover a practical strategy to incorporate healthy foods you might not find palatable by pairing them with foods that provide a metabolic shift. Learn how your brain's reward system can be rewired in as little as 7-14 days to make healthier options taste better and become more enjoyable, supporting long-term brain health.
How Glutamine Can Help Offset Sugar Cravings
Discover how the amino acid glutamine, found in various foods and supplements, can play a surprising role in managing sugar cravings. Huberman explains the fascinating mechanism of glutamine-sensing neurons in the gut that signal satiation and satisfaction to the brain, helping to reduce the desire for sugar.