Andrew Huberman discusses his new book “Protocols: An Operating Manual for the Human Body” with Steven Bartlett, detailing 10 foundational daily protocols that synergize to optimize mental health, physical health, and performance at zero or low cost.
The 10 Protocols Are Designed As An Integrated Daily System
The protocols follow a chronological sequence from waking to sleep because they “ratchet together” — how well you slept dictates how you feel now, and each protocol sets up the next.
Huberman does all 10 every day (taking one day off per week for one protocol), and they require no expensive equipment or supplements.
The system is built on behavioral foundations; supplements and pharmacology can enhance but cannot replace the core protocols.
Morning Cortisol Should Be High, Not Low — It Sets The Entire Day
The cortisol awakening response peaks in the first 60 minutes after waking; a high morning peak provides elevated mood, focus, learning capacity, and establishes low evening cortisol for sleep.
A flattened cortisol curve (low morning, high evening) predicts shorter lifespan, poorer recovery from illness, and prolonged stress responses because stressors ride on a higher baseline.
Many people, especially women, have been incorrectly told to avoid spiking cortisol; Cushing syndrome (pathological cortisol excess) is rare, while most people suffer from insufficient morning cortisol and excessive nighttime cortisol.
Morning cortisol is a “preparation hormone” for both adversity and opportunity, not merely a stress hormone.
Protocol 1: Hydrate Immediately Upon Waking
Drink 16–32 ounces of clean water (electrolytes optional) within the first hour; this sharpens cognition and helps boost morning cortisol via vagal afferents from bladder emptying and rehydration.
Aim for ~80 ounces total daily, front-loaded early; reduce fluid intake in the evening to minimize nighttime waking.
Protocol 2: View Bright Light (Sunlight Or 10,000 Lux) Within 30–60 Minutes Of Waking
Morning light activates melanopsin retinal ganglion cells that project to the suprachiasmatic nucleus (master circadian clock), triggering a cortisol peak via both neural/peptide signals and a spinal-adrenal pathway unique to the first hour post-waking.
Low solar angle light (sunrise/early morning) provides optimal wavelength balance (more long-wavelength red/orange, less UV) for this system; overcast daylight still delivers sufficient lux (10,000+).
Do not view through windows/windshields; roll down windows or step outside. If sunlight is unavailable (e.g., pre-dawn waking), use a 10,000 lux artificial light.
UK Biobank data show bright days and dark nights are independently and additively beneficial for mental/physical health; bright nights dramatically increase early mortality, cancer risk, and metabolic dysfunction.
Missing a day can be compensated by doubling exposure the next day.
Light On Skin And In Eyes Regulates Metabolism, Vision, And Hormones
Long-wavelength (red/infrared) light penetrates ~8 cm into tissue, improving mitochondrial efficiency and glucose tolerance (25% lower glucose spike in UCL studies); greenery reflects infrared, enhancing exposure during outdoor time.
Morning UVB on skin increases testosterone and estrogen in both sexes, supporting libido and pair bonding; a Swedish cohort found sunlight exposure correlated with longer lifespan, even among smokers.
Red/infrared light viewed in the first 3 hours of the day improves age-related vision loss in people over 40 by protecting photoreceptor mitochondria (the most metabolically active cells in the body).
Indoor LED lighting lacks long wavelengths and may damage mitochondria; full-spectrum sunlight early and late in the day provides the ideal balance.
Evening Light Exposure Buffers Against Nighttime Screen Damage
Viewing daylight in the late afternoon/evening (last third of the day) “inoculates” retinal cells against melatonin suppression and glucose disruption from artificial light at night.
This “Netflix inoculation” allows screen use at 9–10 PM with less circadian penalty, but adolescents cannot be buffered — their evening cortisol rises and next-morning cortisol blunts, creating a vicious cycle.
Night shift work (including post-6 PM device use at home) shortens lifespan, raises cancer rates, and causes metabolic illness; Huberman provides specific mitigation tools in the book.
