Adaptogens and Beliefs Enhance Sleep More Than Hacks

Key Quotes

"So I would from most people -- there is individual aspects for most people the Archimedes lever to health and to brain power, like how to literally literally increase your IQ, is sleep. So most people, out of all the adaptogens to take, things that lower stress and improve sleep quality, even if you sleep the same seven, eight hours, your deep sleep increases. And those two would be reishi and ashwagandha as like, if in doubt, those would probably be the most commonly prescribed by me to people because just if you can make slight improvements in like the cortisol levels in your blood plasma and therefore you get an extra 30 minutes of deep sleep, the benefits of that are probably greater than, you know, having a little bit more oxygen and doing a couple extra sets at the gym."

Tero Isokauppila emphasizes that sleep is the most critical factor for overall health and cognitive function, referring to it as the "Archimedes lever." He suggests that reishi and ashwagandha are excellent starting adaptogens for improving sleep quality and reducing stress, as even small improvements in deep sleep can yield significant benefits.

"The bad news is a lot of these products are exploited by marketing and, you know, that's what we humans do, we spoil a lot of things. And there are all these products you can buy online or in stores that will promise you the world. They'll be like, 'Hey, take this little bit of this and you'll have 70 superfoods and adaptogens.' First of all, there aren't 70 adaptogens. Secondly, your, if that small scoop will not have an effective dose. You need to get enough of whatever it is in the product."

Isokauppila cautions against marketing hype surrounding adaptogen products, warning that many contain insufficient dosages to be effective. He stresses the importance of ensuring a product contains an adequate amount of the active ingredients to achieve the desired health benefits.

"In herbalism or in ancient traditions, there really isn't a habit of doing one thing. It's just the weird thing that we've adopted over the last few decades. Like you don't just take, you can't really shouldn't just take coffee, you shouldn't just take cacao. You will mix it with something. So cacao, you would mix with vanilla and cayenne and whatever and you would make a Mexican hot chocolate. So similarly here, you would absolutely stack them."

Isokauppila explains that traditional herbal practices involve combining multiple ingredients rather than using single herbs in isolation. He advocates for "stacking" adaptogens, similar to how ingredients are combined in traditional preparations like Mexican hot chocolate, to achieve synergistic effects.

"The best thing you can do for sleep is actually belief around sleep. So I've gone the deep end so many times with different sleep hacks, and I'll tell you some of my favorites, but I think what the most game-changing thing for sleep is actually revisiting your beliefs about sleep, and that will be super relieving."

Isokauppila posits that one's beliefs about sleep can be more impactful than specific sleep hacks. He suggests that changing one's mindset and assumptions about sleep can lead to significant improvements in sleep quality and overall well-being.

"Coffee is actually one of the most, if not the most proven and effective nootropic. So these, one of these smart drugs, things that you take that makes you like the guy in the movie Limitless. And there is meta-studies and obviously by its success, we know that increases energy, productivity, and there's actually a lot of long-term brain health benefits around coffee as well."

Isokauppila highlights coffee's potent nootropic qualities, citing its proven ability to enhance energy, productivity, and long-term brain health. He compares its effects to "smart drugs" that can significantly boost cognitive function.

"My internal marker is, one cup of coffee is fine, two sometimes three, never. So my internal cue is when the second coffee doesn't do it for me, it's time because then I've built tolerance for it. So that's if the first cup of coffee kind of works, doesn't work, I'm kind of like, make a mental note, but if the second coffee does not help me, it's definitely time."

Isokauppila describes his personal indicator for cycling off caffeine: when a second cup of coffee no longer provides the desired stimulating effect, signaling a built-up tolerance. This serves as his cue to take a break from coffee consumption.