I am extremely impressed with this doctor. a jew friend of mine (27 year old neurologist doc) studied under him at Stanford.
I know
@Knight9 is familiar with him and posted a joe rogan interview with him- but his intellectual prowess is remarkable beyond this episode
he has the best methods backed by science for biohacking...
here are some notes from his light and sun exposure lecture:
“Getting sunlight in your eyes first thing in the morning is absolutely vital to mental and physical health. It is perhaps the most important thing that any and all of us can and should do in order to promote metabolic well-being, promote the positive function of your hormone system, get your mental health steering in the right direction.”
“That morning sunlight in your eyes should be a non-negotiable thing 360 days out of the year.”
“The simple behavior that I do believe everybody should adopt… is to view, ideally sunlight, for 2–10 minutes every morning upon waking. So, when you get up in the morning, you really want to get bright light into your eyes because it does two things. First of all, it triggers the timed release of cortisol, a healthy level of cortisol, into your system, which acts as a wake-up signal and will promote wakefulness and the ability to focus throughout the day. It also starts a timer for the onset of melatonin.”
- “By looking at sunlight through a window, it’s 50, five zero, times less effective than if that window were to be open — mostly because those windows filter out a lot of the wavelengths of blue light that are essential for stimulating the eyes and this wake-up signal.”
“During phase 1 — again, within 0 to about 8 or 9 hours after waking — bright lights in your environment, in particular overhead lights, are going to facilitate focus, they’re going to facilitate further release of things like dopamine and norepinephrine and healthy amounts of cortisol.”
“Viewing light circa sunset adjusts the sensitivity of the cells in the eye such that it buffers you against some of the negative effects of light late at night. So, I call it sort of my Netflix vaccination — I can watch some late-night movie or TV or be on my screen a little bit later provided I got some sunlight right around sunset.”
4. Once the Sun Goes Down, Dim Lights & Use Tabletop Lamps
Why tabletop lamps? Andrew explains in
this podcast clip:
- “The cells that bring in the circadian clock setting information sit in the lower half of the retina that, because of the optics of the eye, view the upper visual field.”\
- “Bright light exposure between the hours of about 10 PM and 4 AM, if it’s chronic, if you do it more than every once in a while, triggers a suppression of dopamine that leads to deficits in learning, deficits in mood, and a whole host of other problems, including a connection to the pancreas that starts dis-regulating blood sugar.”
“While UVB exposure in the morning and throughout the day is going to be very important for elevating and maintaining elevated mood, avoiding UVB light at night is actually a way in which we can prevent activation of this eye to perihabenular pathway that can actually turn on depression .. Avoid exposure to UVB light from artificial sources between the hours of 10 PM and 4 AM.”
I highly recommend you guys subscribe and follow his channel. the knowledge goes beyond what we normally see circulated in BB circles even here at PM with the brightest minds.