Andrew Huberman–the host of the influential Huberman Lab podcast–has gotten a lot of mileage out of his recommended morning routine. His routine emphasizes the importance of getting sunlight within 30–60 minutes of waking; also engaging in light physical activity; hydrating well; and avoiding coffee for the first 90–120 minutes. In his words:
I highly recommend that everybody delay their caffeine intake for 90 to 120 minutes after waking. However painful it may be to eventually arrive at that 90 to 120 minutes after waking, you want, and I encourage you, to clear out whatever residual adenosine is circulating in your system in that first 90 to 120 minutes of the day. Get that sunlight exposure, get some movement to wake up, and then, and only then, start to ingest caffeine because what you’ll do if you delay caffeine intake until 90 to 120 minutes after waking is you will avoid the so-called afternoon crash.
And if you drink caffeine at any point throughout the day, really try and avoid any caffeine, certainly avoid drinking more than a hundred milligrams of caffeine after 4:00 p.m and probably even better to limit your last caffeine intake to 3:00 p.m. or even 2:00 p.m.
For many, this isn’t exactly a welcome piece of advice. And you naturally wonder how the advice sits with James Hoffmann, author of The World Atlas of Coffee, who has developed a robust YouTube channel where he explores the ins and outs of making coffee. In the video above, Hoffmann explores the research supporting Huberman’s advice, all with the goal of determining whether Huberman is ruining (or improving) our early waking hours.
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