L-tyrosine, mucuna and food: the dopamine supplements Huberman discusses, behaviors first

The Short Version

Across his episodes, Andrew Huberman treats L-tyrosine, the amino acid dopamine is made from, and Mucuna pruriens, a bean that is essentially L-DOPA, as real levers on dopamine, but he puts them third in line: behaviors first, then nutrition, then supplements, and prescription drugs only where there is a clinical need [6][7]. The behaviors he puts ahead of any pill are free and potent: sleep, non-sleep deep rest, morning sunlight, exercise, regular caffeine and, above all, deliberate cold exposure, which he calls "a power tool" for sustained dopamine [1][5][6]. Food comes next, because tyrosine from meats, nuts, Parmesan and some plant foods is the raw material for dopamine [1][3][6]. When he does discuss supplements, he favors low doses of L-tyrosine taken occasionally and early in the day, watching for a crash, while he mostly does not recommend mucuna because it pushes dopamine up so sharply that a crash follows [1][5][6]. His deeper warning is that more dopamine is not always better: big spikes are followed by troughs, stacking boosters onto things you enjoy can erode motivation, and for some people extra dopamine actually makes performance worse [1][2].

Table of contents

What They Said

All seven conversations feature Andrew Huberman: six are his own Huberman Lab episodes, from a deep dive on dopamine and procrastination to shorter toolkit episodes, and one is an interview with Lewis Howes on The School of Greatness [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. What follows groups his views by theme: the order of tools, the behaviors that come first, food, L-tyrosine, mucuna, and the cautions that frame them all.

The order: behaviors, nutrition, supplements, drugs

The clearest statement of the hierarchy comes in the interview with Lewis Howes. Huberman says to start with behaviors, which are free and self-directed, then nutrition, then supplements, then prescription drugs, with brain machine interfaces as a fifth category that is still in its infancy [7]. "I believe you always want to go behaviors focus on behaviors first get the behaviors dialed in everything we talked about today is free everything we talked about is is is self-directed," he tells Howes [7]. He sums it up: "it's being behaviors, nutrition, supplements" [7].

He is not dismissive of the later steps. Supplements, he says, have a real place, and "every scientist I know who's serious about their mind and body take supplements," while also noting "there is a lot of snake oil out there" and that he has no supplement company [7]. Prescription drugs like Prozac, he says, get a bad reputation but "have also saved millions of lives," and people who are clinically depressed and suicidal need to talk to a board certified MD [7]. But drugs, he argues, do not change behavior: "You still need to change your behaviors" [7]. He quotes a physician friend whose line recurs across his episodes: "better living through chemistry still requires better living" [2][3][7].

The same order appears in his brain chemistry episode, where he describes his hierarchy as behaviors first, then nutrition, then supplementation, with prescription drugs only when there is a clinical need [6]. In the working memory episode he frames the four categories as partners rather than rivals: "behaviors, nutrition, supplement-based tools, and prescription drugs all can have their place to varying degrees depending on the circumstances and the individual" [2]. And in his food and mood episode, he says, "I always think behaviors and proper food choices are the best way to start" [3].

For dopamine specifically, he puts it this way in the toolkit episodes: "The first thing to do is to understand what the natural behavioral tools are for increasing dopamine and to do those as consistently as possible" [5][6]. These, he adds, are tools you will want to do nearly every day, if not every day [5][6].

Why order matters: peaks, troughs and baseline

Huberman's reasoning for putting behaviors first comes from how dopamine works. In his procrastination episode he borrows a wave pool analogy from Dr. Kyle Gillett: baseline dopamine is the water level, peaks are waves, and big, frequent waves slosh water out and lower the baseline [1]. Every peak is followed by a trough below baseline [1]. He distinguishes peaks from baseline, explaining that "our dopamine baseline is our reservoir of dopamine it's how full or empty our dopamine pool is and that dopamine pool is the pool of dopamine that we use in order to create those dopamine peaks" [1].

