How Fasting Impacts Your Ability to Focus | Dr. Andrew Huberman

Dr. Andrew Huberman discusses how fasting impacts your ability to focus.

Dr. Andrew Huberman is a tenured professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford University School of Medicine and host of the Huberman Lab Podcast.

#HubermanLab #Focus

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The Huberman Lab Podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user’s own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions.

[riadhbelkahla]

I'm a Muslim and in our religious we fast 14-16hrs a day for a month (Ramadhan) each year. Then we get to eat by the sunset at 7-8 p.m. We drink milk, eat dates, and other kinds of foods (we avoid eating too much because one of the purposes of fasting is to let your stomach rest) which can lead you focusing and achieving a lot during your day. By the 9th hour, we start to get tired and exhausted (it depends on the age and of course how much energy you spent during the day.) I really recommend starting this habit for a few days and if it's hard for you just try it for one day. Choose a task or two to work on, it doesn't matter just something to get you busy, I'm not saying you'll do it perfectly but you'll see yourself not just getting onto focus, but flow mode!

[spencercox]

Following even some of your advice has already changed my life.

Sun viewing and delaying caffeine in the morning have together allowed me to drop my caffeine intake from roughly 400mg (2 large cups of coffee, one in the AM one at around noon) to roughly 100mg, none in the morning and half as much at noon. In addition, shockingly, while my sleep onset remains the same, since starting this routine 2-3 months ago I haven't woken up randomly in the middle of the night and wake up feeling refreshed and actually good.

I do intermittent fasting such that I eat between 5pm and 9pm with 90% of the calories consumed between 5pm and 6:30pm. As a result of advice from yet another Huberman video, instead of simply increasingly portion sizes of a normal dinner meal, I instead started adding additional, normal sized portions of more variety of foods, and I feel amazing after doing so. It makes sense, though, that a massive amount of broccoli won't have the same benefits as a normal amount of broccoli, a normal amount of carrots, a normal amount of kale/arugala, and then instead of a MASSIVE bowl of blackberries, a normal bowl of blackberries, a normal bowl of peaches, an apple, and a banana.

It's all in one meal so it seems like so much more than it is. It's fascinating how easy it is to overeat, even when eating healthy, when you increase portion sizes rather than include more variety.

I could probably keep rattling off more and more ways Huberman has changed my life, and always for the better. And it's for FREE.

Thank you so much, and I will continue to direct people to your content!

[jhgolf]

If you've never experienced an extended fast before you don't know what you're missing out on. I've never felt better my entire life starting at around day 4 until I broke my fast on day 12. The mental clarity, focus, and heightened senses overall is pretty mind blowing. I wish more people would try it so they can relate to what I'm talking about

[mhcn]

Watching this during Ramadan, where I don't eat/drink for 14 hrs, and I start work immediately after Suhoor. I work in software/ML. I am substantially more productive at work during Ramadan, both in quality and quantity. I feel my computational power gets a little boost whose impact I can actually observe, and I just have this uncanny ability to focus for a long time without frying my brain. It's quite unbelievable.

[ajg]

Alot of value given and practical steps to take. Huberman is slowly becoming my favourite podcast!

[emmkaif]

Watching it today, on the first day of Ramadhan Kareem ❤
On fasting for 6 hrs for now and 8 more hours to go 😌

[mohammadqudahh]

Absolutely makes sense yesterday I had my first boxing amateur fight and I was fasting for Ramadan as I’m a muslim and I felt so good and focused in the ring was completely flowing and in the zone

[AspireWithin]

OUTSTANDING! From one Andrew to another, I feel compelled to comment, as you have described exactly what I have found. Apart from a coffee daily at 11am, I generally fast for between 18-20 hours. As a software developer, I focus fasted in the early morning 5 -10 and find the fasted state extremely productive. Optimum time is 7-8am, but with slowly diminishing returns as I head towards 11am. After coffee, my productivity is restored to my 7am level, but only for 90 mins max. After that the fasted state becomes counterproductive, whilst I can do chores or other non mental tasks, my cognition will only return to any where near to my earlier levels with a small snack, olives work for me, but only small amounts. Should i eat lunch, that's it for the day!.. Keep up the good work AH, really enjoying your professional and factual content.

[miralllc]

Who is watching this on 2024 Ramadhan 😂❤

[thesyedsstudio]

Alhamdullilah for being a muslim to having fasting a month in a year. All you said is true because we are practicing it . I feel 2x energy and focus in ramadan.

[muhammadshoaib]

Who is watching this in Ramadan 2024 while fasting??

[iitdream]

Here in Kashmir 13 hours appox Ramadhan kareem ..proud to be a Muslim every aspect of Islam benefits us in every way alhamdulillah for everything..and thanks sir huberman for all your knowledge..
And everyone pray for Palestineians and Ukrainians

[jainilsoni]

You didn’t mention the key factor which plays a role in alertness and wakefulness - orexin. One thing fasting definitely does is it prevents the blood flow to focus on the Gastrointestinal system instead of the brain. Fasting also increases the amount of orexin in the blood which is an important factor (if not the most) for arousal, wakefulness, and regulation of appetite.

[perfect_chaos]

when I am fasting, not only my focus increases, but my creativity increases . I buiilt a module in 2 days in this Ramadan for my company that saved 14 hour work a week . I would spend 6-7 hours working on it and dont feel any tiredness

[camerondavis]

Thank you for sharing knowledge you have learned over the years.

[Othmaun]

Watching while fasting the beautiful month of Ramadan

[RsNutella]

Ive done few days. It is weird how you don’t really feel hungry after 24 hours mark (more or less) I, like you said, have never experienced this mental clarity. My brain becomes so much more powerful in all aspect. Concentration, focus, creativity, speed of thoughts, etc

[AbdulAleemNiazi-mgmh]

Watching this on 9th ramazan. ALHAMDULILAH

[jovenesmockusfajardo]

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation:

00:03 🧠 Blood glucose level affects focus and neuron encoding precision.
01:28 🍽️ Intermittent fasting can enhance clarity of mind due to reduced parasympathetic activation.
02:53 ☕ Focus varies with blood glucose levels: fasting promotes intense focus, while sufficient glucose boosts cognitive function.
03:51 🏋️‍♂️ Incorporating both fasted and fed states optimizes concentration and focus.
05:17 ⏰ Delay first caffeine intake by 90-120 minutes after waking up for improved energy and focus.
06:11 ⚖️ Combining different states allows choosing optimal conditions for concentration and focus.

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[mustafabaris]

I started doing OMAD five months ago, my life has changed in ways unimaginable to the human mind..At age 47, I am beating myself up for not having started OMAD much earlier in my adult life...