How to Enhance Your Immune System | Dr. Roger Seheult

Andrew Huberman and Dr. Roger Seheult discuss how to avoid and recover from colds, flu and other viral infections using the 'NEW START' framework (nutrition, exercise, water, sunlight, temperance, air, rest, trust). A major focus is the underappreciated role of infrared and red light from the sun, which penetrates skin and clothing to boost mitochondrial function and intracellular melatonin. They cover hydrotherapy and fever as ways to drive interferon, the science behind the seasonal flu, the flu shot debate, supplements like NAC and zinc, the damage caused by modern LED lighting and dark days/bright nights, long COVID, mold, and the role of faith and gratitude in recovery.

• After age 40, mitochondrial ATP output drops by about 70%, and mitochondrial dysfunction sits at the root of nearly every chronic disease.
  00:18:13
• Mitochondria make melatonin on-site at concentrations roughly 20x higher than the pineal gland, acting as a potent intracellular antioxidant.
  00:18:45
• In a 20-year Swedish study, women who got lots of sun but smoked had the same mortality as women who avoided sun and didn't smoke.
  00:36:21
• Harvard analysis of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic concluded 'sunlight strongly protects against getting influenza.'
  00:44:37
• Huberman admits he has never gotten a flu shot and is rethinking that stance after the conversation.
  01:28:47
• In the 1918 flu, Adventist sanitariums using hydrotherapy and sunlight had one-sixth the rate of progression to pneumonia versus Army hospitals.
  01:51:09
• A 1927 Nobel Prize went to Wagner-Jauregg for curing neurosyphilis by deliberately inducing fevers with malaria.
  01:56:45
• A long-COVID patient's shortness of breath dropped from 8/10 to 3/10 after intermittent fasting (no food after 5:30pm) plus sun exposure.
  02:57:28

• About 52% of the sun's energy is infrared, and a single low-energy infrared photon can scatter up to 8 cm deep into the body.
  00:13:34
• Leaves and grass strongly reflect infrared light, so green spaces deliver several times more infrared than open sun.
  00:28:34
• Planting 8,000+ mature trees in a 4-square-mile Louisville area cut residents' inflammation marker (hsCRP) by ~13%, similar to exercising three times a week.
  00:30:38
• A randomized trial in Brazil used 15 minutes/day of 940nm infrared light for 7 days to get COVID patients out of hospital faster (12 days vs 8 days).
  00:51:15
• Americans spend about 93% of their time indoors, 86% inside buildings and 6-7% inside vehicles.
  00:53:53
• The eye's rods can detect a single photon, and just 15 seconds of artificial light at night can significantly suppress melatonin.
  01:24:38
• Raising lymphocyte temperature to 39°C (102.2°F) produced a 10-fold increase in interferon secretion in vitro.
  01:50:06
• A double-blind trial found 600mg NAC twice daily didn't reduce flu infections but dramatically cut symptoms (runny nose, sore throat), roughly 78% to 28%.
  02:21:48
• Cold exposure causes vasoconstriction that 'demarginates' white blood cells, knocking them into circulation as part of the innate immune response.
  02:01:29
• Japanese 'forest bathing' research shows tree-emitted phytoncides boost innate immune cells, with effects lasting about seven days.
  02:37:18