How to Stop Over-Optimizing Your Health | Dr. Andrew Huberman

Question About Protocol Overwhelm

00:00Hello Dr. Hub Berman. My name is Dr. Datillosi MD. I have a simple question about longevity and optimization culture. I've seen people be strict and diligent with their optimal protocols. However, sometimes it becomes a source of stress. When would you say longevity protocols do more bad than good if people worry about them?

00:21Oh, thank you so much, doctor. I'm just going to refer to you as doctor because forgive me I couldn't make out the pronunciation of your name and if I were to attempt it I would probably not get it right. So uh forgive me I'm just going to refer to you as doctor but I'm also going to extend my gratitude for your question again because I know a lot of people are thinking about this overoptimization question issue these days and it's a very important one.

00:42You know, I've uh spent the last six years or so talking about protocols for health, for all sorts of things on the Hubberman Lab podcast and others have of as well, of course. And the real issue I think that everyone's dealing with right now is kind of protocol overwhelm like like what am I supposed to do?

01:01I barely have time to do the basics and now we're, you know, getting right down into the details of, you know, particular mechanisms at particular times of day. Like what am I supposed to do? Here's the big picture, at least in my opinion. Optimization in its truest form is about addressing each day of your life as an independent unit and asking yourself, okay, what can I do today to set myself up for the best possible day given the constraints upon me?

01:26Right? Maybe you're dealing with a sick family member. Maybe you're dealing with jet lag. Maybe you're dealing with a deadline. You know, I've dealt with all these things, some of them recently. Maybe you're dealing with being extremely well-rested and you're on vacation and you wonder if you should just kind of take the day off and relax.

01:45These are real life issues and optimization has to meet those real life issues, not the other way around. So optimization is about stepping back and saying, okay, what are the things I really enjoy doing and that clearly give me energy, clearly make me feel better.

02:01These are the ones that are easy to do. For me, that's getting morning sunlight. It's hydrating in the morning. It's exercise. I happen to like exercise. Okay, some days more, some days less, but I happen to like it. Some people loathe it. Okay, if you like a particular protocol, you're more likely to do it.

02:16That just stands to reason. But then we also have to ask ourselves, what are the most important protocols to do consistently over time? And those are

Sleep & Sunlight Pillars

02:25very straightforward. Everyone knows what those are. You want to do what you can to get the best possible sleep, enough of it, and high quality sleep. But we're all human, and it's also great to stay out late doing fun things every once in a while.

02:34perfectly fine. I do that. All of you should give yourself permission to do that. In my opinion, you will be just fine in the short and in the long term. Okay? I do believe that getting bright light in our eyes, ideally from sunlight in the first hours of the day, is one of the things to really strive for because it's so brief.

02:53It costs nothing and it is so well supported by human data to create to create, excuse me, outsized positive effects on your mental and physical health. It sets everything into its right place. But as I just talked about a few minutes ago to the previous question, if you miss it one day, no big deal.

03:10The next day, just make up for it. I do think that a neurotic approach to trying to get everything exactly right is going to harm our mental health. Maybe not severely in the short term, but in the long run, it's just going to lead to a different kind of burnout.

03:23Kind of health optimization burnout, which again is not about true optimization anyway. So we say morning sunlight, great. dimming the lights at night. These are all zerocost, very effective ways to improve our health and well-being. If you're under the bright lights at an event or doing something fun or god forbid you have to be at the hospital for a loved one or you yourself in the hospital and the lights are bright, you'll be okay.

03:43You want to try and mitigate that if you're confronted with it day after day after day. You may get an eye mask, etc. But every once in a while, no big deal. We know that hydration is critical and is very overlooked as a tool for increasing energy and well-being.

03:59This is just true, right? Most people don't think of

Hydration Myths & Essentials

04:03hydration as, you know, as exciting or interesting, but it's very, very important for mental clarity, physical and mental energy. So, do that, right? People argue how much you need to drink, whether or not your urine needs to be clear or not.

04:16It doesn't, by the way, but making sure that you're getting enough fluids. And by the way, the idea that all fluids that aren't water are dehydrating you, including coffee and caffeine, the literature just doesn't support that. I do think you should drink some just good old water every once in a while, but if you're getting a lot of your liquids from, you know, I drink a lot of yerba mate or coffee, you're getting hydrated, okay?

04:36Also drink some water if you can. And then we know that exercise, nutrition, and social connection are also vital. These are the core pillars. Now, it's highly individual as to whether or not somebody needs these every single day, right? I

Exercise Habits & Consistency

04:52resistance train three times a week. I do cardio three times a week. So, that's six days a week of exercise. But some of those sessions, in particular, the high-intensity interval training, it's very brief. 6 to 12 minutes to get a sort of quote unquote max heart rate V2 max type workout and very brief.

05:03One of the cardiovascular exercise training sessions is longer. It's an hourong hike or jog once a week. You have to figure out what you can do consistently over time. This is the other critical feature. Overoptimization is going to come from feeling that you have to do everything all the time, right?

