All Episodes

April 19, 2021 99 mins
This episode I discuss how hormones from our gut, liver, pancreas and brain control our appetite--and the specific tools we can use to adjust those hormones in order to achieve specific goals. I explain the brain areas that control our desire to eat, and our desire to stop eating. I discuss a hormone we all can make that is regulated by UV-rays from sunlight that reduces our appetite. I also explain that when we eat controls our appetite and not the other way around (and how to leverage that fact). I describe how we are basically always eating until we reach a threshold level of fatty acids and amino acids in our gut and the factors that can alter that signaling and make us eat far more than we need. I also explain how insulin, glucose and glucagon work, why cholesterol is so key for ovary, adrenal, liver and testes function and how the ketogenic diet impacts glucose and thyroid levels. As always, I describe many tools: specific supplements, prescription compounds, specific types (and timing) of exercise to regulate hormones, specific timing and types of eating, ways to reduce sugar cravings by triggering release of the hormone CCK, and more. Note: A future episode will cover Thyroid hormone. Also, I mis-spoke when explaining POMC neurons. I said “P-M-O-C” but should have said “POMC”. Apologies. The name I gave for what POMC is, however, was correct: "proopiomelanocortin". Thank you to our sponsors AG1 (Athletic Greens): https://athleticgreens.com/huberman Supplements from Thorne https://www.thorne.com/u/huberman Timestamps (00:00:00) Introduction (00:06:59) Hunger: Neural & Hormonal Control (00:08:32) Chewing & Hunger (00:11:05) Siamese Rats Reveal the Importance of Hormones In Hunger (00:13:08) Neurons That Powerfully Control Hunger by Releasing Specific Hormones (00:16:28) Anorexia & Extreme Overeating (00:16:57) Why Sunlight Suppresses Hunger: a-Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone (a -MSH) (00:20:03) Blue-blockers, Injecting a-MSH: Instant Tan & Priapism (00:22:30) Ghrelin: A Hormone That Determines When You Get Hungry, & That You Can Control (00:24:40) Meal Timing Determines Hunger, Not the Other Way Around (00:27:20) Satchin Panda, Circadian Eating & Intermittent(ish) Fasting (00:29:35) How To Rationally Adjust Meal Schedules: The 45min Per Day Rule (00:33:02) CCK (Cholecystokinin): A Hormone In Your Gut That Says “No Mas!” (00:34:55) Eating For Amino Acids, Fatty Acids & Sugar (00:39:05) L-Glutamine: Stimulates the Immune System & Reduces Sugar Cravings (00:43:42) Things To Avoid: Emulsifiers; Alter Gut Mucosa & Nutrient Sensing (00:49:32) “A Calorie Is NOT A Calorie” After All (00:52:36) Insulin & Glucose: Hyperglycemia, Euglycemia, & Hypogylcemia (00:56:12) The Order Your Eat Foods Matters: Managing Your Blood Glucose & Glucagon (01:02:40) Movement, Exercise & GLUT-4 (01:04:50) Why Sugar Stimulates Your Appetite (01:05:40) Keeping Blood Sugar Stable With Specific Exercises, The Power Of Insulin Sensitivity (01:07:55) High-Intensity Exercise, Glycogen & Metabolism (01:10:28) Cholesterol, HDL, LDL & Glucose Management: Ovaries, Testes, Liver, Adrenals (01:15:00) Prescription Compounds That Reduce Blood Glucose: Metformin (01:16:45) Berberine: A Potent Glucose Buffer That Also Adjusts Cholesterol Levels, Canker Sores (01:22:05) Chromium, L-Carnitine, Ginseng, Caffeine, Magnesium, Stevia, Vitamin B3, & Zinc (01:24:34) Acids: Vinegar, Lemons & Limes & False Alkalinity (01:26:40) Ketogenic Diets (In Brief): Effects On Blood Glucose, Thyroid Hormones (01:28:10) Diabetes, Filtering Blood, Sweet Urine (01:31:08) The Power of GLP-1 & Yerba Mate For Controlling Appetite, Electrolytes (01:35:19) Summary & Notes About Thyroid, Estrogen, Testosterone (01:37:20) Zero Cost & Sponsor-Based Ways To Support The Huberman Lab Podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mark as Played

Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know
Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

The Burden

The Burden

The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2026 iHeartMedia, Inc.