Speaker: [00:00:00] Scientists at La Fon Laboratories were exploring treatments for sleep disorders [00:00:05] like narcolepsy when they noticed something remarkable with a compound they were testing. And this is the [00:00:10] 70s, so we didn't understand biochemistry the way we do now. They figured out this stuff just enhanced mental clarity, [00:00:15] alertness, and concentration.
It was called the Real Life Limitless Pill. It just works to selectively promote [00:00:20] alertness without overstimulating you. Another study, this one in 2015, shows it [00:00:25] maintains alertness circuits without the crash seen in stimulants. So let's talk about why [00:00:30] this might be something to consider working with your doctor or source of prescription medications [00:00:35] that may or may not be a doctor.
You're [00:00:40] Asprey.[00:00:45]
There are days when your brain just clicks. When thoughts come fast, memories [00:00:50] sharp, your decisions just feel easy. But most of us wait for those days to happen by [00:00:55] chance. What if you didn't have to? What if you could just dial that up? Imagine [00:01:00] a pill that gives you 12 hours of calm, crystal clear focus. No [00:01:05] jitters, no crash, no addictive spiral.
A pill used by fighter pilots on combat [00:01:10] missions, pulled from the toolkit of presidents, founders, creatives, and elite thinkers who can't [00:01:15] afford to have an off day. This isn't a sales pitch. It's a deep dive into something I've [00:01:20] used personally. every day for 20 years. Modafinil isn't like [00:01:25] caffeine. It doesn't stimulate.
It activates. It flips on your brain's [00:01:30] natural wakefulness circuits. It enhances mitochondrial function, and it helps you lock in for [00:01:35] deep work without the rollercoaster. In this episode, I'm taking you through the science, the myths, the [00:01:40] hacks, and the future. We'll cover how it works, what it does to your neurotransmitters [00:01:45] and cells and how I use it personally, and what to stack with it if you really [00:01:50] want to upgrade.
No fluff, no pharma worship, just the real playbook, [00:01:55] including the risks. Welcome to the mind of modafinil. Before we dive in, [00:02:00] understand modafinil is a prescription drug and I am not a doctor and I'm certainly not your [00:02:05] doctor. And the tradition in videos like this is to warn you to always talk to a qualified [00:02:10] medical professional first.
Even if that medical professional, while qualified, has [00:02:15] never used, studied, or prescribed modafinil. You definitely need to check with them for your own [00:02:20] safety.
Modafinil, as a nootropic, is near and dear to my heart. [00:02:25] And there's a good reason for that. It's because I was failing out of Wharton [00:02:30] Business School when I discovered it. It was an off label drug that was mostly used [00:02:35] for narcolepsy, but some people were using it for ADHD and cognitive enhancement. This was in the [00:02:40] late 90s.
The psychiatrist who had not yet seen my brain scan showing that I actually had [00:02:45] damage from mold toxins gave me some Adderall, thinking, Tech Bro wants Adderall. I hate Adderall. [00:02:50] I could focus in class, but it made me want to go home and curl into a ball and [00:02:55] have no one touch me in darkness. It was not a good drug for me.
In fact, it's not a good drug for [00:03:00] almost anyone, although I'm sure there's a few cases where it is. Modafinil, What? It's [00:03:05] for narcolepsy? It's not even a stimulant? What's it gonna do for cognitive function? Well, you're gonna learn it does a lot for [00:03:10] that. So after seeing my brain scans from Dr. Amon's clinic, the psychiatrist I was working with to figure [00:03:15] out what is going on with my brain, because I'm smart, but it is not working no matter how hard I try, he said, [00:03:20] let's test it.
And I took modafinil for the first time. And [00:03:25] it was like The lights turned on. Colors became more saturated. In fact, [00:03:30] if you've seen Limitless, the movie, if you watch carefully, you'll notice every time that Bradley Cooper [00:03:35] takes that drug, that the colors shift in the spectrum. That's because the producers [00:03:40] had tried modafinil, which is known as the Limitless drug.
One reason it's known as the Limitless [00:03:45] drug It was about 14 years ago, I talked about this online in one of my early blog [00:03:50] posts, teaching people how to make their brains work better. And ABC Nightline came up to [00:03:55] my house on Vancouver Island and filmed for two days with me. Because I was the only executive in Silicon [00:04:00] Valley willing to talk about using this cognitive enhancer without a bag over my head.
It was called the Real Life [00:04:05] Limitless Pill, and now you can still find that episode of Nightline out there right now. In fact, this [00:04:10] is totally funny. It was Dan Harris, the CEO of 10 percent Happier, who was the Nightline [00:04:15] correspondent at my house, and we meditated in my backyard. It was kind of cool. This was before we had a regular practice and [00:04:20] that.
And Modafinil really does something different. [00:04:25] I had some other things that happened. Everyone around me [00:04:30] Okay, not really. My brain worked so well and so [00:04:35] fast that it really did feel like everyone else was running in slow motion. If you're a patient [00:04:40] person, this is good. If you're an asshole, It'll make you more of an asshole, more [00:04:45] impatient.
So you're going to have to do your heart rate variability, do your breath work, do your meditation, [00:04:50] your neurofeedback, whatever your practice is, you are going to have a brain that [00:04:55] is really powerful. Think of it like being used to driving a Honda. And then one day someone gives you the [00:05:00] keys. To a Lamborghini Aventador and you press the accelerator and you eat a [00:05:05] pole that almost happened to me once because I had a chance to drive one of those around Napa Valley [00:05:10] and 1200 horsepower.
Yeah, you gotta learn how to drive different your brain, you're gonna have to learn how to drive [00:05:15] different if you're on modafinil and you're doing the other mitochondrial hacks that I that I talk about, it's [00:05:20] that big of a difference. It's also profoundly effective for jet lag. One of [00:05:25] my. Good friends and someone I've worked with for years had never tried it [00:05:30] and had terrible crippling two days of jet lag when he went to Europe.
So he went there with [00:05:35] his wife and his kid and he tried some for the first time and just texted me and said, I can't believe this. I have no [00:05:40] jet lag at all. So it is a really interesting drug. The dosing normally is from [00:05:45] 100 milligrams all the way up to 400 milligrams a day. And I've tried [00:05:50] every dose over the many years I've done it.
