Should you’re a daily listener of the Huberman Lab podcast, you realize Dr. Andrew Huberman doesn’t simply speak about protocols and neuroscience. He’s continually dropping guide suggestions which have formed his considering. We’re speaking about all the things from dense neuroscience textbooks to page-turning memoirs, from meditation guides to books about, nicely, why your jaw is likely to be too small (sure, actually).
I’ve gone down the rabbit gap and compiled each single guide Huberman has explicitly endorsed, praised, or talked about loving. Truthful warning: this listing would possibly destroy your studying finances, however your mind will thanks. Let’s dive into Huberman’s literary universe, organized by subject so you’ll be able to soar straight to what pursuits you most.
Neuroscience and Human Conduct
Let’s begin with the mind stuff, due to course we’re. These books assist clarify why we do what we do, from the molecular degree all the best way as much as evolutionary psychology.
- The Nature of the Beast: How Feelings Information Us by David J. Anderson. Huberman completely gushes about this one. He known as it “very good: clear, fashionable, accessible, & rooted in knowledge,” and coming from a fellow neuroscientist, that’s excessive reward. Anderson (who runs a lab at Caltech) breaks down how mind states like concern, aggression, and intercourse drive really management our habits. Huberman was “delighted” that high specialists are lastly sharing this information with the general public. The guide makes use of animal research to show us about human feelings, like why social isolation can actually make us extra aggressive. Should you’ve ever questioned concerning the neuroscience behind your emotional reactions, that is your start line.
- How Feelings Are Made by Lisa Feldman Barrett. This guide utterly rethinks how our brains assemble feelings, and it’s on Huberman’s important studying listing. Barrett’s revolutionary concept? Your mind doesn’t simply react to the world. It’s continually predicting and developing your emotional actuality based mostly on previous experiences. This aligns completely with Huberman’s frequent discussions about neuroplasticity and the way we will actually rewire our emotional responses.
- Behave: The Biology of People at Our Finest and Worst by Robert Sapolsky. An absolute beast of a guide at 800 pages exploring why people do what they do. It made Huberman’s high 20 guide listing from his podcast suggestions, and for good cause. Sapolsky traces habits from the split-second neurochemical reactions in your mind all the best way again to evolutionary forces thousands and thousands of years previous. Sure, it’s dense, however Sapolsky’s humor makes it surprisingly readable. If you need the entire organic story behind human habits, that is it.
- The Molecule of Extra by Daniel Z. Lieberman and Michael E. Lengthy. That is Huberman’s go-to advice from his official Ask Huberman Lab device for understanding dopamine, that molecule he’s at all times speaking about. The guide reveals how this single chemical drives all the things from like to habit to creativity. Huberman praises it for explaining why we’re by no means happy with what we’ve got and at all times chasing the subsequent factor. Sound acquainted?
- Dopamine Nation: Discovering Steadiness within the Age of Indulgence by Dr. Anna Lembke. One other dopamine deep-dive that Huberman incessantly references. After internet hosting Lembke on his podcast, he grew to become an enormous advocate for her concepts concerning the pleasure-pain steadiness in our brains. The guide explains why our fashionable world of fixed stimulation is mainly breaking our reward techniques, and extra importantly, easy methods to repair them. Should you’ve heard Huberman speak about dopamine fasting or taking breaks from pleasurable actions, this guide is the place these ideas come from.
- Sapiens: A Temporary Historical past of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. May appear misplaced in a neuroscience listing, however Huberman consists of it as a result of understanding human habits means understanding our historical past. It’s the 30,000-foot view of how we bought right here, from small bands of hunter-gatherers to smartphone-addicted fashionable people. Huberman usually references Harari’s insights about shared myths and storytelling when explaining why people behave so in another way from different animals.
- When Males Behave Badly: The Hidden Roots of Sexual Deception, Harassment, and Assault by Dr. David Buss. Huberman highlighted this guide in his episode on human mating and sexual battle. He described it as a revealing have a look at the darker elements of mating habits, rooted in evolution. Not precisely mild studying, however necessary for understanding the evolutionary pressures behind problematic behaviors.