Protocol 3: Exercise In The First 3–4 Hours (Resistance + Cardio Alternating)
Ideal structure: 3 resistance days (compound movements — pull-ups, rows, dips, squats/hinge, 2–3 work sets near failure, 5-min cardio warm-up) alternating with 3 cardio days (1 long slow ~60 min, 1 moderate ~30 min, 1 high-intensity intervals e.g., 30-sec all-out/10-sec easy repeats).
Morning exercise amplifies the cortisol peak, entrains circadian anticipation (making future morning exercise easier), and primes the brain for learning in the subsequent 4 hours via adrenaline/cortisol.
If exercising late, use long exhales, hot shower (paradoxically lowers core temperature), or massage to downshift for sleep.
Deliberate cold exposure does not significantly raise cortisol (trivial increase in both sexes); it massively increases adrenaline, norepinephrine, and dopamine — the “alertness and focus” catecholamines — making it a superior morning tool for some.
The Anterior Midcingulate Cortex Is The Brain’s Tenacity Center
This region activates when leaning into internal/external resistance; stimulation evokes “a challenge is coming and I’m going to lean into it.”
It grows with successful dieting, new exercise components, or any voluntary difficult task (cognitive, physical, emotional), increasing future willingness to engage challenges.
Cold exposure trains the ability to remain calm under adrenaline surge, transferring to real-life stressors because there is only one stress system — adrenaline spikes and decays slowly; cold practice teaches prefrontal cortex recovery.
Double inhale (long, then short to maximally inflate alveoli) followed by a long exhale offloads maximal CO₂ and slows heart rate via respiratory sinus arrhythmia (vagal efferent pathway).
A single physiological sigh immediately reduces heart rate; 5 minutes daily outperformed meditation, box breathing, and cyclic hyperventilation in a controlled study (HRV, heart rate, sleep, stress).
Use anytime stress exceeds desired alertness: before speaking, after a stressful text, waking at 3 AM. Long exhales also raise HRV throughout the day.
The first 20–30 seconds of any stressor suppress prefrontal cortex (“you are brain damaged”); physiological sighs accelerate PFC recovery, enabling thoughtful response over reaction.
Protocol 5: Eye Movement Protocol To Fall Back Asleep
To fall asleep, proprioceptive awareness of limb position must be suppressed; a specific eye movement pattern (eyes closed: side-to-side, up-down, counterclockwise circle, clockwise circle, converge toward nose + long exhale) shuts down cerebellar proprioceptive circuits via ancient optic-flow pathways.
2–3 repetitions typically induce sleep; an MIT-derived sleep mask now uses electrodes to stimulate this pattern and can enhance REM.
Protocol 6: Sleep In Darkness; Cool Room; Side Sleeping With Head Slightly Elevated
Bright light at night raises cortisol (not just suppresses melatonin); dim lights and red-shift screens (triple-click shortcut) in the last 30 minutes pre-sleep.
Side sleeping with slight head elevation enhances glymphatic clearance of brain waste products (critical for dementia prevention, morning alertness, and reducing under-eye bags).
Morning movement (walking, inversion, shaking) helps drain lymphatic fluid; 20-min daily meditation increases daytime glymphatic clearance, potentially reducing sleep need by ~1 hour.
Protocol 7: 90–120 Minutes Of Effortful Cognitive Work Daily
Deep focus requires the phone out of the room — even a silenced, face-down phone in the room reduces cognitive flexibility by running a subconscious “anticipation script.”
Learning requires alertness (adrenaline/cortisol), focus (visual field narrowing), and errors — genuine attempts at ~15% failure rate drive cerebellar error signals that trigger plasticity.
Self-testing (e.g., using LLMs to generate quizzes at calibrated difficulty) beats re-reading/highlighting for long-term retention; physical skills require physical self-testing.