What I do every morning is 100 milligrams, and if I'm [00:05:55] traveling overseas, or for some reason I just want an extra boost, I might do another [00:06:00] one at lunchtime, another 100, but that's pretty rare. And [00:06:05] I know a lot of people who will take 25 milligrams or 50 milligrams, lower than normal dose, because that's all [00:06:10] they need to just get their brain fully working and turned on.
I do not look back. At [00:06:15] Modafinil as a crutch, like I said, I've taken it every day since the early aughts, [00:06:20] maybe taken a few days off here and there, but, you know, close enough to every day and, you know, you just get [00:06:25] used to having a high performance brain and I would not have [00:06:30] graduated from Wharton and I certainly wouldn't have started a company that did 750 million in lifetime [00:06:35] revenue while I was running it.
And I wouldn't have Danger Coffee, and 40 Years of Zen, and Upgrade [00:06:40] Labs, and TruDark, and all the other companies I do. And a life if I didn't have a brain [00:06:45] that just could be higher performance than it would if it was a baseline brain. I've also trained the [00:06:50] crap out of it. I do everything. So I'm not saying it's just modafinil.
It's not. But modafinil is a [00:06:55] meaningful contributor to my cognitive function. Here's what you're going to learn today. [00:07:00] So stay with me through to the end for my go to modafinil stack and how I [00:07:05] use it. You're going to learn about the hidden origin story of modafinil, what it [00:07:10] actually does in your brain, and why it's not really a stimulant.
The specific cognitive [00:07:15] upgrades like focus, memory, and mental stamina that are measurable. The anti aging mitochondrial [00:07:20] and non brain benefits that most people don't know about. How to use it. Dosing, timing, and [00:07:25] real world hacks. Who uses modafinil publicly in 2025. [00:07:30] Smart stacks and synergy with other supplements because you can use the [00:07:35] effects of modafinil better if you support your neurochemistry.
Side effects, [00:07:40] tolerance, how to stay in control, and the risk that about five in a [00:07:45] million people could have, same as ibuprofen, that you really need to know about. Like I said, [00:07:50] I'm not paid for this by any pharmaceutical company. This is a [00:07:55] pharmaceutical. Every tool on the planet has benefits and [00:08:00] risks. And I want you to understand what those benefits and risks are so that you can make a starter plan [00:08:05] if you decide that you want to give this a try.
Even if you say, this isn't a daily driver for me, [00:08:10] there are times when you want to have it available. Like if you're going to fall asleep driving, [00:08:15] or when you land after 14 hours of flying. It's a useful, useful [00:08:20] substance.
So what kind of a drug is modafinil if it's not a stimulant? They had [00:08:25] to make up a new kind of pharmaceutical class for this drug. It's [00:08:30] not a stimulant, it's a eugleroic, which means wakefulness producing [00:08:35] or arousal promoting. Unlike normal stimulants like Adderall or [00:08:40] even, my favorite, caffeine. These things flood your brain with dopamine or they're going to spike your [00:08:45] heart rate.
But the modafinil is in it just works to [00:08:50] selectively promote alertness without overstimulating you It's like a [00:08:55] clean ignition switch for your brain and it keeps you awake and focused but you're still calm and [00:09:00] clear and your heart's not pounding and Unfortunately with Adderall you take a [00:09:05] lot of that and if you're flying a fighter jet and you have a machine gun Adderall makes you want to shoot [00:09:10] people.
It's not a great drug so Modafinil is a better choice for that, [00:09:15] clearly, and probably for you. And when I talk about the class of drug, there are [00:09:20] two other types of drug in the class of modafinil. And one of them is called R [00:09:25] modafinil, where they change, it's called the racemic mixture of it. They did this so that they could charge [00:09:30] more.
Some people like that better, I do not like it better. You might want to try it, it's more expensive. [00:09:35] And there's a precursor to modafinil that you probably should stay away from because it's bad for your [00:09:40] liver, but you can get it from research. compounding pharmacies. The precursor to [00:09:45] modafinil that I do not recommend is called a drafenil, and it's called a [00:09:50] prodrug of modafinil, and your liver has to activate it, and it's not legal in [00:09:55] most countries, but it's over the counter in some.
You just don't want that liver stress when you could just take modafinil or armodafinil. [00:10:00] Modafinil is interesting because it doesn't come from [00:10:05] plants. No one went to the jungle and stole this from a tree. And its chemical name [00:10:10] is a huge mouthful that I can probably say. It's 2 diphen [00:10:15] methyl sulfinyl acetamide.
It's a synthetic compound, fully lab [00:10:20] made. And it's why it can activate these pathways that we don't normally see [00:10:25] from natural compounds. The diphenyl group allows it to cross your blood brain [00:10:30] barrier, and the sulfonyl group is a sulfur containing structure, and that plays a [00:10:35] role in its metabolic stability and what it does inside your cells.
And the acetamide [00:10:40] backbone is really common in bioactive materials. So basically it's [00:10:45] drug and it has a very long half life 12 to 15 hours, a very smooth [00:10:50] onset. It's not jarring like espresso and it has a uniquely low potential for [00:10:55] addiction compared to other weightfulness drugs. So yeah, that's really cool.
[00:11:00] Caffeine is more addictive than modafinil. In fact, modafinil is not addictive according to multiple [00:11:05] experts I've spoken to. And yes, there are alarmists who say it's the same as Adderall and it's highly [00:11:10] addictive. They don't know what they're talking about and that's okay. They probably should take some modafinil [00:11:15] and study a bit.[00:11:20]
So how do we figure out that modafinil is real? Well, just like [00:11:25] croissants. Okay, I have to pause for a second here. There are more [00:11:30] people who say croissant than croissant, or however you're supposed to say it. So if you believe in [00:11:35] democracy, French people would have to say croissant, wouldn't they? Unless you don't believe in democracy.[00:11:40]
Just saying. Okay, I have no idea how to speak in French. But anyway, in the late [00:11:45] 1970s, French scientists, who were really good by the way, discovered monophenal Almost by chance, [00:11:50] scientists at La Fon Laboratories were exploring treatments for sleep disorders like [00:11:55] narcolepsy when they noticed something remarkable with a compound they were testing.[00:12:00]
And this is the 70s, so we didn't understand biochemistry the way we do now. They figured out this stuff just [00:12:05] enhanced mental clarity, alertness, and concentration, but they weren't tweaking on it. So early on, [00:12:10] it stayed under the radar. And that's because its predecessor, Adrafinil, did make rounds in [00:12:15] the European medical community.
