How to Use Caffeine & Coffee to Improve Focus | Dr. Andrew Huberman
00:00:00.000 | I know many people are curious as to whether or not
00:00:04.960 | caffeine can improve focus and concentration.
00:00:08.640 | And indeed it can.
00:00:10.640 | There is an immense amount of data supporting the idea
00:00:13.880 | that caffeine provided it's consumed
00:00:15.640 | in the appropriate dosages can improve mental performance
00:00:19.060 | and physical performance.
00:00:20.040 | And it largely does that through improvements
00:00:22.840 | in focus and concentration.
00:00:25.040 | The dosage of caffeine, of course,
00:00:27.480 | is going to depend on how caffeine adapted you are,
00:00:30.200 | how much caffeine tolerance you have.
00:00:32.400 | And that is going to vary tremendously
00:00:35.360 | depending on whether or not you ingest that caffeine
00:00:37.840 | with or without food, as I mentioned earlier.
00:00:40.320 | But there is a kind of general range
00:00:42.520 | in which we can talk about caffeine
00:00:44.520 | as being useful for focus and concentration.
00:00:46.760 | And the range is basically from 100 milligrams
00:00:49.760 | to 400 milligrams.
00:00:51.240 | I want to caution everybody out there.
00:00:53.000 | If you're somebody who suffers from anxiety
00:00:55.400 | or panic attacks, and you're not used to ingesting caffeine
00:00:58.320 | and you run out and ingest 400 milligrams of caffeine
00:01:01.000 | in the form of espresso or yerba mate
00:01:02.880 | or an energy drink or in pill form,
00:01:05.280 | that is going to be very uncomfortable for you.
00:01:07.320 | You're going to be sweating profusely.
00:01:08.800 | Your heart rate is going to increase.
00:01:10.040 | You're going to be quite panicked in fact,
00:01:13.000 | or at least anxious.
00:01:14.360 | So be cautious with your use and adopting of caffeine
00:01:18.140 | if you're not already caffeine adapted.
00:01:20.380 | But most people do quite well to ingest 100 to 200 milligrams
00:01:23.440 | of caffeine prior to doing some focused work.
00:01:26.520 | And again, I recommend delaying your caffeine intake
00:01:29.240 | to 90 to 120 minutes after waking,
00:01:31.400 | unless you're using that caffeine
00:01:33.240 | to really jolt your system before a workout.
00:01:37.080 | Caffeine can of course be ingested in various forms,
00:01:39.920 | even pill form, but most people ingest it
00:01:41.800 | in the form of coffee or my particular favorite way
00:01:44.580 | to ingest caffeine is yerba mate.
00:01:46.780 | It is important and I should note
00:01:48.960 | that you should actively avoid the smoked versions
00:01:52.320 | of yerba mate as they contain a lot
00:01:53.840 | of carcinogenic cancer-promoting compounds.
00:01:56.280 | There's some great yerba mate brands out there.
00:01:58.640 | The most cost-effective way to consume it would be
00:02:01.600 | to use the loose leaf tea and to pour water over that.
00:02:04.880 | There's one particular brand that I like.
00:02:06.560 | I don't have any affiliation to them whatsoever,
00:02:09.000 | but I've been using it for years.
00:02:10.040 | It's Anna Park.
00:02:10.920 | It's an organic brand that is sold.
00:02:13.080 | I buy mine on Amazon,
00:02:14.360 | but you can find it elsewhere on the internet as well.
00:02:16.280 | Again, I don't have any affiliation to them.
00:02:17.900 | It's just very cost-effective, very clean.
00:02:19.620 | It doesn't have the smoked flavor,
00:02:21.460 | at least the one that I buy is not the smoked variety.
00:02:23.400 | So none of the carcinogenic compounds are in there,
00:02:25.760 | at least that I'm aware of.
