Love, Marriage, Friendship, & Your Brain

Written by Kathryn Savage

What does love, marriage, and belonging to a core group of friends have in common? Evidently, the health of your brain. Studies show that socializing may prevent against memory loss. Consequently, the loss of a spouse - and presumed isolation - increases risk for developing dementia. Much like muscles that need to be toned to stay fit, we're social creatures, and our brains need stimulation to stay healthy.

Recent research indicates that marriage and divorce increase Alzheimer’s risk. Scientists have found that coupled-up middle age adults, whether married or living with a partner, were 50 percent less likely to develop “dementia during their older years than people living alone.”

But before you sign up for Match.com, or call up that old flame, there is another factor to consider. The duration of your swinging singles, and why you’re single, also plays a part. Being single, without the ups and downs of divorce, doubles your risk for dementia, while ending marriage in divorce, and remaining single through your middle life, “showed three times the risk.”

Bad breakup? Prenup? Start batting for the other team? The mode of grand finale matters, too. Widowers, especially those who lost their spouse in middle age, who never remarry, have the highest chance of developing dementia and are six times more at risk for developing Alzheimer’s.

This is all fine and well until, you know, life gets in the way and then it feels like your body is acting like your mother, “just meet a nice boy, get married already.” In actuality, what this may be pointing out, is that after a traumatic event, some people don’t bounce back. These studies underscore that it is important to seek help whether that be through friends, family, therapy, or sure, Match.com, and focus on healing when we experience big life trauma. The ability to move on and continue to engage in meaningful relationships seems to be a great way to reduce your risk for certain age related diseases. 

Remarrying just isn't in the cards? Friendship is a great way to reduce memory loss. In a Harvard School of Public Health study, conducted between the years 1998 and 2004, participants, age 50 and older, who were socially active, appeared to have the lowest rate of memory decline. Better yet, the nature of the bond didn’t matter. In other words, gab with your kids, shoot the breeze with the barista, you’ll get the positive and protective effects just by getting out there and engaging other people in conversation. 

So, how are you today?  

Can Social Networking Replace Face to Face?

Written by Dan Buettner

Dr. Robert Kane, U of M's Chair of Long Term Care and Aging and one of Blue Zones advisors recently addressed that very question. We both agree that there are several benefits to social connectedness:

1. As people age, having someone checking in on you is very important
2. Other people can give our lives meaning, a reason to get up and out of the house,
3. We're evolutionarily designed to socialize so there is likely a biological link between connectedness and how well our bodies (immune system, etc) works and
4. The knowledge that we're not alone in the world reduces stress, puts us at ease.

I think the Facebook may partially satisfy 1 and 4 above and hence, is better than no contact at all but for 2 and 3, I don't think there's any real substitute for that face to face, back-slapping, human aura that comes with Happy Hour with friends and a good sit down chat.

One of the indicators or a true connectedness is if the person on the other end of the communication really cares about you when you had a terrible day and need to vent. A NIA study recently found that you'll live longer if you have two good friends who really care about you. My experience is that you're more likely to find such quality friends in your neighborhood than you would trolling on Facebook.

 

 

Un-Super-Sized Churches

Written by Kathryn Savage

In a world that super sizes burgers and fries, some churches are taking the road less traveled. Churches are starting to resemble classes I took back at my small liberal arts college - a place where everybody knows your name not because you stand out per se, but because you’re one of seven people in the room.

Why does it matter? Well, here at Blue Zones, we believe belonging is an important part of a long, healthy lifestyle. The centenarians we study all have a sense of belonging and purpose, and for many that comes from spiritual or religious practice.

These micro-churches, or "cell churches", have membership that tends to stop at ten or twelve people. Cell churches usually meet in a member's home, and every member of the cell takes turns leading services. It’s a concept based on trust and mutual support. In a recent article in the Star Tribune on cell churches, a participant, Cheri Hardwick, says she likes it because, "Instead of sitting in a pew while a pastor or priest does all the teaching, we learn and grow from each other.”

Curious? Learn more here.