So, doctors were taking something that made [00:12:20] them cognitively better, but it wasn't something that patients use. But it was [00:12:25] modafinil. When they purified it and made it stronger, the scientists said, this is really powerful. [00:12:30] And for two decades, modafinil was something that you could find in Europe, but you didn't find in the U.
[00:12:35] S. Modafinil became popular in the U. S. during the Gulf War in the early [00:12:40] 90s, because U. S. Air Force pilots started using it for these prolonged, intense combat missions. [00:12:45] And word spread. It wasn't like caffeine or amphetamines, the jitters, anxiety, and [00:12:50] crashes. And plus, if you drink a lot of coffee and you're a pilot, you're gonna have to use your pilot diaper, and that's just not [00:12:55] really a fun thing.
So a pilot stayed sharp, alert, and alert. and steady, even on [00:13:00] very, very long missions, which is really kind of profound. Then in [00:13:05] 1998, the U. S. Department of Preventing You from Having Information or Medical [00:13:10] Freedom, also known as the former FDA, before it became under its new leadership. [00:13:15] Well, they approved it, and that made an official entry into mainstream [00:13:20] medicine.
So this. Sounds like a long time ago, but it's 27 years ago, [00:13:25] and there are many, many people 27 and older on the planet right now, and [00:13:30] I heard about it, and I started taking it in 2001, four years [00:13:35] after it could be prescribed, and it took me a while to find a doctor would even give it to me. Silicon Valley tech founders [00:13:40] like me, CEOs, Wall Street execs, and heads of state started using modafinil, [00:13:45] and They were getting it because they could stay sharp, even poker players.
In fact, [00:13:50] two world series of poker champions that I've worked with, with neurofeedback at 40 years of [00:13:55] Zen were using modafinil. And I'm sure all of them are using it now. Card counters use it all the [00:14:00] time. So people who needed unique mental function, heads of state would be that, if [00:14:05] anyone would, they started using it.
You will find that most [00:14:10] of them. Just incredibly important advancements in human performance [00:14:15] come from military or that golf war stuff or from high pressure, cognitively [00:14:20] demanding, physically demanding situations. So Navy SEALs, professional athletes [00:14:25] and people under high cognitive load like hedge fund managers and heads of state, [00:14:30] people need excessive attention.
That's where we discover all the cool stuff. How[00:14:35]
does modafinil work if it's [00:14:40] not actually a stimulant? Well, It flips a wakefulness switch. It [00:14:45] stimulates neurons in your hypothalamus that release orexin. And some people call it [00:14:50] hypocretin. And this is a powerful neuropeptide that acts like your brain's natural on [00:14:55] button. Orexin keeps you awake, alert, and motivated.
It's what your brain uses to [00:15:00] stabilize wakefulness so you don't drift in and out of sleep all day the way I used to. People with [00:15:05] narcolepsy actually have damaged or missing orexin neurons, kind of like how Parkinson's they have a problem with [00:15:10] dopamine neurons, but if you can't stay awake all day and you're just in that [00:15:15] narcoleptic loop of just drifting off, it's neuron damage.
Modafinil helps you to fire up that system so your [00:15:20] brain stays locked into alertness, but not stress, and high functioning [00:15:25] state without tweaking, and you're not relying on traditional stimulant [00:15:30] pathways like overloading your dopamine system. Orexin itself is a really interesting chemical, [00:15:35] because Orexin, It comes from eating lots of protein, and actually turmeric can [00:15:40] stimulate this, so if you feel much better on a high animal protein diet, like a [00:15:45] lot of people, orexin could be a part of it, but it's nothing like the way you feel on [00:15:50] modafinil.
Modafinil does gently and slightly elevate dopamine. But [00:15:55] not like the addictive stimulants, but enough to help you with motivation and attention. [00:16:00] Probably the worst stimulant for dopamine would be something like cocaine, which you should never use [00:16:05] as a cognitive enhancer. In fact, you probably should never use it at all, even though it's probably fun, [00:16:10] because it's gonna lead to dopamine problems.
[00:16:15] The other thing that modafinil does that is not known by most people, [00:16:20] unless they're neuro nerds, is it increases histamine and norepinephrine. You say, [00:16:25] what? It increases histamine in the brain? I thought histamine was bad. You know, antihistamines, allergies. Well, [00:16:30] histamine is a neurotransmitter. And you actually need some of it.
So it turns out [00:16:35] the combination of histamine and norepinephrine going up makes you more alert and mentally sharp without [00:16:40] anxiety. And you may not have heard of norepinephrine or noradrenaline. And this [00:16:45] is pretty much a sister to adrenaline. And it is critically important for things like [00:16:50] alertness, motivation, and even getting turned on at the beginning of sex.[00:16:55]
And if you like some of the adaptogenic herbs like rhodiola, it has a [00:17:00] major effect on norepinephrine, that's why they work. So you're getting some of that with modafinil. [00:17:05] Modafinil also plays around with the glutamate and GABA balance. Now, glutamate and GABA are [00:17:10] both neurotransmitters, and glutamate boosts learning and memory, unless you have too much of [00:17:15] it, then you kind of short circuit.
And GABA calms your brain. So modafinil is [00:17:20] optimizing that balance. So you have this clear headed calmness and that [00:17:25] we discovered just in 2008. And for those curious, GABA is your primary [00:17:30] inhibitory neurotransmitter. So it's calming the brain and promoting relaxation. So you're not [00:17:35] anxious. So it's kind of interesting.
You're getting a promotion of glutamine, which is like putting your [00:17:40] foot on the accelerators. You have more power available, but it's also chilling things out. Maybe putting [00:17:45] the brakes on a little bit, but it's not a negative thing. It's a beneficial thing. So you have the peace of [00:17:50] GABA and the power of glutamine.
