Dr. Samer Hattar: Timing Your Light, Food, & Exercise for Optimal Sleep, Energy & Mood

In this episode, I host Dr. Samer Hattar, Ph.D., Chief of the Section on Light and Circadian Rhythms at the National Institute of Mental Health. Dr. Hattar is a world-renowned expert on how viewing light at particular times adjusts our mood, ability to learn, stress and hormone levels, appetite, and mental health. We discuss how to determine and use your individual light sensitivity to determine the optimal sleep-wake cycle for you. We also discuss how to combine your light viewing and waking time with the timing of your food intake and exercise in order to maximize mental and physical functioning. Dr. Hattar is credited with co-discovering the neurons in the eye that set our circadian clocks and regulate mood and appetite. He explains why even a small shift in daylight savings leads to outsized effects on our biking because of the way that our cells and circadian clocks integrate across many days. And he offers precise tools to rapidly adjust to jetlag, shift work, and reset your clock after a late night of work or socializing. This episode is filled with cutting-edge data on the biological mechanisms of human physiology and practical tools for people of all ages.  Read the full show notes for this episode at hubermanlab.com. Thank you to our sponsors AG1: https://athleticgreens.com/huberman LMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/hubermanlab Waking Up: https://wakingup.com/huberman Momentous: https://livemomentous.com/huberman Timestamps 00:00:00 Introducing Dr. Samer Hattar, Ph.D.   00:02:33 Sponsors: AG1, LMNT & Waking Up 00:06:15 Light, Circadian (24-hour) & Circannual (365-day) “Photoentrainment”   00:14:30 Neurons in Our Eyes That Set Our Body Clocks: Similar to Frog Skin   00:18:55 What Blind People See   00:20:15 When, How & How Long to View Light for Optimal Sleep & Wakefulness   00:30:20 Sunlight Simulators, Afternoon Light Viewing, Naps   00:33:48 Are You Jetlagged at Home? Chronotypes & Why Early Risers Succeed   00:38:33 How to Decide Your Best Sleep-Wake Schedule; Minimal Light Test   00:42:16 Viewing Light in Middle of Day: Mood & “Light Hunger”   00:44:55 Evening Sunlight; Blueblocker Warning   00:48:57 Blue Light Is Not the Issue; Samer’s Cave; Complete Darkness   00:53:58 Screens at Night   00:56:03 Dangers of Bright Light Between 10 pm and 4 am: Mood & Learning   01:01:05 The Tripartite Model: Circadian, Sleep Drive, Feeding Schedules   01:05:05 Using Light to Enhance Your Mood; & The Hattar-Hernandez Nucleus   01:07:19 Why Do We Sleep?   01:08:17 Effects of Light on Appetite; Regular Light & Meal Times   01:18:08 Samer’s Experience with Adjusting Meal Timing   01:22:51 Using Light to Align Sleep, Mood, Feeding, Exercise & Cognition   01:30:15 Age-Related Changes in Timing of Mental & Physical Vigor   01:31:44 “Chrono-Attraction” in Relationships; Social-Rhythms   01:33:40 Re-setting Our Clock Schedule; Screen Devices Revisited   01:37:50 How Samer Got into the Study of Light   01:39:33 Clock Gene mRNAs & More Accurate Biomarkers   01:41:08 Light as Medicine   01:42:48 ADHD (Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)   01:43:35 How to Beat Jetlag: Light, Temperature, Eating   01:50:44 Vigor: The Consequence of Proper Timing   01:52:15 Waking in the Middle of the Night: When Your Nightly Sleep Becomes a Nap   01:54:10 Melatonin, Pineal Calcification   01:55:25 Our Seasonal Rhythms: Mood, Depression, Lethargy & Reproduction   01:59:08 Daylight Savings: Much Worse Than It Might Seem   02:05:27 Eye Color & Sensitivity to Light, Bipolar Disorder   02:09:28 Spicy Food, Genetic Variations in Sensory Sensitivity   02:10:52 Synthesizing This Information, Samer on Twitter, Instagram   02:13:00 Conclusions, Ways To Support the Huberman Lab Podcast & Research   Disclaimer & Disclosures