Prioritize proteins with high essential-amino-acid-per-calorie density (eggs, lean meat, fish); beans/rice require 4–5× calories for equivalent protein.
Include vegetables/fruit for micronutrients/fiber, but excess fiber can raise inflammation in some; low-sugar fermented foods (sauerkraut, kimchi, beet kvass) lower the “inflammatome.”
Use olive oil (strong data); small butter amounts fine; avoid seed oil debates (studies are confounded). Starches fuel muscle/brain and lower evening cortisol to aid sleep; avoid starch+fat combos that drive overconsumption.
Protocol 9: Evening Wind-Down — Dim Light, Cool Temperature, Non-Sleep Deep Rest
Covered implicitly: dark, cool, side sleeping, physiological sighs, eye movements, no screens last 30 min, no work in bed.
Protocol 10: Daily “Shut Up, Suit Up, Show Up” + Unconscious Contact Practice
From Jungian analyst James Hollis (84): three daily roles — Shut Up (gratitude practice: give and receive, acknowledging others suffer more), Suit Up (prepare: health, hygiene, organization), Show Up (fulfill outward roles: parent, partner, professional).
Plus once daily: exit role fulfillment and stimulus-response mode (meditation, drawing, music, walking) to let the unconscious surface “deepest heart’s desires” via emotions/analogies — this guides authentic life navigation.
Calling is found while working hard at something else, not by searching; passion is not a singular Easter egg but a series of 5-year chunks.
Huberman’s Personal Supplement Stack (If Limited To Five)
Magnesium threonate or bisglycinate (sleep) — if sleep is already excellent, skip.
Low-level repeated soleus contractions (slow-twitch, 1% of muscle mass) have outsized glucose disposal; seated calf raises (“soleus push-ups”) show dramatic glucose regulation.
Walking after meals flattens glucose peaks, reduces energy crashes, improves long-term metabolic health; comparable to air squats every 45 min but more socially practical.
Spontaneous movement (NEAT) burns up to 1,800 kcal/day in lean individuals; metabolism does not decline with age if muscle mass and movement are maintained — octogenarians who move constantly (Twyla Tharp, Mike Snyder) stay lean and sharp.
Peptides: Promising But Require Clear Goal, Not Curiosity-Driven Use
GLP-1 agonists (tirzepatide/retatrutide) show ~1/3 body weight loss in trials; microdosing anecdotes suggest benefits at lower doses/side effects, but no RCTs.
BPC-157 accelerates injury healing (tendon, nerve, vascular) in animals; theoretical tumor vascularization risk; use only for specific injury, not prophylactically.
Pinealon (sporadic) increased REM in Huberman’s self-experiment; growth hormone secretagogues (tesamorelin, CJC-1295) increase deep sleep but crushed his REM.
Foundation (sleep, light, exercise, nutrition) must precede peptides; “what effect are you trying to achieve?” guides choice.
Psychedelics And Faith: Complementary Paths To Meaning Beyond Biology
Huberman’s clinical MDMA/psilocybin experience (with preparation/integration therapy) was profoundly beneficial; DMT revealed reality as “a small amount of chemicals being interpreted” — suggesting biology cannot satisfy all human longing.
Faith/prayer (nightly for ~3 years) relieved pressure to control everything, brought “miracles” (answers arriving via unexpected events), and improved life quality without removing difficulty.
Neuroscience shows we only perceive what our sensors extract (e.g., no infrared without pit viper organs or goggles); faith acts as “infrared goggles” for meaning — not provable by math/logic, but experientially transformative.
Thirst proves water exists; the “God circuit” in brain may prove a transcendent referent, not merely a hallucination.
CO₂ Monitoring Reveals Hidden Cognitive Drag
Studio CO₂ rose from 600 to 1,700 ppm during conversation; >1,000 ppm impairs cognition. Morning sunlight exposure offset this; ventilation matters for cognitive work.