The higher and faster the peak, the deeper the trough afterward [1]. He gives rough figures for how much dopamine neuron firing rises above a baseline of about three to four firings per second: food when hungry roughly doubles it, nicotine raises it about 150 percent, cocaine about 1,000 percent and methamphetamine from 1,000 up to 10,000 percent, while caffeine roughly doubles dopamine signaling and also increases dopamine receptors over time [1]. He stresses that these are overlapping distributions with large individual variation [1].

This is why the tools he favors are the ones that raise baseline over hours rather than spike it. He defines a baseline increase as one lasting more than an hour [1]. In the working memory episode he says what matters about NSDR, yoga nidra and deliberate cold exposure "is not just that they increase dopamine, but the duration over which they increase dopamine," which separates them from brief spikes like those from video games, sex or chocolate [2].

Time of day matters too. In the toolkit episodes, he divides the day into phases: from waking to about nine hours later, dopamine and epinephrine are naturally highest; from about 9 to 16 hours, they subside and serotonin rises [5][6]. "Anyone that tells you do this protocol in order to increase your dopamine, do this protocol or take this supplement to increase your serotonin, they can be telling you the absolute truth, but if you don't consider the backdrop over which that supplement or behavior is going to have its effect, well then you can't really predict the effect it will have," he says [6]. Early in the day it takes relatively little to push dopamine high enough to boost motivation; at 8 or 9 pm you would need more potent or combined tools [6].

The behaviors that come first

Sleep, NSDR and yoga nidra. In his procrastination episode, Huberman lists the foundational practices that build baseline dopamine, ideally every 24 hours, starting with quality sleep, which restores dopamine reserves [1]. Next is non-sleep deep rest or yoga nidra, which he says has been shown to increase dopamine reserves by up to 65 percent; traditional meditation, by contrast, is a focusing exercise not known to raise dopamine [1]. In the working memory episode he describes NSDR as a term he coined for a stripped-down version of yoga nidra, and cites a study in which an hour-plus yoga nidra session increased baseline dopamine in the basal ganglia and other structures by as much as 60 percent compared with a control [2]. He suggests trying 20 to 30 minutes at first, though he usually does 10 himself [2]. With Howes he calls yoga nidra the practice that has served him best, done once or twice a day, usually with a 20-minute script, and cites imaging studies, not from his lab, showing that a session resets dopamine levels in the basal ganglia [7].

Morning sunlight. Getting sunlight in the eyes early in the day comes up repeatedly. In the procrastination episode he gives durations: 5 to 10 minutes on clear days, 10 to 20 on cloudy days and 20 to 30 on very overcast days, without sunglasses and without staring at the sun [1]. In the toolkit episodes he says to get as much sunlight as you reasonably can within the first hour of waking, certainly within the first three, and to "Never look at the sun or any other light so bright that it's painful to look at" [6]. In the brain chemistry episode he cites a paper showing that sunlight to the eyes increases dopamine D4 receptors, so existing dopamine has a greater effect [6].

Exercise and caffeine. He lists regular exercise at least five days a week, mixing cardiovascular and resistance training [1]. Regular caffeine at about 100 to 250 milligrams increases D2 and D3 dopamine receptors, he says in the toolkit episodes, in addition to raising epinephrine and blocking sleepiness-inducing adenosine [5][6]. In the brain chemistry episode he adds that 100 to 400 milligrams is safe for most people and suggests keeping caffeine before 2 pm and certainly not after 4 pm [6].

Deliberate cold exposure. This is the behavior he rates most highly for dopamine. "Without question, the most potent behavioral tool for doing that is going to be deliberate cold exposure," he says of increasing dopamine in a sustained way [5][6]. "So the use of cold water for increasing dopamine is a real tool. I would say a power tool," he says, adding that "it might be your first go to provided you're also doing the things to maintain dopamine baseline like sunlight exposure in particular, making sure you're getting sufficient amounts of tyrosine containing foods and so on" [6].