FEATURE: How To Meet More Healthy People

Written by Kathryn Savage

Friends share more than good times, memories, support and understanding, they share habits. When you go out with your friends you probably have a routine. What your friends do, you'll do too (generally speaking). If your friends have healthy habits (emotionally, personally, diet-wise), you are more likely to possess or adopt these good traits.

Where to meet people with good habits and make even more healthy friends?

It’s all about you, really.
Explore activities that you are passionate about and meet people who like the same things. Like painting? Take a painting class, or volunteer to be a guide at a Museum. Love cooking? Take a cooking class or have your friends over for a dinner party and tell them to invite anyone they know who is passionate about good food.

Love running?
A lot of outdoor supply stores have running groups who meet regularly for social runs. Sign up for a 5k or a 10k in your area. If you’re feeling really motivated, sign up for a marathon! A girlfriend who is really into marathons trains for international races in her home state of California. It's a great way to see the world. Racing in Dublin? She trains for months with a group in L.A., saves for airfare, and goes!

Volunteer.
Pick a cause and go for it! One night a week is a great commitment. It’s also important to go regularly, so when you meet a few people you connect with, you get to keep up a weekly dynamic.

Keep old bonds, create new routines.
Studies suggest when friends team up they get more done. Have a friend who is curious about yoga? Try a class together. Know someone who is interested in volunteering? Sit down for an hour in front of VolunteerMatch and scope a philanthropic endeavor you both can get behind!

The bottom line is this: it’s not about out with the old in with the new. It’s more about sharing activities you enjoy with people who also enjoy those things, and incorporating as many healthy routines into as many areas of your life!

Music To My Ears. And Heart. And Lungs, And...

Written by Kathryn Savage

Surgeons everywhere have been rocking out in the operating room for years. And now, we find out those surgery mix tapes might be good for you, the patient.

Claudius Conrad, surgeon, musician, researcher, and music theory buff, (he has a doctorate in music philosophy) is coming up with all sorts of reasons why listening to music may speed the post-op recovery process. In a New York Times article, he elaborates on his research.

What’s the big idea?
Dr. Conrad suggests “that music may exert healing and sedative effects partly through a paradoxical stimulation of a growth hormone generally associated with stress rather than healing.” In a recent study, Dr. Conrad tested patients post-op by administering headsets. Five patients listened to Mozart, five listened to nothing.

The result?
The patients listening to Mozart experienced “reduced blood pressure and heart rate, less need for pain medication and a 20 percent drop in two important stress hormones, epinephrine and interleukin-6, or IL-6.” What also jumped out at researchers, is that these patients also experienced a “50 percent jump in pituitary growth hormone.”

Why is this revealing? “...growth hormone itself may reduce the interleukin-6 and epinephrine levels that produce inflammation that in turn causes pain and raises blood pressure and the heart rate.”

For more on Dr. Conrad’s fascinating research follow this link.

A Garden Grows in Philly!

Written by Kathryn Savage

For anyone whose lived in condensed urban centers, some mention of a neighbor’s garden usually conjures a polite smile and an image of a pot of basil dying on a fire escape.
In Philadelphia, when someone mentions Greensgrow, nobody confuses it with a wilting pot of basil. Greensgrow is unique because of its location and its success. It is a one-acre urban farm turning a profit in a low-income section of Philadelphia that moved in when a steel-galvanizing factory moved out.

Profiled today in The New York Times, Greensgrow is bringing freshly farmed local produce to the low-income Kensington section of Philadelphia. Neighbors love seeing fresh flowers growing on their block, and they support Greensgrow by investing in their fresh fruits, vegetables, and trademark “Honey From the Hood” made from - you guessed it, bees from Greensgrow, the neighborhood farm.

So, “how do you take postindustrial land and turn it into some kind of green business?” You set up shop, you make an initial investment, and you remain a vital, contributing part of the community.

For more on this inspiring story follow this link.

Go to a Farmers' Market Near You!

Written by Kathryn Savage

It’s that time of year again! Time to hit the watermelon stand, tomato truck and outdoor farmers' market!
When I was a kid, my grandma used to take me to this roadside, hole-in-the-wall, take-a-curve-too-fast-you’ll-miss it corn stand in the middle of a Minneapolis suburb. They sold the best corn on the cob, and the most unusually ripe yellow, seedless watermelon.