- The Evolution of Need: Methods of Human Mating by Dr. David Buss. One other Buss traditional that Huberman recommends as a foundational textual content on why we select mates the best way we do. He’s cited it when discussing attraction and mating methods throughout cultures. The guide summarizes a long time of cross-cultural analysis on mate preferences, infidelity, and competitors.
- Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Thoughts by Dr. David Buss. Huberman even recommends this textbook for individuals who need a complete understanding of human habits by an evolutionary lens. On the podcast, he talked about Buss’s textbook as an ideal useful resource past simply mating, masking how evolution shapes social hierarchies, parenting, friendships, and extra. It’s educational, however value it if you’d like the complete framework.
Sleep and Circadian Rhythm
Huberman’s obsession with sleep is known. These books kind the inspiration of his “get morning daylight” gospel that we’ve all come to know and love (or like to hate when the alarm goes off). If you wish to pair these insights with sensible utility, try Huberman’s optimum morning routine for the complete protocol.
- Why We Sleep by Dr. Matthew Walker. Mainly required studying for Huberman followers. He’s had Walker on the podcast a number of instances and continually references insights from this guide. You know the way Huberman at all times emphasizes that even gentle sleep deprivation can wreck your cognitive efficiency? Or that REM sleep is like in a single day remedy on your feelings? That’s all Walker. This guide will most likely scare you into by no means pulling an all-nighter once more.
- The Circadian Code by Dr. Satchin Panda. Huberman’s circadian rhythm bible, as he mentions on his Instagram. That is the place he will get ideas like time-restricted consuming and the significance of sunshine publicity timing. Panda exhibits that while you do issues will be simply as necessary as what you do, whether or not it’s consuming, exercising, or sleeping. Should you’ve questioned why Huberman is so intense about viewing morning daylight, this guide explains the science.
- Breath: The New Science of a Misplaced Artwork by James Nestor. Will get Huberman’s highest reward (he calls it “fabulous”). The guide’s core message? Most of us are respiration incorrect, and it’s messing up all the things from our sleep to our anxiousness ranges to our facial construction. Huberman’s well-known recommendation to “be a nostril breather, not a mouth breather” comes straight from Nestor’s analysis. The guide consists of sensible workouts that Huberman usually recommends, like field respiration and the physiological sigh.
- The Secret Pulse of Time by Stefan Klein. Huberman’s sleeper hit advice. He says it “modified [his] notion of all the things” and “remodeled [his] worldview.” This lesser-known guide explores why time appears to hurry up as we age and the way we will manipulate our notion of time. For somebody who talks a lot about ultradian rhythms and 90-minute focus blocks, this guide clearly supplied elementary insights about how our brains course of time.
Bodily Well being and Longevity
Relating to residing longer and more healthy, Huberman has some robust opinions, and these books formed them. Should you’re already optimizing your well being with Huberman’s complement protocols, these reads gives you the deeper science behind the methods.
- Outlive: The Science & Artwork of Longevity by Dr. Peter Attia. Acquired one among Huberman’s most enthusiastic endorsements ever. He tweeted: “I’ve learn this guide and it’s unimaginable. A lot in order that it stands to be the go-to information for well being and longevity.” He even made certain to make clear he wasn’t being paid to say that. He simply thinks it’s that good. The guide gives concrete protocols for train, diet, and stopping persistent illness. If you wish to know why Huberman is at all times speaking about VO2 max and grip power, Attia’s affect is obvious.
- Good Vitality by Dr. Casey Means and Calley Means. Shot straight to Huberman’s high suggestions in 2024. After internet hosting Dr. Means on the podcast, he declared it “simply in my high 3 actionable for-everyone well being books.” The guide focuses on metabolic well being (mainly, how your physique produces and makes use of power) and why fixing this will clear up all the things from mind fog to persistent illness. Given Huberman’s fixed mentions of steady glucose displays and blood sugar administration, this guide clearly resonated together with his method.
- The 4-Hour Physique by Tim Ferriss. May look like an odd alternative, however Huberman appreciates it as a enjoyable, experimental method to human efficiency. He even tweeted about desirous to reread it and “tabulate the prescient statements,” mainly checking which of Ferriss’s wild experiments have been validated by newer science. And sure, Huberman additionally loves Ferriss’s sequel, The 4-Hour Chef, particularly for its “glorious easy recipe for sauerkraut.” Typically even neuroscientists simply need to ferment some cabbage.