The protocols vary across episodes. In the procrastination episode he cites a study in the European Journal of Physiology showing that immersion up to the neck can raise dopamine and other catecholamines for at least two and possibly four to five hours, with options of 30 seconds to two minutes in very cold water (roughly 37 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit, easing in over several days) or 45 to 60 minutes in about 60-degree water [1]. In the working memory episode he describes people sitting in water in the low 60s up to their necks for about 45 minutes or longer, and says most people use 30 seconds to three minutes in a cold shower, plunge or natural water [2]. The brain chemistry episode cites a 2000 study in which people sat in roughly 60-degree water for up to two hours, and gives a general guide of one to ten minutes depending on how cold-adapted you are [6]. Across all three, the target is water that is uncomfortably cold but safe [1][2][6].

He adds timing advice. Do it early in the day and not within about six hours after strength or hypertrophy training, since it can blunt those adaptations [1]. It probably takes less time in cold water early in the day to get a big dopamine increase, because later your baseline dopamine is lower and more serotonin is circulating [5][6]. In the working memory episode he thinks a cold shower 30 to 60 minutes before a focus task "makes sense mechanistically," while noting "the specific studies have not been done" [2]. Many people report needing less caffeine afterward [2]. And he warns emphatically never to combine hyperventilation or breath holding with cold water, because people can pass out and die [2].

What suppresses dopamine. The brain chemistry episode adds two things to watch. Bright light in the middle of the night can suppress dopamine via a brain region called the habenula, he says, citing work from Samer Hattar's lab [6]. And adequate B vitamins, especially B6, can help keep prolactin in check, since prolactin and dopamine tend to work in a push-pull fashion, with a caution that very high B6 can cause peripheral neuropathy [6].

Food: tyrosine is the raw material

Nutrition is the second rung, and for dopamine it centers on tyrosine. In the procrastination episode he lists nutrition with enough tyrosine, the amino acid building block for dopamine, as one of the foundational practices, found in foods such as Parmesan cheese, certain meats, nuts and vegetables [1]. In his food and mood episode he says: "there's a particular amino acid called L-tyrosine which comes from food. You can look up online which foods contain L-tyrosine. It is in meats. It is in nuts. It is also in some plant-based foods" [3].

He uses this to correct a common idea that dopamine and mood live in the gut. "There's a misconception out there that most of the serotonin is in our gut and most of the dopamine is in our gut and therefore our mood is in our gut. That's not quite the way it works," he says; dopamine "is synthesized from the amino acids that you eat" [3]. The neurons that create feelings of motivation and mood live in the brain [3][4].

Food has a practical advantage over vaguer behaviors, he argues. With exercise or meditation, it is never clear what dose raises dopamine, but "We can actually say, if you ingest more L-tyrosine, there's a high probability that you're going to make more dopamine. I'm talking about ingesting it through food or through supplementation" [3]. He is careful with the framing, though: "When you hear food is medicine, food isn't really medicine. Food is food, but food has these chemical effects as well" [3].

His food and mood episodes also describe how the gut steers us toward amino acids. Gut sensors track amino acids, and he says the studies point to people eating "not until their stomach is full but until the brain perceives that they have adequate intake of amino acids" [3][4]. Dopamine, he says, "is the molecule of desire. It's the molecule of wanting not just the molecule of having" [3]. He also describes sugar sensing in the gut that triggers dopamine release independently of taste, so hidden sugars in savory foods like pizza, bread or salad dressing can drive cravings without your knowing why [3][4].

He uses food timing for state as well. His own routine is a high-protein, low- or no-carbohydrate lunch to favor dopamine, acetylcholine and alertness in the afternoon, with starchy carbohydrates and tryptophan-containing foods saved for the evening to raise serotonin and support sleep [3][4]. "This isn't really a discussion about nutrition per se. This is a discussion about food which contains amino acids, amino acids being the precursors to neuromodulators," he says [4].

One food-specific caution comes in the brain chemistry episode: tyrosine-rich foods like certain meats and Parmesan support dopamine synthesis, but he warns about the cheese effect in people taking MAO inhibitors [6].

L-tyrosine as a supplement

When Huberman reaches the supplement rung, L-tyrosine is the option he discusses most favorably. In the procrastination episode, he says it is commonly sold over the counter and "present in a lot of so-called pre-workout formulas," and describes it as "the rate limiting enzyme for dopamine" [1]. He adds that he is generally "a big believer in parsing what you need and what's most effective for you in single ingredient formulations" [1].