You could think of it. Like modafinil tuning your brain's [00:17:55] engine so that runs smoother and more efficiently and effectively, not just [00:18:00] stomping the pedal to the floor.
So let's talk about specific benefits of modafinil and [00:18:05] why this might be something to consider working with your doctor or source of prescription [00:18:10] medications that may or may not be a doctor. Number one, sharper memory and quicker thinking. [00:18:15] This is a study from 2003, right about the time I started taking it.
It enhances [00:18:20] neurotransmission in your prefrontal cortex that controls memory and fast [00:18:25] thinking, proven in a study looking at brain imaging. And prefrontal cortex [00:18:30] activation is going to make you a better student. It's going to make you more focused. It can make you a calmer [00:18:35] parent even, but it lets you be more in charge of yourself with your thinking, logical brain.
You also get [00:18:40] sustained mental energy and stamina because another study, this one [00:18:45] in 2015, about 10 years ago shows it maintains alertness circuits without the crash [00:18:50] scene in stimulants. So this is better than stimulants. for sustained [00:18:55] mental energy and for stamina. And if you want to do something like card counting in Las [00:19:00] Vegas, this stuff is magic.
It also improves your reaction time and productivity. [00:19:05] This is a study in 2004. Modafinil improves task switching and [00:19:10] multitasking accuracy under stress. So when someone says you [00:19:15] can't task switch, maybe that person hasn't tried Modafinil. It's [00:19:20] still optimal to not task switch unnecessarily, but if you're going to do it, you'll be better at it on [00:19:25] modafinil than without.
You also will see reduced impulsivity and clearer decisions [00:19:30] on modafinil. That's because it helps to stabilize your frontal lobe function, which is [00:19:35] something that, well, by definition, the way the brain works, it reduces impulsivity and it helps [00:19:40] make better decisions when you're tired. So, think of it like the mental [00:19:45] clarity thing.
You would get after a really good workout. You've got lots of blood flow in the [00:19:50] brain. Your heart rate has dropped. You're not tired, but you're just charged up or maybe like [00:19:55] the way you feel after you get out of a cold plunge when you get some of the endorphins going but [00:20:00] without your heart racing and your brain is just there.
And when you want [00:20:05] to tap into it, it's just like driving a high performance car. I used to have [00:20:10] this 1969 Pontiac convertible 20 foot boat. [00:20:15] I bought it as a classic car. Cause it was, it was funny and you'd like move the steering wheel [00:20:20] and three seconds later it would drift over. And then when I was driving [00:20:25] my BMW 550.
You touch the steering wheel and it just goes like it's, it's a [00:20:30] sports car or sports sedan anyway. So the difference in the amount of precision that you [00:20:35] have in your brain, it feels like it goes up on modafinil.[00:20:40]
Okay, here's the part that's going to piss off [00:20:45] people who believe all pharmaceuticals are bad. And this is stuff that you're not going to hear about in the fields [00:20:50] of longevity, even though you probably should. Well, modafinil [00:20:55] enhances mitochondrial energy, direct ATP production in your neurons, [00:21:00] which protects them from oxidative stress and supports the health of your brain.
In fact, I wrote a New [00:21:05] York Times bestselling book, it hit the science bestselling list between homo [00:21:10] deus and sapiens about cognitive function. If you haven't read it, you probably should. It's called Head Strong. And the whole thesis [00:21:15] is Neuroplasticity and more ATP or more electricity in your brain equals [00:21:20] cognitive function and not getting the diseases of aging in your brain.
Wow! [00:21:25] Modafinil, which improves your performance today, makes your brain better at [00:21:30] making ATP? Oh, and neurons have relts in the body too. That's a study from 2012. We've [00:21:35] known this for 13 years, but I don't think this is part of your longevity pharmaceutical stack, but you [00:21:40] might want to make it that. It also has anti inflammatory potential.
These are early studies, but they [00:21:45] show that modafinil can lower inflammation markers specifically in brain cells. [00:21:50] You want less brain inflammation. That 2017 study. Oh, interesting. Modafinil [00:21:55] reduces free radical damage, and it does this by optimizing mitochondrial [00:22:00] function, Which means your neurons can manage reactive oxygen species better, which is [00:22:05] Really, the source cause of neurodegeneration.
There are also theories, ones I think are [00:22:10] likely true, that say modafinil can stabilize mitochondrial membrane [00:22:15] potential, which would make your brain cells, and all other cells actually, more resistant [00:22:20] to environmental and metabolic stressors. A major part of living to at least [00:22:25] 180, the way I am planning to, and I hope you are as well.
In fact, I hope you beat me. We've got to [00:22:30] protect the cells. And it turns out the cell membrane is where all the good stuff happens in your [00:22:35] cells. So if you can improve your membrane potential, it means your cells can make [00:22:40] more energy. And of course, since we already showed that modafinil makes more energy, it really follows that that could be a [00:22:45] mechanism.
And there's something called wakeful repair. All right. So if you promote your wakefulness [00:22:50] via your orexin circuits, it could stimulate glymphatic activity [00:22:55] after you use it. And glymphatic activity is this pump that takes out toxic [00:23:00] proteins that build up in your brain overnight. So this is very recently [00:23:05] discovered, just in the last 10 or 15 or so years.
And I've referenced a couple papers where we [00:23:10] talk about how the glymphatic system is driven by mitochondrial activity in two different papers, so we [00:23:15] know that that's likely to be real. Well, if you can promote [00:23:20] wakefulness via orexin, it could help glymphatic activity because when you [00:23:25] go to sleep, you go to sleep better.
And that could enhance nighttime detox. And you [00:23:30] need to have proper sleep recovery cycles. You have darkness at night, you go to bed early [00:23:35] and do all the right stuff. Control red light exposure with your Trudox, all that stuff like that, if that's gonna work. [00:23:40] So that's like a little asterisk, probably works.
So more awake during the day, more sleep at night. [00:23:45] Makes sense. And bottom line, if you're a biohacker, knowing that you have high [00:23:50] performing healthy mitochondria means that you will age less quickly. That's another win for [00:23:55] modafinil, and one that no one talks about.