- The Salt Repair by Dr. James DiNicolantonio. Made Huberman utterly rethink sodium consumption. This contrarian guide argues that we’ve been incorrect about salt, that sugar, not sodium, is the actual blood stress villain. Huberman’s behavior of including salt to his water and never fearing sodium? This guide is why.
- Ideas of Neurobiology by Dr. Liqun Luo. Huberman’s reply when individuals ask easy methods to study neuroscience correctly. He calls it “the perfect textbook on the market” and even helped edit a couple of chapters. Sure, it’s a $100 textbook. However if you wish to perceive the mind at Huberman’s degree, that is your start line.
Health and Endurance
These books mix inspiration with science, displaying what the human physique and thoughts are really able to when pushed to their limits.
- Discovering Extremely by Wealthy Roll. One in all Huberman’s all-time favorites. He known as Roll “a world class human being” and loves the story of transformation from an chubby, alcoholic 40-year-old to an elite ultra-endurance athlete. Huberman has Roll on the podcast usually, and their friendship is apparent. The guide’s message that it’s by no means too late to utterly reinvent your well being clearly resonates with Huberman’s optimistic view of human potential.
- Endure by Alex Hutchinson. Made Huberman’s high books listing, and it completely bridges his pursuits in neuroscience and bodily efficiency. The guide explores how our brains restrict (or unlock) our bodily potential, masking all the things from the “central governor” idea of fatigue to how smiling can really make train really feel simpler. When Huberman talks concerning the psychological element of bodily efficiency, he’s usually drawing from Hutchinson’s analysis.
- Can’t Damage Me and By no means Completed by David Goggins. Maintain particular locations in Huberman’s suggestions. He wrote the endorsement blurb for Can’t Damage Me and proudly notes that Goggins was “an early customer to my lab.” Huberman sees Goggins because the embodiment of psychological toughness, somebody who proves that the thoughts actually can push the physique past perceived limits. When Huberman talks about “doing laborious issues” or getting snug with discomfort, Goggins’s affect is obvious.
- The Rise of Superman by Steven Kotler. Explores circulation states by excessive sports activities, and it’s on Huberman’s advice listing. The guide breaks down the neuroscience of these moments when all the things clicks, when time slows down and efficiency turns into easy. Huberman usually discusses circulation by way of neurochemicals and brainwaves, and Kotler’s work clearly knowledgeable his understanding.
Mindset, Psychology and Productiveness
These books kind the psychological toolkit Huberman references when speaking about focus, progress, and achievement. They’re the explanation he can preserve his insane productiveness whereas nonetheless seeming comparatively sane.
- Deep Work by Cal Newport. Huberman’s productiveness bible. He practices what Newport preaches: deleting social media apps when he must focus, scheduling uninterrupted work blocks, and treating consideration as a finite useful resource. When Huberman talks concerning the significance of eliminating distractions for cognitive work, he’s basically channeling Newport.
- Mindset by Dr. Carol Dweck. Huberman’s Stanford colleague gives the scientific backing for why believing you’ll be able to enhance really helps you enhance. The expansion mindset idea completely aligns with Huberman’s fixed emphasis on neuroplasticity. When he says your mind can change at any age, Dweck’s analysis is a part of why he’s so assured about it.
- The Expertise Code by Daniel Coyle. Demystifies talent acquisition, displaying how “expertise hotbeds” produce distinctive performers. Huberman loves how Coyle explains the neuroscience of observe, particularly how myelin wraps round neural circuits to make abilities automated. When Huberman talks about “deliberate observe” or coaching on the fringe of your skill, he’s referencing ideas from this guide.
- Mastery by Robert Greene. In Huberman’s high three books for locating function. He used to advocate it to all his graduating college students. It gives a roadmap for growing experience by apprenticeship, experimentation, and hundreds of hours of observe. Greene’s emphasis on persistence and long-term considering clearly influenced Huberman’s personal profession path.