The research doses are high, and he does not recommend them. In the procrastination episode, he cites two papers, Effect of Tyrosine on Cognitive Function and Blood Pressure Under Stress and Tyrosine Improves Working Memory in a Multitasking Environment, showing improved cognitive performance and working memory [1]. Those studies used about 100 milligrams per kilogram of body weight, which he explicitly does not recommend, since it would be 10 grams for him [1]. In the working memory episode he describes a 1999 study by Thomas and colleagues in which L-tyrosine improved working memory in a multitasking environment; the improvements were statistically significant but modest, and the dose was 150 milligrams per kilogram, about 15 grams for him at roughly 100 kilograms [2]. He says he cannot in good conscience recommend that, since he feels a meaningful boost in alertness from just 500 milligrams [2].

His suggested doses are far lower. In the procrastination episode he suggests starting with 250 to 500 milligrams, possibly up to 1,000 or 1,500 milligrams, 30 to 60 minutes before work, taken early in the day, watching for crashes, and prioritizing behavioral tools first [1]. In the working memory episode he advises talking to a healthcare provider first, then looking for the minimal effective dose, perhaps 250 milligrams for someone around 50 kilograms or 500 milligrams for someone heavier, and watching for a crash three to four hours later [2]. In the brain chemistry episode he says he occasionally uses 500 to 1,000 milligrams, about once a week at most [6].

Sensitivity varies enormously. In the toolkit episode, he says L-tyrosine raises dopamine within about 15 to 45 minutes for 30 minutes to two hours, but that people range from those who tolerate two grams to those whose best dose is zero [5]. The brain chemistry episode makes the same point about enormous variation [6].

The crash and the long-term risk. In his food and mood episodes he says he occasionally takes L-tyrosine, which raises mood and alertness, but warns of a crash and possible brain fog the next day [3][4]. "It's not a massive crash if you take it to appropriate doses and it's right for you, but it can produce a crash and a lethargy and a kind of brain fog after the next day or so," he says [4]. He also cautions that chronic use can disrupt dopamine pathways, that people prone to mania should avoid boosting dopamine, and that anyone should check with a doctor first: "You have to check with your doctor. I'm not responsible for your health care and I'm not a doctor" [3][4].

Partners, not a stack. In the toolkit episodes, Huberman describes pairing L-tyrosine with phenylethylamine (PEA), which he calls faster and more potent and takes at 300 to 600 milligrams, sometimes with alpha-GPC [5][6]. Taken alone or together, he says, tyrosine and phenylethylamine make you feel more motivated and more alert, and more willing and able to lean into motivated behaviors, physical or cognitive [5][6]. He points listeners to Examine.com for references and detail [6].

Mucuna pruriens: potent, and mostly not recommended

Mucuna pruriens gets a more cautious treatment. In the procrastination episode he describes it as a bean coating that is about 99 percent L-DOPA, says it tends to create peaks followed by crashes, and does not recommend it for motivation [1]. In that episode's transcript he calls it "very similar to aldopa, which is the treatment for Parkinson's" [1]. The toolkit and brain chemistry episodes say the same: mucuna is nearly pure or largely L-DOPA, and he does not take or recommend it because it raises dopamine so sharply that a crash follows [5][6].

His food and mood episode adds detail and his own experience. Mucuna is a velvet bean whose itchy surface carries serotonin and whose interior contains L-DOPA, the direct precursor of dopamine [3]. Using Examine.com, he lists reported effects including reduced Parkinson's symptoms, improved sperm quality, higher testosterone, lower prolactin and greater well-being, which he presents as a picture of what a sudden dopamine boost does [3]. "Symptoms of Parkinson's disease are notably degraded with macuna purine," he says on reading the entries [3]. Then his own trial: "I should just mention it was too dopaminergic for me. I really, really jazzed up and then severe crash for me the next day" [3]. He attributes this to running high on alertness already: "I could probably afford a little more serotonin in my life" [3].