As you heard earlier, the clinical standard [00:24:00] is 100 to 200 milligrams in the morning, and possibly doing it [00:24:05] again at lunchtime, and the half life is 12 to 15 hours. And I want to make it really clear. [00:24:10] If you take modafinil, you can still go to sleep. It is wakeful [00:24:15] promoting. You just won't want to, and you'll feel like it's hard, but if you really need to go to sleep, it won't be great sleep, but you can go to [00:24:20] sleep on modafinil.
I've done it plenty of times. So what I do is I wake up in the morning and I take a [00:24:25] hundred milligrams just as part of my standard morning handful of supplements. I do 150 supplements a [00:24:30] day and so it's not a big deal to save money. I get a prescription for 200 [00:24:35] milligram pills and break them in half, which is easy to do.
And I'm not above [00:24:40] taking one of those half pills, breaking it in half again to have 25 milligrams if I wanted to have that at lunch. [00:24:45] I do days where sometimes I will interview seven guests back to back [00:24:50] on this show. These are in person interviews, full cognitive function, under [00:24:55] crappy studio lighting, best I can get, but hey.
How do I do that and stay focused and [00:25:00] attentive and interested? Yeah, modafinil helps. I'm going to take an extra one. I do a bunch of other things too, [00:25:05] that you can stack with modafinil and you probably want to. One of them would be [00:25:10] L theanine, which can calm overstimulation. It smooths your mental edges.
I normally [00:25:15] like to use it at night, but I'll take one in the morning, especially if I'm doing extra coffee along with my [00:25:20] modafinil. You could pair it with CDP choline, which is an [00:25:25] acetylcholine donor that helps with faster thinking. Some people also like alpha GPC, which [00:25:30] is a similar one. I prefer CDP choline or a combination.
Rhodiola rosea [00:25:35] balances out cortisol, supports your mood and focus, and it helps with norepinephrine. The combination is very [00:25:40] powerful. Lion's Mane. Yeah, you can use it. I'm so excited by the [00:25:45] research in lion's mane. The vast majority of it that you find out there does not work at all. It needs to be heat and [00:25:50] alcohol extracted from the fruiting body.
So, sadly, lion's mane in your coffee is not [00:25:55] going to do anything because you're basically getting mushroom sawdust. Um, sad to say. If you [00:26:00] don't feel a noticeable kick from your lion's mane by itself, it's not the lion's mane. It's the caffeine. [00:26:05] Besides, yeah, Mushrooms don't taste good in coffee. We tried that at my coffee shop in LA years ago.
[00:26:10] I just take pills or drops, and then I enjoy my danger coffee. You can also take NAD [00:26:15] plus precursors. Things like Qualia NAD plus, which is what I use. I've been [00:26:20] an advisor to Qualia for a long time, and their NAD product is shown clinically to [00:26:25] raise NAD levels in cells more than in IV, which is why I like it.
You could also try methylene [00:26:30] blue along with your modafinil. They both increase ATP and reduce free [00:26:35] radicals.
So what are the things to pay attention to? Well, some [00:26:40] people get an occasional headache, insomnia, mild nausea. That's, uh, [00:26:45] all pretty unusual. I have seen about 20 percent of people that take it [00:26:50] and nothing happens. And it's probably something with their neural architecture, [00:26:55] orexin, who the heck knows. No one's figured that one out yet.
So it may not work for you, but it probably will. [00:27:00] And there's a rare but very serious and potentially life threatening possibility [00:27:05] with the same actual symptoms and the same risk level as [00:27:10] ibuprofen. So it's not particularly high risk. And it's called Stevens Johnson syndrome. [00:27:15] It's an extremely rare autoimmune skin reaction.
Five out of a million people who [00:27:20] are genetically prone to this can get it from modafinil or from ibuprofen. [00:27:25] I have come across one report online, uh, and a comment on one of my [00:27:30] early blog posts about someone getting this. I'm one in 15 years of talking [00:27:35] openly about modafinil, but it can and does happen.
And if you just do [00:27:40] a quick search, you can figure out which genetics are the cause of it, and whether you have them or not, if [00:27:45] you have any of your genetic scans done. Again, it is exceptionally low risk, [00:27:50] but it is a real thing, and I want to be clear about that. If you were to take, you know, a half dose or a small [00:27:55] dose and you get itchy, stop.
As with all substances like [00:28:00] this, you know, occasional strategic use, Well, they'll tell you it's safest. [00:28:05] That doesn't make any sense. It appears to have longevity benefits. So [00:28:10] occasional use would not be safest. That's choosing to age more quickly than necessary. [00:28:15] So my perspective on this is, I take it most of the time, but like most supplements, pulsing it is [00:28:20] good.
So don't take it on weekends, on chill days. But I've noticed increases in [00:28:25] the power of my brain waves when I'm on it, when I'm doing, you know, [00:28:30] Advanced meditation at 40 years of Zen. We're measuring brainwaves. And I [00:28:35] make more raw power on Modafinil than when I'm not on it. Hmm. [00:28:40] So I would say the safest thing to do is to take Modafinil if it works for [00:28:45] you and you're not experiencing side effects most of the time because you want a brain that works and [00:28:50] you want a brain, those in ages quickly.
However, that is not the majority opinion where, [00:28:55] well, there's a lot of Nancy pansies out there saying, despite the evidence, [00:29:00] more research is needed. You can wait until you die for there to be enough [00:29:05] research, or you could choose to do something about longevity and about mental cognitive function. That's [00:29:10] weird.
What happens when people start biohacking? You start for a specific reason. And pretty soon, you're like, I [00:29:15] want to live a lot longer because I feel so good and I have the energy back. So [00:29:20] then now you're a longevity person. Oh, and I want my brain to work really well. So you become into cognitive enhancement [00:29:25] and you say, I want my body to work.
So then you figure out how to work out and not be fat [00:29:30] and feel good all the time. And then you say, I want to be happier and more conscious. So you become a consciousness [00:29:35] person. Like it's, I designed this movement that way. Choose your on ramp. You're going to [00:29:40] be into consciousness and longevity and you're going to want a brain that works.