00:02:27.220 | And I like the way it tastes
00:02:29.080 | and it provides a very even lift and stimulant
00:02:32.880 | that I think certainly works for me
00:02:34.560 | and that a number of people I know
00:02:36.000 | that have suggested to also enjoy.
00:02:38.360 | Yerba mate or caffeine also have other additional benefits.
00:02:43.240 | In particular, the caffeine in yerba mate and coffee
00:02:46.920 | and other sources of caffeine are known
00:02:48.440 | to increase the density and efficacy
00:02:51.200 | that is the number and the function of dopamine receptors.
00:02:55.620 | And this has been shown in humans several times.
00:02:58.240 | So by ingesting caffeine pretty regularly,
00:03:00.200 | you're actually increasing the ability of dopamine
00:03:02.520 | to have this effect of increasing motivation and drive.
00:03:06.820 | I tend to ingest caffeine only early in the day.
00:03:09.320 | I tend to cut off my caffeine intake
00:03:10.880 | somewhere around one or 2 p.m.
00:03:12.560 | to ensure that I can get into a good night's sleep.
00:03:14.740 | But I realize that there are people out there
00:03:16.120 | that ingest caffeine as late as two or three
00:03:18.200 | in the afternoon and can still sleep fine.
00:03:20.240 | I will caution those of you
00:03:21.480 | that think that you can drink caffeine
00:03:22.840 | in the evening or nighttime and still fall asleep.
00:03:25.560 | All of the research points to the fact
00:03:27.460 | that the architecture of your sleep
00:03:28.900 | and the depth of your sleep is disrupted.
00:03:30.520 | Even if you're able to fall and stay asleep,
00:03:33.240 | the sleep you're getting is simply not as good
00:03:34.900 | as the sleep you would get
00:03:35.780 | if you were to shut off your caffeine intake
00:03:38.480 | at least eight hours before bedtime
00:03:40.120 | and ideally more like 10 or even 12 hours before bedtime.
00:03:42.840 | But of course there are practical constraints as well.
00:03:45.680 | Okay, so caffeine is increasing dopamine's function
00:03:49.920 | by changing the number and efficacy of dopamine receptors.
00:03:54.160 | But of course it also increases our wakefulness,
00:03:56.040 | our alertness.
00:03:57.000 | And that is largely through the neurochemical systems
00:04:00.080 | related to adenosine,
00:04:01.440 | which is a molecule that builds up in our brain and body
00:04:03.580 | the longer we are awake.
00:04:04.600 | It's part of the sleepiness system, if you will.
00:04:07.460 | Makes us feel fatigued or tired.
00:04:09.680 | And caffeine also operates on the epinephrine,
00:04:14.040 | the adrenaline system.
00:04:15.360 | In fact, if we ingest too much caffeine,
00:04:16.960 | we'll sometimes get the jitters.
00:04:18.720 | Those jitters are really the sympathetic,
00:04:21.780 | as it's called, nervous system's bias toward movement.
00:04:24.640 | And our pupils will dilate.
00:04:27.120 | They actually get broader.
00:04:28.380 | Now, somewhat paradoxically, when our pupils get bigger,
00:04:32.760 | the pupils of our eyes that is,
00:04:34.880 | our visual world actually narrows.
00:04:36.720 | It becomes more tunnel-like.
00:04:38.240 | A lot of people don't realize this.
00:04:39.180 | When our pupils are really small, that means we are relaxed.
00:04:41.600 | So if you ever see someone with really tiny
00:04:43.120 | or pin-sized pupils, they're very relaxed.
00:04:45.720 | If their pupils are very big, they're very dilated,
00:04:48.200 | well, then they are very amped up.
00:04:50.920 | They are very, very alert.
00:04:53.000 | Caffeine increases alertness by increasing epinephrine,
00:04:56.320 | adrenaline release, both in the brain and within the body.
00:04:59.960 | And so that's another way that it facilitates
00:05:02.080 | focus and concentration.
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