The working memory episode is the one place he gives a mucuna starting point. Mucuna is essentially L-DOPA and potently increases dopamine, he says; studies have used one to five grams, but he strongly advises talking to a doctor first and starting with 250 to 500 milligrams to find the minimal effective dose [2]. He cautions against using any supplement to treat Parkinson's or other conditions without medical guidance [2].

When more dopamine backfires

Two of Huberman's arguments explain why he keeps supplements behind behaviors even when they work.

The inverted U. In the working memory episode, he describes how dopamine and working memory follow an inverted U-shaped relationship [2]. "It is not always the case that increasing the amount of dopamine transmission in the frontal cortex leads to improvements in working memory," he says [2]. In studies from Mark D'Esposito's lab at UC Berkeley and others, people took the dopamine agonist bromocriptine; those who started with low working memory spans improved significantly, those who started high saw little or no benefit at low or moderate doses, and at the highest dose their performance dropped below baseline [2]. That is why he asks listeners to know their baseline, using his six-sentence test, before trying dopamine-boosting tools, and why the same tool might help one person and hurt another [2]. People with high spans can still experiment with the low-risk behavioral tools, he says, but should notice if performance drops [2].

Stacking erodes motivation. In the procrastination episode, he tells how he loves resistance training and running and found that caffeine, pre-workout drinks, alpha-GPC, phenylethylamine and L-tyrosine made workouts and lab work feel even more intense [1]. Over time he felt troughs afterward, and his enthusiasm for training and science began to fade, which he mistook for burnout [1]. He now uses caffeine before most workouts, alpha-GPC or phenylethylamine perhaps every third or fourth session, and stacks everything only once every couple of months, with some sessions done with nothing extra [1]. He ties this to a Stanford study in which children who loved drawing were given gold stars, then drew less once the rewards stopped: the added dopamine created a bigger peak and so a bigger trough [1]. The lesson he draws is to be cautious about layering dopamine boosters onto activities you already enjoy [1].

The toolkit episode carries the same message more briefly: "Consider doing them individually, not trying to hit all the tools all at once, right? I mean, why throw all those tools at your dopamine system?" [5].

Prescription drugs, the last rung

Prescription options appear across the episodes but are always handed to physicians. Ritalin, Adderall, modafinil and armodafinil raise baseline dopamine for hours [1]. In the brain chemistry episode he sets cocaine and methamphetamine aside entirely and leaves ADHD medications to physicians: "Prescription drugs aside because they require prescription and a discussion that's in depth and appropriate with your physician, healthcare provider. There are supplements that can very potently increase dopamine as well" [6]. In the food and mood episode he notes that bupropion (Wellbutrin) raises dopamine and norepinephrine and can help with depression and smoking cessation, but can cause anxiety, sweating and problems for people with epilepsy [3].

He takes a firm stance in the working memory episode that amphetamine-based ADHD drugs are probably overprescribed but genuinely help certain children and adults: "I do think I personally believe that there is a strong case for certain children and adults to take these compounds" [2]. He encourages people to bring knowledge of behavioral, nutritional and supplement tools to conversations with their physicians, since some people manage subclinical focus problems or reduce their medication with them, while adding: "I am definitely not saying that people should come off those drugs entirely" [2].

Behaviors that use the trough

The procrastination episode offers one more reason behaviors come first: some of them work by making you feel worse before you feel better. Huberman says procrastination often reflects a dopamine trough, and the rate at which you climb out of a trough is proportional to how steep it is [1]. So rather than waiting, he suggests doing something harder than the state you are in, never anything causing physical or psychological harm [1]. Cold exposure is one example, especially if you cringe just thinking about it; five to ten minutes of strict meditation is another, since it is effortful and frustrating for most people even though it does not raise dopamine directly [1]. He suggests keeping a short list of about five effortful activities [1]. The ultimate goal, he says, is for "friction becomes the reward," drawing on Carol Dweck's growth mindset work and David Yeager's research [1].

Where They Agree, and Where They Don't

Because every source features Huberman, this is a comparison of his own episodes, which agree on the big picture and differ in the details.