When I do my consciousness work with a [00:29:45] computer measuring my brain waves, modafinil helps for most altered states, but not all of them.[00:29:50]
Now let's talk about [00:29:55] sourcing this. This is a prescription only drug, Schedule [00:30:00] 4 in the U. S. It is widely prescribed for shift workers, for narcolepsy, [00:30:05] and for people with sleep apnea. It's also widely prescribed off label [00:30:10] for ADHD or attention issues. So if you were to go into your doctor and [00:30:15] you had looked at the specific types of [00:30:20] symptoms of someone who has delayed sleep phase [00:30:25] onset disorder, or shift work, and you talked with your doctor about [00:30:30] that, and they could tick the boxes on their little prescription algorithm to make sure it's the right thing for [00:30:35] you, your doctor probably will write it for you, and your insurance company will cover it.
And if your doctor [00:30:40] says they won't, there are many, many people who go into great market [00:30:45] access with international pharmacies. And this is 100 percent legal. [00:30:50] Because you have a right to import, with a doctor's [00:30:55] prescription, the doctor can be from outside the country, to import 90 days of any prescription [00:31:00] drug that is not specifically listed as something you're not allowed to buy.
So, you can get an [00:31:05] international pharmacy with a doctor's prescription from overseas. Some of them are more strict than [00:31:10] others, some have their own standards. Pharmacist slash doctor working there, and I can't recommend [00:31:15] one specifically, but they're definitely out there. The most common one you'll find overseas is called [00:31:20] Mode Alert, M O D A L E R T, comes out of India.
If you go to Mexico, [00:31:25] India, and most of the world, you go into a pharmacy and say, I'd like some, and they'll just give it to you. You can buy a bunch and bring it home. [00:31:30] There is an alternative that's easier to get as a research chemical here. called [00:31:35] Adrafinil, but don't do that, it is not good for you. And you could also tell your doctor that [00:31:40] you'd like to try R modafinil, which is like modafinil, but newer and fancier, and some people think it [00:31:45] works better, but not me.
Now, I want to share a quick story with you about modafinil. [00:31:50] Years ago, when this was very unknown, I was with three [00:31:55] friends. One of them was in the middle of working on a proposal for the Dalai Lama [00:32:00] foundation. Another one is a clinical hypnotherapist. And another one is [00:32:05] an author of New York times books 20 something years ago.
And. [00:32:10] They somehow procured a hundred milligrams of modafinil each [00:32:15] and went home and took it the next morning. And two days later, I got the most [00:32:20] amazing notifications from these friends. The hypnotherapist had created a whole new kind of [00:32:25] hypnotherapy. The guy doing work for the Dalai Lama Foundation on this proposal rewrote his entire [00:32:30] proposal he'd been working on for six weeks and submitted it and it was [00:32:35] accepted and they did whatever the proposal said.
And. The author [00:32:40] wrote an outline for a new book and said, I've never had my brain work like this. Like, writing is [00:32:45] fluid and effortless. By the way guys, did I mention nine major books, half [00:32:50] of them New York Times bestsellers? There's caffeine, nicotine, and modafinil in my system when I do [00:32:55] those. Nicotine we'll do a different episode on.
I don't smoke, it's bad for you. But in low doses, [00:33:00] nicotine is also something that stacks well with modafinil. But. I [00:33:05] wrote a blog post back when people still read blogs and the headline was why you are [00:33:10] suffering from a modafinil deficiency and people got so mad and I went through the early [00:33:15] research about all this and it was so funny and that's what caused Nightline to give me a [00:33:20] call and to come and film about it, but it was kind of a joke.
It's not a deficiency. [00:33:25] This isn't a natural compound at all. It's just a compound that is worth your time and attention. [00:33:30] In the longevity world, there is a rich history of using [00:33:35] low dose or off label pharmaceutical drugs that can do things that [00:33:40] plants can't do or that lifestyle can't do. For instance, I take low dose [00:33:45] Cialis because it protects your blood flow in the brain.
And people take [00:33:50] Metformin, although I'm not a fan of that, they'll take that for longevity. Or Rapamycin, again, which has been proven not [00:33:55] to work. And many other drugs at small doses can help you with longevity parameters. [00:34:00] Modafinil belongs on that list, both because you feel great the day you take it, but [00:34:05] also because it appears to have protective effects in the brain.
So there you go.[00:34:10]
What else is going to happen in the [00:34:15] future with modafinil? Well, there are trials right now, early stage trials [00:34:20] exploring modafinil for neuroprotective effects, especially in slowing memory [00:34:25] loss and preserving executive function in Alzheimer's and cognitive decline. Remember, I wrote a [00:34:30] major science book on enhancing brain function that had the theory that this would [00:34:35] work, and we're doing the trials on it right now.
There are also new analogs coming out. Thank you, AI. It [00:34:40] makes analog production so much easier. Researchers are developing nasal sprays, some bleachable tabs, [00:34:45] and even skin patches so that you can control the pharmacokinetics. And there are [00:34:50] combination therapy trials where people are studying how modafinil stacks with BDNF promoting [00:34:55] compounds.
Remember, my major theory about cognitive function is BDNF for plasticity plus [00:35:00] mitochondrial function for energy. Get the two together, IQ can go up, [00:35:05] clarity goes up, focus goes up, emotional regulation goes up. Like this is, this is what I did to my own brain to let me do [00:35:10] all this stuff, along with a lot of training for efficiency, which comes out of neurofeedback in 40 years [00:35:15] of ZEN.
But these trials about BDNF and maybe even [00:35:20] psychedelics like microdosed LSD and NAD they're stacking them to say, well, what happens [00:35:25] when you have the, the massive boost from modafinil and these other compounds? I [00:35:30] will say. I don't think it's a great idea to stack modafinil [00:35:35] with psychedelics until we know a little bit more.
Uh, and my experience with that hasn't been [00:35:40] positive or negative, but I think sometimes coffee is better stacked. At [00:35:45] least we know what that does all the way. There are also new trials expanding beyond just [00:35:50] narcolepsy and specifically for long COVID for chronic fatigue syndrome [00:35:55] and for MS related fatigue, it seems to have great [00:36:00] benefits.
