Loneliness, living alone and poor social connections are as bad for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. It’s worse for you than obesity. And you’re much more likely to suffer from dementia, heart disease, and depression if you’re isolated and alone(1). The importance of social connections and touch has been proven in both human and animal models, but the solution is much less obvious.

How do combat the loneliness epidemic? My guest on this week’s show has some excellent ideas.

Listen & Learn: 

• How loneliness is one of the biggest risk factors for all-cause mortality
• The difference between feeling alone and feeling isolated
• How positive social connection is more important than just social connection
• Why education and volunteering can be simple ways to find connection  
• How our digital age is making loneliness the norm 

Links & Resources:

• Dr. Harding’s Site
• The Rabbit Effect Book

About Our Guest:
Dr. Kelli Harding is a board-certified psychiatrist focused on emotional wellbeing and the interplay between mental and physical health. She’s the author of THE RABBIT EFFECT: Live Longer, Happier, and Healthier with the Groundbreaking Science of Kindness.   

Nutritional Tip of the Week:

• Meat-Only Diet

Got Questions?

• Send me a voicemail here: Ask Lucas a Question
• Or write to us: podcast@yogabody.com 

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You could still smoke indoors when I moved to Spain in 2009. Thankfully, it was banned in 2010 as part of an on-going anti-tobacco campaign that has since failed miserably. Fifteen years ago, 32% of people smoked. Today, 34% smoke. Somehow, the US has managed to get smoking rates down to 14%, and yet, even with a nationwide campaign, consumption here goes up. Why? 

My guest on this week’s podcast has spent much of her career studying and dissecting human habit formation and change. The reasons why you do what you do are not obvious and not even conscious, so changing them requires a deeper understanding of self. 

Listen & Learn:   

• How the US anti-smoking campaign was so successful
• Why the “5 a Day” healthy eating campaign flopped
• The small role that motivation plans in your habits
• What mechanisms are at play when habits are formed 
• The roles of friction, cues, and beliefs in habit formation 

Links & Resources: 

• Wendy’s Book & Site
  
  

About Our Guest:
Wendy Wood is a psychologist and the Provost Professor of Psychology and Business at USC where she has been a faculty member since 2009. Her primary research contributions are in habits and behavior change, along with the psychology of gender. She is the author of a new book Good Habits, Bad Habits.

Nutritional Tip of the Week:

• Meal Timing

Got Questions?

• Send me a voicemail here: Ask Lucas a Question
• Or write to us: podcast@yogabody.com 

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• Leave us a Review on iTunes

I’ve set a personal goal to live to be 122, and I specifically chose this number because it seems like a stretch but also totally within the realm of reasonable given my age and the advances in science. My children, I’m almost certain, will easily surpass my age simply because they have even more time for science to make it possible. So if 80 is the new 50, what does that mean for our hair, teeth, and liver? What choices should we make now to extend not just our lifespan but our healthspan too?

My guest on this week’s show is a thought leader on longevity, and he’ll share his latest research from Harvard. 

Listen & Learn: 

• How metformin, resveratrol, and NAD might be the ultimate pill stack for longevity we know of
• Why it’s important to get hungry
• Why you need to exercise to the point of breathlessness
• How 20% of your health is genetic, the other 80% is up for grabs
• How your choices today play out in your healthspan in the future

Links & Resources: 

• Lifespan Book
  
  

About Our Guest
David A. Sinclair, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and co-director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for the Biological Mechanisms of Aging. He is best known for his work on understanding why we age and how to slow its effects. He’s the author of a new book, Lifespan, found on Amazon or at his site.

Got Questions?

• Send me a voicemail here: Ask Lucas a Question
• Or write to us: podcast@yogabody.com

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• Leave us a Review on iTunes

When you’re fasting, your body undergoes rapid healing that is very well-documented and exciting, but it’s also extremely impractical. When you spend a few days without eating, you’re weak, tired, hangry, and no good for much of anything except lying around the pool (hence the need for fasting resorts). But what if there was a way to get many of the same hormone-balancing and neuroprotective benefits of fasting while still eating and feeling good? This is where ketosis comes in, and while it’s turned into a fad diet, the real uses for the occasional reset are timeless and relatively simple to use.

Listen & Learn:

• Why ketosis is anti-inflammatory
• How it takes time to adapt to eating healthier fat
• Why the real exciting health changes are in the boring middle (not the extremes)
• How to think about food and nutrition from a balanced perspective
• Why inflammation can often be the deeper underlying issue with many fads in health

Links & Resources:

• Will Cole’s Website
• Will’s books on Amazon

About Our Guest
Dr. Will Cole promotes functional-medicine and specializes in clinically investigating underlying factors of chronic disease and customizing health programs for thyroid issues, autoimmune conditions, hormonal dysfunctions, digestive disorders, and brain problems.

Got Questions?

• Send me a voicemail here: Ask Lucas a Question
• Or write to us: podcast@yogabody.com

Like the Show?

• Leave us a Review on iTunes