It all started with my two obsessions: healthy living and my daughter. As a science writer for the Washington Post and Scientific American (and other places - I won’t bore you with my bio here), I was neck deep in research on nutrition, neurobiology and longevity, and test-driving the ideas I was writing about in my own life. Intermittent fasting? Done. Loading on phytonutrients? Done. Exercise for brainpower? Done.
When I became a parent my health obsessions and worries — ah, the worries! — went into overdrive. I was pureeing organic heritage tomatoes and making sure my daughter got all the sunshine she needed (vitamin D!) but not too much (cancer!). I added turmeric into everything she ate, just in case the science on its antioxidant properties were indeed correct. In the meantime, I ran a half-marathon — well, barely, but you get the picture.
And then I came across a meta-analytic study that set me off on a very different path. It showed that being socially integrated — having supportive friends, a romantic partner, knowing your neighbors, etc. — was far more important for health than your BMI, your diet, your exercise routine or alcohol consumption. Giving up a smoking habit came close, but only close.
That got me going through decades of research. I’ve read over 600 scientific studies and interviewed more than 60 scientists. I not only ended up writing "Growing Young: How Friendship, Optimism and Kindness Can Help You Live to 100", but also completely changing my outlook on what matters for health and longevity — and for our society as a whole, too.
It’s about health and longevity…
We are fixating on all the wrong things – miracle diets, miracle foods, miracle supplements etc. We skip gluten and invest in exercise gadgets. We obsess about BMI. While healthy nutrition and physical activity are indeed important for health, there are things we all too often sacrifice that have an outsize impact on our centenarian potential. Friendships. Purpose in life. Empathy. Kindness. Volunteering. Science shows that these 'soft' health drivers are often more powerful than diet and exercise. Consider the numbers: studies show that building a strong support network of family and friends lowers mortality risk by about 45 percent. Exercise, on the other hand, can lower that risk by 23 to 33 percent. Eating six servings of fruit and veg per day can cut the danger of dying early by 26 percent. For volunteering, it's 22 percent.
When you think about it, it all makes sense. Homo sapiens is an extremely social animal — we’ve evolved to be with our tribe. When we are connected with others, several biological systems in our body, such as the sympathetic nervous system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, calm down. Social hormones, such as oxytocin, vasopressin and endorphins, flood our body. Not only do we feel calmer and happier, but our chronic inflammation goes down, as does our blood pressure. We become more resistant to viruses and less likely to suffer diabetes, a heart attack, even cancer. Together, it seems, we live longer.
But it’s also about much, much more….
Connectedness is not only about health, of course, but about human flourishing in general — from happiness and mental wellbeing, to things like societal polarization, the US vs. THEM mentality, social media, inequality, even about adaptation to climate change (researchers studying Isles of Scilly, UK, for example, found that social capital was among the top reasons why communities there are particularly resilient to climate change).
Right now, humanity faces a multitude of challenges: climate change, pandemics, wars, poverty, AI potentially turning us all into a paper-clip factory. To tackle these challenges, we should do what Homo Sapiens have always done best: work together to find solutions.
But, here is a problem: We live in the age of disconnection. 58 percent of Americans suffer loneliness. 21 percent have no close friends. In many countries across the globe these numbers are similar.
There is the extreme individualism, too. We are told to “put your needs first”. To #beyou and #expressyourself. We are told that it’s best if "You Do You". And while it’s great to be able to embrace your uniqueness, hyper independence is not how our species has evolved to function. We are at our best when “we do us.”
What can you expect from this Substack
This Substack will be about the power of human connection — an antidote to the current loneliness pandemic and societal polarization. I’ll cover remote work, how AI can impact human relationships, how connection helps innovation, boosts health and longevity, makes us better at tacking climate change. I’ll write about the roots of the current loneliness pandemic and how to address them. I’ll show how loneliness changes us, all the way down to our brains.
I’ll publish about once a week. You will get both very practical, research-based tips (“10 ways to improve your health through synchrony”), but also in-depth pieces about the importance of connecting with others, building societal resources and tackling loneliness. Stay tuned.