Now, if you know my story, I had fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome in my late 20s and [00:36:05] early 30s when I started taking modafinil. I have seen big improvements. People, friends who [00:36:10] have for years struggled with crippling tiredness from chronic [00:36:15] fatigue and now along COVID and they take one 100 milligram tab of [00:36:20] modafinil and literally tears in their eyes because they feel like themselves again.
It's like you set down [00:36:25] the chains that you were carrying around with your brain all the time. It can be profoundly life [00:36:30] changing if you're dealing with fatigue and exhaustion. If you've been a healthy biohacker your whole life, you are [00:36:35] incredibly blessed as a 300 pound chronic fatigue guy. with that crippling brain fog.[00:36:40]
I don't want anyone to go through that. It's one of the reasons I, I record the show. There's some other things going on [00:36:45] in research with modafinil. That's really cool. They're figuring out that it may help [00:36:50] calm inflammation by lowering something called inflammatory cytokines, [00:36:55] specifically TNF alpha and IL 6 or interleukin 6.
Now, [00:37:00] I wrote a well researched blog post about [00:37:05] four weeks into the pandemic about all the compounds that could lower IL 6 because interleukin [00:37:10] 6 is what's causing the cytokine storm that is a major problem with any [00:37:15] viral illness. And I propose that you might want to take some of these things just to be protective in case you got them.
[00:37:20] Uh, I did get a warning letter and, uh, they reduced my reach. [00:37:25] Uh, the warning letter is today. It was from factcheck. org, I believe. But I, I have that on [00:37:30] my wall of trophies because yes, that's winning when they tell you to shut up when you say something true. [00:37:35] So if modafinil can lower IL 6, which it is in these early trials, that would be really, [00:37:40] really helpful if you have brain inflammation.
It also looks like modafinil can ease chronic pain [00:37:45] by raising your pain tolerance, especially for nerve related pain or fibromyalgia, which I used to [00:37:50] have. Oh, and when you're sick, it fights fatigue. So they test [00:37:55] people to exhaustion when they have MS, Parkinson's, cancer, and even post stroke. [00:38:00] And when they have modafinil, they don't get exhausted as quickly.
They're [00:38:05] finding in newer studies that there is slight appetite suppression and an increase in [00:38:10] calorie burn. And so they're now looking at modafinil for what it might do to blood sugar [00:38:15] regulation, but we don't have the data yet. Modafinil can also help to fix your sleep cycles. If [00:38:20] you're a flight attendant, a pilot, or a shift worker, or just someone who's burned out, [00:38:25] it's really hard to get back into a normal rhythm, but modafinil can help you [00:38:30] rebalance your brain signals for sleep and, and waking.
And from personal experience, [00:38:35] I was, uh, go to bed at 2 a. m. every night since I was a 10 years old guy, reliably, 2. 02 a. [00:38:40] m. I could not go to bed before that to save my life. Till I was in my, mmm, say about early [00:38:45] 40s, and I finally figured out, yeah, modafinil first thing in the morning, coffee first thing in the morning, [00:38:50] for a mild and healthy cortisol increase, that should happen when you wake up, and then [00:38:55] controlling light in the evening with the two dark glasses that I invented about a dozen years [00:39:00] ago, the red ones.
And That combination allowed me to reset [00:39:05] my circadian window where I go to bed at 10 or 1030 and it's effortless and I [00:39:10] get tired like a normal healthy human. I wish I'd had that when I was 20. And modafinil helps with [00:39:15] orexin in the morning where it belongs. Newer research on modafinil shows that it may [00:39:20] support stress recovery like a pharmaceutical adaptogen would.
By interacting [00:39:25] with your HPA axis, which means some people feel more resilient under pressure. So [00:39:30] this is some cool stuff.
Now let's compare modafinil to something like [00:39:35] other stimulants. So there's caffeine. And yes, I am a longtime caffeine fan. That is caffeine on my bicep. [00:39:40] And caffeine is shorter acting. It isn't necessarily jittery, [00:39:45] but if you're drinking moldy coffee, it certainly will be. And caffeine is provably addictive.
It takes three days to [00:39:50] wash it out of your system. You might get headaches for a couple of days. It's pretty easy to do it. Not highly addictive. [00:39:55] There's also Adderall. It is a much stronger dopamine effect. Therefore it is [00:40:00] substantially addictive and people crash from it. And it makes you like want to choke people.
[00:40:05] It's not a good thing. Ritalin pretty much same as Adderall, but as a shorter half life. And [00:40:10] then. There's another class of cognitive enhancers, and let me know in the comments, I'll do a whole episode [00:40:15] on these, called the racetam family. I take some of [00:40:20] those every morning. It's a big family. Uh, you might have heard of Nupept, which is a newer one, or [00:40:25] aniracetam, which I've talked about for many years.
These are much less stimulating, and they're more [00:40:30] memory focused. They're also neuroprotective, so you can take those with it, but they don't have the same effect. [00:40:35] You can think of it like this. If Adderall is a jackhammer for your brain, modafinil [00:40:40] is a laser scalpel.
So who shouldn't use modafinil? If you have heart [00:40:45] arrhythmia, severe anxiety, or history of mania, the psychiatrists [00:40:50] and the medical regulators say you ought not to do it, and that makes good sense to me. [00:40:55] Although if your severe anxiety is related to fibromyalgia, there might be an asterisk for you. That really is work with your [00:41:00] doctor.
If you're chronically sleep deprived, the way most tech execs are, and certainly [00:41:05] the way I used to be, you might want to fix that first. If you use modafinil [00:41:10] to just sleep less for years, you will not like what that does to your aging. But if [00:41:15] you needed to get that paper out the door for your final exams or for your IPO [00:41:20] roadshow, yes, modafinil is a sleep substitute.
Do it for a couple days, get four hours of [00:41:25] sleep, kick some ass, but then catch up and don't do it regularly.
Modafinil, it doesn't work in [00:41:30] isolation. It amplifies the system that you put it in. All the definition of [00:41:35] biohacking when I first wrote it was revolutionary about that, that made it take flight, was [00:41:40] it's the art and science of changing the environment around you and inside of you. So you have control [00:41:45] of your state, control of your biology.