- The Conflict of Artwork by Steven Pressfield. Introduces the idea of “Resistance,” that power that retains you from doing necessary work. Huberman usually references this when speaking about procrastination and inventive blocks. The guide’s no-nonsense method to displaying up day-after-day, no matter motivation, aligns completely with Huberman’s “simply do the work” mentality.
- Movement by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi. The foundational textual content on optimum expertise made Huberman’s high 20 listing. When Huberman explains easy methods to get into circulation states (clear targets, fast suggestions, steadiness between problem and talent), he’s drawing immediately from Csíkszentmihályi’s analysis.
- Hope for Cynics by Dr. Jamil Zaki. Earned one among Huberman’s most enthusiastic endorsements: “Probably the greatest mindset shifting books ever.” Coming from Stanford psychologist Zaki, it exhibits that empathy and kindness are abilities you’ll be able to develop, not mounted traits. Huberman loves the way it makes use of laborious science to show people are higher than we predict we’re.
- The Street to Character by David Brooks. One in all three books Huberman beneficial to all graduating college students. It distinguishes between “résumé virtues” (achievements) and “eulogy virtues” (character), pushing readers to give attention to who they’re reasonably than what they accomplish. The guide clearly influenced Huberman’s emphasis on function past simply optimization.
- The Braveness to Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga. Brings Adlerian psychology to fashionable readers. Huberman appreciates its message about taking duty on your life and never being trapped by others’ expectations. When he talks about not being a sufferer of circumstances, you’ll be able to hear echoes of this guide’s affect.
Meditation, Mindfulness and Stress Reduction
Huberman’s method to psychological well being combines historic knowledge with fashionable neuroscience. These books bridge each worlds, displaying that woo-woo and science can really be buddies.
- Jaws: The Story of a Hidden Epidemic by Sandra Kahn and Paul Ehrlich. Is likely to be the weirdest guide on this listing, however Huberman is enthusiastic about it. It reveals how fashionable life has actually modified our jaw construction, resulting in respiration issues, sleep points, and crooked tooth. When Huberman tells you to chew tougher meals or preserve correct tongue posture, this guide is why.
- Altered Traits by Daniel Goleman and Richard Davidson. Compiles a long time of analysis on what meditation really does to your mind. Huberman recommends it on Goodreads for separating meditation hype from meditation science. The important thing perception? Brief-term observe creates state modifications (feeling calmer in the present day), however solely long-term observe creates trait modifications (turning into a calmer particular person).
- The Thoughts Illuminated by John Yates. Supplies a step-by-step meditation program that blends Buddhist teachings with neuroscience. Whereas some questioned whether or not Huberman really beneficial it, it did make his high 20 listing. The guide’s systematic method, treating meditation as mind coaching with measurable milestones, appeals to Huberman’s scientific sensibility.
- Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn. The traditional introduction to mindfulness that influenced Huberman’s considering, in accordance with his routine and guide compilations. Kabat-Zinn created the MBSR (Mindfulness-Based mostly Stress Discount) program that Huberman usually references. The guide’s strategies for bringing mindfulness into on a regular basis actions align with Huberman’s sensible method to psychological well being.
- Trauma: The Invisible Epidemic by Dr. Paul Conti. Earned Huberman’s robust endorsement as an “necessary” work. He tweeted “Wonderful and necessary guide” about it and hosted Conti for one among his strongest episodes. The guide gives a framework for understanding how trauma impacts the mind and physique. Important studying for Huberman’s “psychological well being is well being” philosophy.
- Play It Away by Charlie Hoehn. Acquired Huberman’s enthusiastic “incredible” ranking for its easy message: play isn’t a luxurious, it’s medication for anxiousness. The guide tells how a burned-out workaholic cured his anxiousness by reintroducing enjoyable into his life. When Huberman talks concerning the significance of “non-time” or real leisure, he’s echoing Hoehn’s discoveries.
Relationships and Communication
As a result of optimizing your life means nothing in the event you can’t join with different people. These books assist decode the social aspect of being human.
- By no means Break up the Distinction by Chris Voss. Huberman’s high advice for communication abilities. This former FBI negotiator’s strategies (like tactical empathy and calibrated questions) apply to all the things from wage negotiations to toddler tantrums. Huberman values the way it teaches you to know the feelings behind what individuals say.
