How to Optimize Your Brain-Body Function & Health

This episode I describe how the organs of the body influence the function and health of our brain and how our brain controls our bodily organs. The conscious awareness of this brain-body dialogue is called interoception. I describe how two factors- mechanical forces (e.g., pressure, pain, volume, etc.) and chemical factors (e.g., gut acidity, microbiome diversity, etc.) combine to influence our moods, control inflammation, immune system, recovery from injury and more. I explain how specific actions of our lungs, heart, spleen, and diaphragm, control our brain via the vagus nerve and other neural pathways. I describe 11 science-supported protocols for enhancing brain-body health and the logic behind them.
Read the full show notes for this episode at hubermanlab.com.
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Timestamps
00:00:00 Your Sense of Self: Interoception  
00:01:25 Protocol 1: Fermented Foods, Not Fiber, to Reduce Inflammation  
00:03:45 Sponsors: AG1, LMNT & Waking Up
00:08:22 Main Drivers of Feelings & Performance  
00:11:45 Brain-Body: A Mechanical & Chemical Dialogue  
00:17:50 LDB (Lung-Diaphragm-Brain) Dialogue  
00:21:00 Protocols 2, 3, 4: Control Heart Rate With Breathing  
00:29:08 Sensing Lung Pressure: Piezo Receptors  
00:30:54 Carbon Dioxide, From Air to Blood  
00:34:02 Protocol 5: Alert While Calm  
00:40:50 Baroreceptors: Hering-Breuer Reflex  
00:42:47 Gut Volume & The Desire to Open Your Mouth  
00:48:18 Protocol 6: Enhancing Gut-To-Brain Communication, Fasting  
00:51:50 Intestines, Fatty Acids, Amino Acids & Sugar  
00:57:00 Protocol 7: Reducing Sugar Cravings with Specific Amino Acid Nutrients  
00:58:58 Gut Acidity (Is Good)  
01:02:20 Improving Nasal Microbiome  
01:04:13 Inflammation & Microbiome: Fiber vs. Fermented  
01:11:15 Protocol 8: Reducing Inflammation & Enhancing Brain Function w/Fermented Foods  
01:13:10 Leaking Guts, Auto-Immune Function & Glutamine  
01:15:50 Gut Acidity: HCl (hydrochloric acid), Pepsin  
01:18:30 Probiotics & Brain Fog  
01:21:45 Nausea: Happens in Your Brain; Area Postrema  
01:28:25 Protocol 9: Reducing Nausea: Ginger, Peppermint, CBD, etc.  
01:30:40 Fever: Triggers and Control Knobs: OVLT  
01:37:00 Protocol 10: Cooling the Blood Properly  
01:38:53 Sensing Feelings, Vagus Nerve, Stress  
01:41:50 Mental Emotions Reflect Bodily Conditions  
01:45:00 Sensing Other People’s Emotions via the Body  
01:46:00 Protocol 11: Increasing Interoception, Sensing Heartbeat  
01:50:40 Conclusions & Resources  
Disclaimer & Disclosures
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