They agree on the order. The interview with Howes, the brain chemistry episode and the food and mood episode all put behaviors before nutrition and supplements, and drugs after them [3][6][7]. The working memory episode says all four categories have their place depending on the individual [2].

They agree that cold exposure is the strongest behavioral dopamine tool. The procrastination, working memory, toolkit and brain chemistry episodes all describe long-lasting dopamine increases from cold water, and the toolkit episodes call it the most potent behavioral tool [1][2][5][6].

They agree tyrosine comes from food and feeds dopamine. Meats, nuts, Parmesan and some plant foods appear across the procrastination, food and mood, and brain chemistry episodes [1][3][4][6].

They agree mucuna crashes. Every episode that discusses mucuna describes it as essentially L-DOPA that raises dopamine sharply, and the procrastination, toolkit and brain chemistry episodes say he does not recommend it [1][5][6]. His own trial ended in a severe crash the next day [3].

They differ on whether to give a mucuna dose at all. The working memory episode gives a starting range of 250 to 500 milligrams, with a doctor's involvement first [2]. The others say he does not recommend it [1][5][6]. The difference fits the context: the working memory episode is aimed at people with low working memory spans, for whom more dopamine may help, and it surrounds the dose with medical caveats [2].

The L-tyrosine numbers differ. The study doses he cites differ by episode: about 100 milligrams per kilogram in the procrastination episode and 150 milligrams per kilogram in the 1999 study discussed in the working memory episode [1][2]. His suggested amounts range from 250 to 500 milligrams, possibly up to 1,000 or 1,500 [1], to 250 to 500 milligrams by body weight [2], to 500 to 1,000 milligrams about once a week at most [6]. The procrastination episode suggests taking it 30 to 60 minutes before work [1], and the toolkit episode says it acts within 15 to 45 minutes and lasts 30 minutes to two hours [5]. All agree on starting low and on large individual differences [1][2][5][6].

The crash timing differs. The working memory episode says to watch for a crash three to four hours later [2], while the food and mood episodes describe a crash and brain fog the next day [3][4].

The NSDR figure differs slightly. The procrastination episode says NSDR or yoga nidra can increase dopamine reserves by up to 65 percent [1]; the working memory episode cites a study showing as much as 60 percent in the basal ganglia and other structures [2].

The cold protocols differ. Durations range from 30 seconds to three minutes in colder water to 45 minutes or up to two hours in water around 60 degrees, depending on the episode and the study [1][2][6].

Why It Works

Tyrosine is upstream of dopamine. Huberman describes L-tyrosine as the amino acid building block for dopamine and a precursor to L-DOPA, which makes dopamine [1][3]. That is why both food and supplements can raise it: "if you ingest more L-tyrosine, there's a high probability that you're going to make more dopamine" [3]. Mucuna, by contrast, is essentially L-DOPA itself, the direct precursor of dopamine, and he describes it as raising dopamine potently and sharply, with a crash to follow [2][3][5][6].

Peaks are paid for with troughs. In the wave pool picture, every peak is followed by a trough, and the higher and faster the peak, the deeper the trough [1]. With repeated big peaks, peaks shrink, troughs deepen and recovery takes longer [1]. A sharp boost from mucuna, or a stack of supplements on top of something you already enjoy, fits this pattern [1][3].

Behavioral tools raise baseline for hours. NSDR, yoga nidra and cold exposure produce large, long-lasting increases in baseline dopamine rather than brief spikes, which is why Huberman emphasizes them [2]. Sunlight and regular caffeine work partly by increasing dopamine receptors, so existing dopamine has more effect [5][6].

The baseline sets the effect. Because dopamine is naturally higher early in the day and serotonin higher later, the same tool has a different effect depending on when you use it [5][6]. The inverted U adds that a person's starting dopamine level decides whether more helps or hurts [2].

Rewards can crowd out drive. The gold star study shows that adding an external reward to something already rewarding creates a bigger peak and a bigger trough, lowering the desire to do it once the reward is gone [1]. Huberman's own burnout-like slump after stacking supplements on training he loved follows the same logic [1].

