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