How To Properly Run Self-Experiments to Optimize Your Health.

And n=1 experiments I'll be running in 2026.

While bro science has preached it for years, it seems like self-experimentation is picking up more steam in 2026, and for good reason.

It’s generally useful to use empirical evidence to guide health decisions, but self-experiments allow you to find what works for your physiology, WHICH IS THE WHOLE POINT.

It forces you to stop outsourcing your thinking. You stop doing things because “Huberman said it’s good for me” and start engaging critically with your behaviors, building body awareness, and weeding through the BS yourself.

You start acting less like a mindless consumer and more like a sovereign scientist.

Don’t believe circadian rhythm is the foundation of health? Excellent. TRY IT and see for yourself.

And for those who say n=1 isn’t “good science,” that couldn’t be further from the truth. Self-testing done right is controlled, thoughtful, and tracked. Chris Masterjohn just posted a great conversation on this.

That said, here’s how you can successfully run your own n=1 experiments to optimize your health and performance.

An old n=1 from back in 2021, tracked with Oura. Left side was a strict cyclical keto diet, the “gold standard” at the time. Right side is high carb, low fat, low-moderate protein, which showed improvements across the board (RHR, HRV, body temp…)