In this episode, I explain what microplastics are, their prevalence in the human body and environment, and their common sources, as well as their potential negative health impacts. I provide practical strategies for limiting exposure to microplastics, nanoplastics, and endocrine disruptors such as bisphenol-A (BPA), bisphenol-S (BPS), phthalates, and PFAS ("forever chemicals"). Additionally, I discuss methods to enhance the body's detoxification and excretion of microplastics. By the end of this episode, you will have a clear understanding of the modern science of microplastics and their impact on human biology, along with actionable steps to minimize exposure and accumulation in the brain and body. Access the full show notes for this episode at hubermanlab.com. Use Ask Huberman Lab, our chat-based tool, for summaries, clips, and insights from this episode: https://go.hubermanlab.com/zqHpOM6 Thank you to our sponsors AG1: https://drinkag1.com/huberman LMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/huberman BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/huberman Function: https://functionhealth.com/huberman Eight Sleep: https://eightsleep.com/huberman Timestamps 00:00:00 Microplastics 00:02:46 Sponsors: LMNT & BetterHelp 00:05:40 Microplastics & Nanoplastics; Ingestion 00:09:38 Microplastics in Human Tissues; Pregnancy, Young Kids, BPA 00:19:21 Tools: Plastic Water Bottles; Water Filters; Alternative Water Bottles 00:26:57 Tool: Sea Salt 00:29:10 Sponsor: AG1 00:30:40 Tool: Canned Soup; BPA, BPS, Phthalates 00:34:55 Tools: Plastic Containers & Microwave; Paper Cups & Hot Liquids 00:37:34 Measurement Tools & Advancements 00:41:29 Nanoparticles & Tissues; Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) 00:45:27 Testosterone, Phthalates, BPA & BPS; Women; Men & Sperm Health 00:52:17 Sponsors: Function & Eight Sleep 00:55:25 Polyethylene & Plaques; PFAS “Forever Chemicals”; Microplastic Excretion 01:00:02 Liver-Controlled Detoxification; Tool: Cruciferous Vegetables, Sulforaphane 01:08:32 Tools: Fiber Intake, Non-Stick Pans, Carbonated Water; Microplastics & Cancer 01:15:05 Tool: Sweating & Toxin Removal 01:18:21 Tools: Packaged Foods; Clothing Overconsumption & Laundry 01:25:11 Tools: Microwave Popcorn, Toothpastes 01:27:47 Developing Brain & Microplastics, ADHD, Autism 01:32:19 Tool: Receipts & BPAs; Minimizing Microplastic Exposure 01:34:23 Zero-Cost Support, YouTube, Spotify & Apple Follow & Reviews, Sponsors, YouTube Feedback, Protocols Book, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter Disclaimer & Disclosures
Full Episode
Welcome to the Huberman Lab Podcast, where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life. I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. Today, we are discussing microplastics. Microplastics are an extremely interesting and important topic that everyone should know about.
And the reason is microplastics are indeed everywhere. They are in the air. They are in beverages we consume. They are lining the inside of soup cans. They are lining the inside of paper cups made to hold hot water, coffee, and tea. And there are a lot of animal data and indeed some human data showing that microplastics, which consists of particles of different sizes,
can be very detrimental to our health. At the same time, it's important to realize that as of now, we don't have any causal data linking microplastics to specific human diseases. That said, there's a lot of correlative data. And today we are going to review those correlative data.
And most importantly, we are going to discuss the various things that we can each and all do to limit our exposure to microplastics, or at least to facilitate the removal of microplastics from our body. because as we'll soon discuss, you have microplastics in essentially every organ and tissue of your body right now. And you are constantly being bombarded with microplastics.
So the challenge for me and indeed for you as well is to frame this topic of microplastics accurately. It's important that we understand they are out there, they are in us, and indeed, they can cause serious issues for our health. However, we also need to take agency. We need to understand how we can limit what's called the bioaccumulation of microplastics in our organs and tissues.
And I don't want to be alarmist. Today's episode is not about getting you to be petrified or about developing some sort of hypochondriasis about It's designed to inform you about what they are, where they exist, where they exist in particularly high amounts, and the things that you can do to limit their impact on your biology.
Because I think it's fair to say that we are not going to rid the earth of microplastics. They are just too pervasive. Now, the one caveat is that there are certain populations of people in particular people that are pregnant or people that have young children and those young children themselves that should really strive to limit their exposure to microplastics.
So by the end of today's episode, you can be confident that you'll understand a lot about what microplastics are, the impact that they are currently having. some of the potential impact that people are starting to investigate and ways that you can limit their negative impact on your brain and bodily health.
Before you begin, I'd like to emphasize that this podcast is separate from my teaching and research roles at Stanford. It is, however, part of my desire and effort to bring zero cost to consumer information about science and science-related tools to the general public. In keeping with that theme, I'd like to thank the sponsors of today's podcast. Our first sponsor is Element.
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