- Affect: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini. Supplies the psychological ideas Huberman references when discussing how we’re manipulated by advertising and social media. Whereas not explicitly on his studying lists, Huberman had Cialdini on the podcast and clearly respects his work on why individuals say sure.
- Can Love Final? by Stephen A. Mitchell. Fascinated Huberman sufficient that he mentioned it on Lex Fridman’s podcast. The guide’s counterintuitive message? Lengthy-term romantic love requires embracing uncertainty and danger, not searching for consolation and safety. Huberman discovered this psychoanalytic perspective on sustaining ardour genuinely thought-provoking.
True Tales and Inspirational Memoirs
Typically the perfect classes come wrapped in an excellent story. These narrative books left lasting impressions on Huberman and present his pursuits lengthen far past the lab.
- On the Transfer by Oliver Sacks. Remodeled Huberman’s worldview and “impacts [his] considering & habits each day.” Sacks was a legendary neurologist who wrote with unimaginable humanity about his sufferers and his personal adventurous life. For Huberman, Sacks represents the best scientist: rigorous but empathetic, interested in all the things, absolutely engaged with life outdoors the lab.
- Longitude by Dava Sobel. The guide Huberman recommends when individuals ask what emotionally moved him and adjusted his worldview. It tells how John Harrison, an 18th-century clockmaker, solved the “inconceivable” drawback of calculating longitude at sea. Huberman says it completely modified how he sees the world. He appreciates how one particular person’s obsessive dedication can actually save lives.
- An Immense World by Ed Yong. Will “have you ever ‘wow’-ing,” in accordance with Huberman. The Pulitzer winner explores how completely different animals understand actuality, from how bees see ultraviolet patterns to how elephants “hear” by their ft. For somebody who studied shark brains early in his profession, this guide clearly feeds Huberman’s fascination with sensory biology.
- American Kingpin by Nick Bilton. Acquired Huberman’s enthusiastic “This one is so good!” endorsement. The true story of the Silk Street darkish internet market and its creator Ross Ulbricht reads like a thriller. Huberman carefully adopted the case since Ulbricht was caught close to the place he lived in San Francisco. Typically even neuroscientists want a page-turning crime story.
- The Inventive Act by Rick Rubin. Made Huberman’s private “remodeled my worldview” listing. After internet hosting the legendary producer on his podcast, Huberman grew to become an evangelist for Rubin’s philosophy that creativity isn’t only for artists. It’s a approach of being out there to everybody. The dialog would profit “everybody – musician, artist, scientist, trainer, father or mother,” in accordance with Huberman.
The Backside Line
Huberman’s studying listing, you see a transparent sample. He gravitates towards books that mix rigorous science with sensible utility. Whether or not it’s understanding your dopamine system, optimizing your sleep, or discovering your life’s function, every guide affords instruments you’ll be able to really use.
These aren’t simply books Huberman name-drops for credibility. They’ve genuinely formed his considering and present up continually in his recommendation. From Goggins’s psychological toughness to Walker’s sleep science, from Attia’s longevity protocols to Sacks’s humanistic method to neuroscience, every guide provides one other layer to the Huberman philosophy.
The fantastic thing about this listing is its vary. You possibly can begin with a page-turning memoir like Discovering Extremely, dive deep into neuroscience with Behave, or utterly rethink your respiration with Nestor’s Breath. Every class feeds into the others. Higher sleep improves focus, which helps productiveness, which reduces stress, which improves relationships. It’s all linked, identical to Huberman at all times says.
So decide a class that speaks to you, seize a guide, and bear in mind Huberman’s fixed reminder: data is highly effective, however utilized data is transformative. These books aren’t meant to simply fill your cabinets. They’re meant to vary your life.
Completely satisfied studying. And sure, you must most likely view some morning daylight whilst you do it.
Sources: These suggestions had been compiled from Huberman’s social media posts, podcast conversations, and curated lists the place he explicitly talked about or endorsed these books. Every advice comes straight from Huberman himself, making certain you’re getting his genuine tackle what’s value studying.
