The only thing worse than Homeopathy?

Scientists on the internet without any knowledge on clinical medical practice, selling supplements that they endorse, using misinformation masquerading as “solid peer reviewed science.”

Check this video out, when Huberman bullshits everyone in just half a minute on the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast.

Before I go on, please remember this
The Bullshit Asymmetry Principle, also known as Brandolini’s Law, states that the amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than that needed to produce it. Which means, I have to put extra effort just to debunk the 36 seconds of that podcast.

First, a little about sleep disorders
Sleep disorders are of different types and due to different causes.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK56072…
The diagnosis is simply not “I can’t sleep” and so here, take this sleep cocktail. Many patients come with sleep disorders that are associated with other conditions.

For example, cirrhosis patients have sleep disorders that require management with ammonia lowering therapies and severe cases can only be reversed with a liver transplant. Patients with alcohol use disorders have sleep disorders that require management with de-addiction therapies along with sedatives. Sleep disorders in the ICU set up has different causes. People with mental health disorders have associated sleep disorders. Certain sleep disorders have no identifiable causes and are called “idiopathic.”

Which means, coming on a podcast and blindly giving out a “sleep cocktail” to millions of viewers, who may be suffering from a sleep disorder which has an as yet unidentified cause, is one of the most foolish things one can do. And Huberman, not being an actual clinical doctor, makes that exact mistake.

Huberman claims (very generally and casually), melatonin helps you to go to sleep, but does not maintain sleep. But “solid peer reviewed” studies have much more to say about melatonin.

Melatonin improved sleep onset latency and total sleep time in children/adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders. Melatonin also improved and sleep onset latency and total sleep time in adults with delayed sleep phase disorder.
sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

Treatment with melatonin has positive effects on sleep quality in adults with respiratory diseases, metabolic disorders, primary sleep disorders, not with mental disorders, neurodegenerative diseases and other diseases.
link.springer.com/article/10.100…

This meta-analysis demonstrated that melatonin decreases sleep onset latency, increases total sleep time and improves overall sleep quality.
journals.plos.org/plosone/articl…

Another large meta-analysis showed that melatonin dosing and timing matters: for circadian phase advancement, an earlier time and smaller dose, but for sleep quality/consolidation a larger and later dose seemed appropriate.
See here: nature.com/articles/s4138…

So melatonin does increase total sleep time, total sleep quality and reduces time to sleep and has beneficial effects in specific groups of patients.

Now the “solid peer reviewed studies” on the cocktail – which Huberman claims on three supplements – magnesium threonate, apigenin and L-theanine. Unfortunately, such “solid peer-reviewed papers” DO NOT EXIST. Lets see.

Magnesium supplements:
First of all, there is no conclusive evidence that magnesium, dietary or supplemented has any actual effect on sleep. Randomized clinical trials showed an uncertain association between magnesium supplementation and sleep disorders.
See here: link.springer.com/article/10.100…

Forget sleep, magnesium has absolutely no evidence for involvement even in mood disorders.
See here: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.go

Forget sleep, magnesium has absolutely no evidence for involvement even in mood disorders.
See here: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29897029/

This review confirms that the quality of literature is substandard for physicians to make well-informed recommendations on usage of oral magnesium for older adults with insomnia.
See here: …plementmedtherapies.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.11…

Apigenin (from Chamomille):
The possible sleep inducing effects of apigenin is still speculative. There are absolutely no solid peer reviewed studies or evidence for benefits of apigenin in sleep as Huberman claims.
See here: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot trial showed that chamomille DID NOT have conclusive effects on sleep.
See here: …plementmedtherapies.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.11…

Even better, a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials and quasi-randomized trials showed that there was very little evidence to show effect of chamomille on insomnia.
See here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pt…

L-theanine supplements:
There is absolutely NO study or data to suggest that L-theanine is useful for sleep induction, improving sleep quality or increasing total sleep time. The only studies that are of “better quality” shows that L-theanine “maybe” useful in reducing anxiety/ stress levels due to caffeine at night.
See here ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P… and here link.springer.com/article/10.100…

The only other “study” on L-theanine which was done on mice and not humans showed effects only on brain related biomarkers and were not applicable in the clinical sense to humans – ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

And coming to SOLID EVIDENCE on the “Huberman cocktail” – there is absolutely nothing in published literature to confirm that it works and there is no convincing mode of action of this cocktail in humans.

A large systematic review and meta-analysis showed that Cognitive-Behavior Therapy for Insomnia was the best and not some random supplements proclaimed on a podcast by half-baked scientists who are full time supplement sellers.
See here:
mdpi.com/2077-0383/9/6/…

There are basic scientists, with no or half-baked clinical practice knowledge, trying to sell you a bunch of useless supplements that they endorse for a paid-commission, using “science-sounding” words without any practical, rational or logical meaning; and push untested and unregulated therapies that are NEVER recommended, approved or promoted by any active, medical, scientific clinical societies worldwide.

They are worse than pseudoscience peddlers.

Be aware of where you find your health information. There is pseudoscience, but then there is also another terrible type of misinformation: BAD SCIENCE.