Dr. Layne Norton: Tools for Nutrition & Fitness

In this episode, my guest is Dr. Layne Norton, Ph.D., one of the world’s top experts in nutrition and training for physical fitness. We discuss how to evaluate scientific evidence and the validity of different practices aimed at achieving fat loss, muscle strength and hypertrophy, microbiome health, vitality, and longevity.

We explore many hotly debated topics, including fasting, seed oils, saturated fats, sugar, red meat, artificial/low-calorie sweeteners, and GLP-1 agonists (e.g., Ozempic). Additionally, we delve into the timing of protein and carbohydrate intake relative to fasting and exercise, fat loss and sleep, and the benefits of dietary protein and fiber on overall health.

We also discuss how to accelerate hypertrophy and fat loss, improve strength, whether we need to train to “failure,” how to enhance exercise recovery, and how to manage pain. We cover training before versus after age 50, whether metabolism changes with age, and the connection between muscle health and longevity. We also address why certain behaviors and supplements might work for some people but not others.

Listeners to this episode will benefit greatly from Layne’s science-based expertise on a wide range of topics, including health, nutrition, and fitness.

Articles

• Systematic review with meta-analysis of the epidemiological evidence in the 1900s relating smoking to lung cancer (BMC Cancer)
• Obesity Energetics: Body Weight Regulation and the Effects of Diet Composition (Gastroenterology)
• Latency and duration of stimulation of human muscle protein synthesis during continuous infusion of amino acids (Journal of Physiology)
• The anabolic response to protein ingestion during recovery from exercise has no upper limit in magnitude and duration in vivo in humans (Cell Reports Medicine)
• Time-restricted feeding in young men performing resistance training: A randomized controlled trial (European Journal of Sport Science)
• A randomized controlled trial to isolate the effects of fasting and energy restriction on weight loss and metabolic health in lean adults (Science Translational Medicine)
• Ingested protein dose response of muscle and albumin protein synthesis after resistance exercise in young men (The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition)
• Effect of Isocaloric, Time-Restricted Eating on Body Weight in Adults With Obesity: A Randomized Controlled Trial (Annals of Internal Medicine)
• Sleep duration and musculoskeletal injury incidence in physically active men and women: A study of U.S. Army Special Operation Forces soldiers (Sleep Health)
• Effects of resistance exercise training on depressive symptoms among young adults: A randomized controlled trial (Psychiatry Research)
• Psychological effect of acute creatine pre-workout supplementation induces performance improvement in resistance exercise (Research in Sports Medicine)
• Belief That Caffeine Ingestion Improves Performance in a 6-Minute Time Trial Test without Affecting Pacing Strategy (Nutrients)
• Exploring the Dose-Response Relationship Between Estimated Resistance Training Proximity to Failure, Strength Gain, and Muscle Hypertrophy: A Series of Meta-Regressions (SportRxiv)
• Effect of Repetition Duration During Resistance Training on Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (Sports Medicine)
• Association Between Push-up Exercise Capacity and Future Cardiovascular Events Among Active Adult Men (JAMA Network Open)
• Dietary Protein and Exercise Have Additive Effects on Body Composition during Weight Loss in Adult Women (The Journal of Nutrition)
• Daily energy expenditure through the human life course (Science)
• Ultra-Processed Diets Cause Excess Calorie Intake and Weight Gain: An Inpatient Randomized Controlled Trial of Ad Libitum Food Intake (Cell Metabolism)
• The role of texture in the palatability and food oral processing (Food Hydrocolloids)
• Metabolic and behavioral effects of a high-sucrose diet during weight loss (The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition)
• Saturated Fat Is More Metabolically Harmful for the Human Liver Than Unsaturated Fat or Simple Sugars (Diabetes Care)
• Co-consumption of Vegetables and Fruit, Whole Grains, and Fiber Reduces the Cancer Risk of Red and Processed Meat in a Large Prospective Cohort of Adults from Alberta’s Tomorrow Project (Nutrients)
• Short-Term Consumption of Sucralose with, but Not without, Carbohydrate Impairs Neural and Metabolic Sensitivity to Sugar in Humans (Cell Metabolism)
• Acute glycemic and insulinemic effects of low-energy sweeteners: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition)
• Ten-Week Sucralose Consumption Induces Gut Dysbiosis and Altered Glucose and Insulin Levels in Healthy Young Adults (Microorganisms)
• Artificial sweeteners and cancer risk: Results from the NutriNet-Santé population-based cohort study (PLoS Medicine)
• Collagen Protein Ingestion during Recovery from Exercise Does Not Increase Muscle Connective Protein Synthesis Rates (Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise)
• The impact of collagen protein ingestion on musculoskeletal connective tissue remodeling: a narrative review (Nutrition Reviews)

Other Resources

• Eat poop to lose fat (X)
• What do I think of Ozempic and new weight loss drugs? (Instagram)
• Stop comparing food to hard drugs (Instagram)
• Twinkie diet helps nutrition professor lose 27 pounds (CNN)
• Carbon App
• Data Driven Strength
• Consensus

Huberman Lab Episodes Mentioned

• Dr. Sean Mackey: Tools to Reduce & Manage Pain
• Dr. Layne Norton: The Science of Eating for Health, Fat Loss & Lean Muscle
• How to Improve Skin Health & Appearance

People Mentioned

• Donald Layman: Professor of Human Nutrition, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
• Steven Bartlett: Podcaster
• Thomas Sowell: Economist, Author
• Satchin Panda: Professor of Biology, Salk Institute for Biological Studies
• Gabrielle Lyon: Physician, Trained in Geriatrics & Nutrition
• Sean Mackey: Pain Physician and Scientist, Stanford School of Medicine
• Peter Attia: Physician, Focused on Longevity Science
• Matt Gary: US Powerlifting Coach
• Ben Esgro: Sports Nutrition, Coach
• Ben Carpenter: Fitness Trainer
• Mary Claire Haver: OB/GYN, Focused on Perimenopause & Menopause
• Zack Robinson: Powerlifting Coach, Researcher
• Ronnie Coleman: Bodybuilder
• Phil Health: Bodybuilder
• Jesus Olivares: Powerlifter
• David Goggins: Ultra-marathoner, Author
• Mike Mentzer: Bodybuilder
• Ethan Suplee: Actor
• Manabu Nakamura: Professor of Nutrition, University of Illinois
• Mark Haub: Professor of Nutrition, Kansas State University
• Luc van Loon: Professor of Exercise & Nutrition, Maastricht University