Where It Applies, and Where It Doesn't

It applies to healthy people tuning motivation and focus. The supplement doses Huberman discusses are for people experimenting, after checking with a provider, not for treating disease [2][3][4]. "Never add or remove any supplement from your supplement regimen, if you have without consulting with your health provider first to make sure that you are safe to take that particular supplement," he says, adding that many physicians are not familiar with most supplements, so you may need to bring some literature [2].

It does not apply to treating Parkinson's or other conditions on your own. He cautions against using any supplement to treat Parkinson's or other conditions without medical guidance [2].

People prone to mania, or on certain medications, should be cautious. People prone to mania should avoid boosting dopamine [3][4]. The toolkit episode cautions anyone on medication for depression or mania before trying these supplements [5]. Tyrosine-rich cheese is a concern for people taking MAO inhibitors [6].

It may backfire for people who already run high. The inverted U means people with high working memory spans may see no benefit, or worse performance, from more dopamine [2]. Huberman found mucuna too dopaminergic because he already rides high on alertness [3].

It is not a substitute for clinical care. Clinically depressed or suicidal people need help from a board certified MD, and prescription drugs genuinely help some people [2][7]. Anyone considering dopamine-related supplements, especially with a health condition or medication, should talk to their doctor first.

Cold exposure has its own limits. Never combine hyperventilation or breath holding with cold water [2]. Keep the water uncomfortably cold but safe, and avoid it within about six hours after strength training if you want those adaptations [1][2][6].

What To Do With It

1. Start with the free behaviors, every day. Prioritize sleep, get morning sunlight in your eyes within the first hour or so of waking without sunglasses or staring at the sun, and exercise at least five days a week [1][6].

2. Add a short NSDR or yoga nidra session. Try 20 to 30 minutes at first, lying down with a free script; Huberman himself usually does 10 to 20 minutes [2][7].

3. Use deliberate cold as your main dopamine tool. Choose water that is uncomfortably cold but safe, ease in, do it early in the day, keep it at least about six hours away from strength training, and never combine it with breath holding [1][2][6].

4. Eat enough tyrosine. Include tyrosine-rich foods such as meats, nuts, Parmesan and some plant foods, and if you take MAO inhibitors, ask your doctor about the cheese effect [1][3][6].

5. Time your food for your state. Consider a protein-forward, low-carbohydrate lunch for afternoon alertness and starchy carbohydrates and tryptophan-containing foods in the evening, as Huberman does [3][4].

6. If you try L-tyrosine, talk to your provider first and start low. Begin around 250 to 500 milligrams, early in the day, 30 to 60 minutes before the work you want help with, and use it occasionally rather than daily [1][2][6].

7. Watch for the crash. Notice how you feel three to four hours later and the next day, and stop or lower the dose if you get lethargy or brain fog [2][3][4].

8. Be wary of mucuna. Huberman mostly does not recommend it because of the crash; if you consider it, do so only with a doctor and at a low starting dose, and never to self-treat Parkinson's [1][2][5][6].

9. Don't stack boosters onto things you already love. Use dopamine-raising tools one at a time, vary them, and do some sessions with nothing extra [1][5].

10. When you are stuck, steepen the trough instead of reaching for a pill. Pick a safe but genuinely uncomfortable task, like a cold shower or five to ten minutes of strict meditation, to climb out of a procrastination slump faster [1].

Sources

1. Leverage Dopamine to Overcome Procrastination & Optimize Effort | Huberman Lab Podcast · Huberman Lab
2. Tools to Enhance Working Memory & Attention · Huberman Lab
3. How Foods and Nutrients Control Our Moods · Huberman Lab
4. Aummary Of How Foods Nutrients Control Our Moods · Huberman Lab
5. Andrew Huberman's Toolkit for Dopamine, Epinephrine, Acetylcholine and Serotonin · Huberman Lab
6. Optimize & Control Your Brain Chemistry to Improve Health & Performance · Huberman Lab
7. The Science of a Success Mindset with Neuroscientist Andrew Huberman · The School of Greatness