05:20Which undoubtedly will lead to mental or some other form of burnout or resentment of this whole protocols, health optimization thing. It's what you can do consistently over time. And when I say over time, I don't mean your whole life. When I was in graduate school, I literally only exercised two to three days a week because I was in lab all the time.

05:40But I was going back and forth to the, you know, I had to go to the vivarium. I go back and forth and back. I was doing so much physical activity. So, two or three times a week. I wasn't happy about that, but I was in heaven doing experiments and I love doing science.

05:53So, I was full and I was young, too. So, I probably offset some of the whatever health detriments would have been there. And I didn't take very good care of my sleep. It eventually caught up with me. I made adjustments to my sleep. So, what I'm trying to say here is that true optimization is about taking a rational look at your life over the next 6 months or year or if you're confronting a deadline over the next month or two or if you have a newborn child over the next, you know, 6 to 12 months and you're, you know, as anyone who's had a kid will tell you, you know,

06:21you have to constantly update what you can do and what you can't do at particular times of day because your job is to make sure that they are taken care of first and then that you're taken care of, right? Uh, this is obvious, but optimization is not going to be about being rigid.

06:34It's going to be about being adaptive. So, there's no simple prescriptive like when you travel, cut back on exercise. In fact, when I travel, I try to exercise as much or more than when I'm at home because I tend to do better on travel, less jet lag, etc.

06:48I actually try to eat better when I'm traveling. That means mostly unprocessed or minimally processed foods. And I enjoy doing that. For some people going on vacation for them is really just an opportunity to just like I just want to be a complete you know uh lazy lump and enjoy myself.

07:02Okay, if that's your thing that's your thing. You are in charge. I think this is the key point. You are in charge of which health quote unquote optimization protocols you use. You are in charge of which ones you

Managing Health Protocol Stress

07:17don't use. I think the burnout and the stress that people are experiencing and I do think your point is a good one that it can be detrimental if we internalize the stress. I have to I have to I have to can only be addressed one of three ways.

07:29The first one is to change your attitude about it. Okay. Well, do I like this? Do I like the effects? All right. Well, if I don't like it, but I like the effects and they're big enough for me, cool. I'll do it anyway. Ideally, you like it and you like the effects, right?

07:41That's ideal. You're more likely to do those things. The next one is you have to ask yourself, can I be consistent about this? Can I be consistent with six workouts a week, even though some are very short? Maybe I just need to work out longer three times a week, or maybe you just get two times a week to work out.

07:55Can you eat clean, mostly unprocessed, minimally processed foods, plenty of fiber, plenty of low sugar fermented foods, get enough protein, etc. whatever that means to you if you're vegan, vegetarian or you, you know, eat meat does, you know, everyone has their different, you know, kind of regimens.

08:09But you need to be able to do that in a way that you enjoy. I like eating healthy food, okay? I don't really feel good after eating garbage food. So, I don't like garbage food. I'm not drawn to garbage food, but some people really like their their treats.

08:25They like their quote unquote bad food. You're going to have to allow yourself a little bit of that if you're going to remain a happy person. And certainly if you're going to resent all of the process, that's the third category. If you're going to resent something, you're going to resent yourself or whoever you think told you to do it.

08:39Look, I don't tell anyone what to do. I make suggestions that you can take or leave. And that's what other people in the public health communication space are doing, too. So, you know, and this is true for alcohol, too, as well. You know, I've talked a lot about alcohol.

08:53Zero is better than any. Two is probably fine for non-alcoholic adults, etc., etc. But that doesn't mean that I condemn people that drink. I personally don't like drinking. I feel better when I don't. But I have many people in my life that enjoy having a drink every once in a while and I've insisted that they not apologize to me when they order a glass of wine.

09:08I don't want that. I, you know, that can only lead to resent. Okay. So, the big one is to ask yourself what you can do consistently over time. And then really understand what that time word means for you. This week, this month, this period of your life.

09:20And just be willing to be flexible, update, and then check yourself for resentments, right? Do you resent me? Do you resent the world that's telling you to do this or are you like, "Oh, this is cool." Like, "I can take it or leave it." You know, you're your own person.

09:34I'm telling you this to everyone, not just you, uh, doctor. Uh, of course, I'm telling this to everyone. You're your

Individualizing Your Self-Care

09:40own person. You are in charge of you. Self-care for you is going to mean something different than it does to me or somebody else. And by no means should you feel guilty for coming off the the the gas a little bit, as we say, and like easing up a little bit.

09:52And I will make this point. By no means should any of you feel guilty for doing every little thing perfectly as you see perfect to be because you enjoy that and because you think it makes you feel

True Definition of Optimization

10:04better. Do not apologize for being you. That's the most important point. And I think that's what real optimization is about. You know, the saying that I've put out on social media a few times over the years, but perhaps I haven't put out enough is do what you want for you, provided you're not hurting anyone else, but know what you're doing.

10:21This podcast is about trying to educate people about what they're doing when they do A or B, what you might benefit from if you do A or B. But you have to be your own laboratory. And most importantly, like I just said, be you. [music]