So Modafinil is part of that system. [00:41:50] So here's some things that you might want to stack with it. Cold exposure with Modafinil, [00:41:55] is like neurochemical rocket fuel. I like to do the upgrade labs cryotherapy. Now that we [00:42:00] have one in Austin and by the way, guys, upgrade labs, you go to own and upgrade labs. [00:42:05] com and you can actually become a business partner with me and open your own biohacking franchise in [00:42:10] your neighborhood for longevity with AI.
It's cool. And while we don't provide [00:42:15] modafinil there, cause it's non medical, but if you're on modafinil and you go in and do some cryotherapy or do a cold plunge in [00:42:20] your backyard, You'll feel a difference because it amplifies dopamine and norepinephrine on [00:42:25] top of what happens with modafinil. Let's make up a name for that.
Let's call it instant Jedi [00:42:30] mode. Take a modafinil, wait 20 minutes, and then hit a cold plunge or cryotherapy. [00:42:35] You can also use modafinil when you're in a fasted state. Call it ultra clean [00:42:40] brain fuel. Because when you're fasted or in ketosis, your brain is already burning ketones [00:42:45] for cleaner fuel.
Modafinil on top of that is like this razor sharp clarity. When [00:42:50] you really want to just go deep on something. You can also pair Modafinil [00:42:55] with red and infrared light therapy. We have the giant bed at Upgrade Labs. There are lots of home [00:43:00] devices. I started TrueLight, one of the first companies that did that years ago.
[00:43:05] And. The idea there is that red and infrared in combination will enhance mitochondrial [00:43:10] ATP and circadian rhythm anchoring. And since modafinil is helping [00:43:15] with ATP production, you're getting one positive effect on top of another. Something else [00:43:20] that I haven't seen written about, but that I really think helps, Is get yourself a [00:43:25] pair of high quality noise cancelling headphones, actually like the earbuds that cancel, but I had to buy these [00:43:30] for an airplane and put those on so single tasking [00:43:35] apps, a distraction free workspace, Modafinil helps you lock in and just [00:43:40] having no distractions, you might do two weeks worth of work in four hours on [00:43:45] Modafinil.
You should track your heart rate variability in your sleep because modafinil does extend [00:43:50] wakefulness. So don't take it in the late afternoon unless you're going to pull an all nighter. Yes, I will use modafinil at [00:43:55] Burning Man multiple times. Uh, but the rest of the time, don't really do that. Make sure you're recovering [00:44:00] fully or take a day off.
Movement breaks really help to keep your brain plasticity high when it's [00:44:05] amplified. And if you do those types of things, don't do all of them. I'm going to give you everything. Just pick a [00:44:10] couple and it'll be better than not doing them.
Here's How you would want to go about [00:44:15] starting with modafinil. So number one, you got to get a prescription for it [00:44:20] or find a way to source it legally. And you pick a low pressure [00:44:25] morning, like a Saturday morning. You're not going to run a marathon or something and take just a half [00:44:30] dose, 50 milligrams again with your doctor's support and track mood, [00:44:35] focus and side effects.
Like, did it make a difference? Next session, try a hundred on the [00:44:40] next day, but maybe do that on a deep work day when you know it worked for you at lower doses [00:44:45] and maybe even separate it out from the effects of caffeine. Although if you do caffeine every day, you'll still probably want to do some, but just [00:44:50] don't go heavy on the caffeine and you can try adding rhodiola and L theanine [00:44:55] and you can stop taking it by noon.
So you have [00:45:00] good sleep. Remember if you take it at noon, you're still going to have half of it in your brain at midnight, but [00:45:05] That's okay. It's arousal promoting. It is not a stimulant. You want to rotate it [00:45:10] around? If you start out, do it two or three days per week. And I did that for a long time. I was like, screw this noise.
I [00:45:15] love my brain on this. I'm gonna take it Saturday morning. I'm taking it Sunday morning. I take it all the time, literally every single day, [00:45:20] unless I'm doing something weird and I'm testing something because it's part of my baseline high [00:45:25] performance state, and I like to think I kick ass.
So let's recap this for [00:45:30] you. Modafinil is not a stimulant, it's eugleroic, and it promotes [00:45:35] alertness through orexin and other non jittery pathways. Safe, [00:45:40] strategic use of it can give you calm, sustained focus, where just everyone in the world is [00:45:45] moving a little bit slower than they did before because you feel so fast.
You can microdose [00:45:50] it for light clarity, full dose for Deep work and [00:45:55] focus and showing up on stage and just really being able to bring it effortlessly. You [00:46:00] can stack it with L theanine, rhodiola, omega 3s, and the other substances [00:46:05] in this episode, so you have more calm, more resilience, and long term support in your brain.
[00:46:10] Modafinil helps your mitochondria. It fuels cellular energy, and it can [00:46:15] protect your brain against aging and inflammation in emerging studies. I believe that to be the case. [00:46:20] Environment's everything. If you do a fasting and red light and cold and structured work blocks and [00:46:25] all the other biohacking things that you've learned on the show, you'll get even [00:46:30] better results.
And respect the compound. Use it to elevate already strong [00:46:35] habits, not to mask poor sleep, nutrition, or just burnout. A word about [00:46:40] alcohol. It is metabolized in your liver, and the official warning sheet says [00:46:45] don't take it with alcohol, but I know many people do. It seems to have a mild effect, when I do [00:46:50] the research on the effects, it doesn't have a strong liver effect, but they tell you not to do it.
You [00:46:55] shouldn't be drinking. at night if you are into longevity or [00:47:00] high cognitive performance anyway. So I would say if you're going to go out drinking that night, maybe skip the [00:47:05] modafinil that day. But I know a lot of people do it and it doesn't seem like it's changing their liver markers, but [00:47:10] just be a little careful on that one.
So that's it for today's deep dive on modafinil. [00:47:15] If you learned something new or this episode got your gears turning, Well, they're turning too [00:47:20] slow unless you're already on modafinil. Drop me a comment and share this episode with someone [00:47:25] who needs more clarity, more alertness, or more effortlessness in their life.
And [00:47:30] remember to subscribe so you can get more upgrades like this. You may not ever see something from me again if you're not [00:47:35] subscribed. See you next time. See you next time on the Human Upgrade [00:47:40] Podcast.