For a list of farmers' markets by city and state visit Farmers Market. If you happen to live in San Francisco, or you are visiting soon, The New York Times wants to be sure you visit the wealth of great San Francisco farmers markets. Here's the link.

FEATURE: Best Friends Forever Stay Healthy Together

Written by Kathryn Savage

Scientists have shown that social connections are vital to a healthy life. Recent studies suggest that belonging to a group of people who have similar beliefs, lifestyle choices, economic status, or religious practices may lead to deeper understanding, longer-lasting friendships, and a longer, healthier life. At Blue Zones, we call this being surrounded by “the right inner circle.

But I don't plan out my friendships!
In real life, you meet friends at work, a bbq, the neighborhood sandbox, etc. Sure, once you’ve met, you should having a thing or two in common, but do most people make a calculation of their friends' lifestyle choices before beginning the friendship?

Actually, yes.
If you think about your friends, you will find you tend to support each others beliefs and lifestyles. In many cases you may have similar economic status. There's a reason why you gravitate to certain kinds of people! This idea of “the right inner circle” has little to do with how friendships form, it merely points out that people who share these traits tend to form friendships that last, while also pointing out the ugly fact that bad habits do tend to rub off.

Bad habits like what?
Studies reported in a recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine suggest that, between close mutual friends, when one becomes obese the odds of the other becoming obese triple. The same statistic applies to weight loss - when one close friend decides to lose weight, the other friend has tripled their chance of being successful with weight loss, merely by association.

For residents of the Blue Zones, being surrounded by the right inner circle comes naturally.
Seventh Day Adventists, encouraged by their religious practice and observation of the Sabbath, have big, bustling social networks. The Nuoro highland Sardinians we studied are geographically – but not culturally – isolated. Many share the same professional, personal and religious practices. Most evenings, they share a few glasses of wine at the local bar, and once a year the town contributes to the annual grape harvest. Centenarian Okinawans have regular moais; it’s sort of like the bar in Cheers, where everybody knows your name. Groups of Okinawans, who rarely move from their community, have lifelong, regular moais in the evenings to share sake and conversation.

The lesson? Keep your wonderful friends close.
The lesson I’ll take away from all this talk about “the right inner circle” is this: if you’ve got a group of people who support and nurture you, nurture them in return. And if you'd like to do a little self-improvement, get your friends on board!

Too scared to shoot the breeze

Written by Kathryn Savage

Does making small talk send you into a state of panic? You’re not alone. Public speaking is among the most loathed aspects of professional life, and in a way, making small talk with a complete stranger is sort of like being on your own mini-stage.

The thing about small talk is, it’s a necessary evil. Without it, we wouldn’t be able to make new friends, start relationships, or attend family reunions. Friendship is a great and important part of a healthy, long life. So what to do if the thought of going to your coworker's birthday bash this weekend sends you into a fit of hot flashes?

If you're like me, one of the millions of people who sweats bullets over the thought of finding engaging things to talk about with complete strangers, fear not! Help is on the way! Here are some tried and true tips for feeling confident when making smart, witty small talk with just about anyone!

Senior Smarts: How Education Helps You Live Longer

Written by Kathryn Savage

When James Smith, a health economist at the RAND Corporation, decided to research the prevailing factors that determine longevity, he had the notion of cause and effect at the front of his mind. A skeptic of the age old wisdom of good diet and exercise, Dr. Smith may have uncovered a new truth to aging well, something that transcends class and diet.

What James Smith discovered is that education is a vital factor in the longevity equation. A New York Times report describing Dr. Smith’s findings explains: "A few extra years of school are associated with extra years of life and vastly improved health decades later, in old age."

Numerous studies support the notion that education, both in adolescence and continuing into old age, is a vital part of living a long, happy and healthy life.

One of the possible benefits of staying in school is that social networks are created. In addition, a sense of purpose can come from throwing yourself at an area that interests you, in which you have no formal knowledge or training.

How to Stay Smart?