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Stretching can be very time-consuming. After all, even if you focus on just the major muscles, a full-body stretch can take 10-15 minutes to complete. Needless to say, this is much longer than most people want to spend on their flexibility.

However, there is no need to stretch all your muscles equally. In fact, several muscles don’t really need stretching at all. Subsequently, it’s possible to reduce your flexibility training down to just a handful of stretches, making working on your flexibility more convenient.

The muscles that tend to be the tightest and, therefore, need the most attention are:

Hamstrings
Hip flexors
Quadriceps
Pectoralis major
Latissimus dorsi
Stretching these muscles will fix many of the most common flexibility issues and should only take a few minutes to complete. As such, you can work on these muscles several times per day, which will produce noticeable results in a few short weeks.

Stretching Too Aggressively

No pain, no gain is a common fitness mantra. This makes a
certain amount of sense, given how effective intense, uncomfortable workouts usually are. However, stretching too intensely can cause severe muscle, tendon, and joint injuries, so it’s best to dial things back and stretch more gently.

When stretching, you should take your muscles to the so-called point of bind, or POB. This is where you feel mild tension in the target muscle. Hold this position for 10-30 seconds and, as your muscles relax, move to a new, deeper POB (3). Repeat this sequence several times before switching to another body part.

Stretching too far too fast could cause muscle fiber tears and also triggers a contraction, essentially shortening the muscle you are trying to extend. Needless to say, this is the opposite of what a good flexibility program should achieve.

You’ve probably stretched too far if you experience:

Pain in the target muscle
Muscle shaking
Tingling in your extremities
Burning down the limb being stretched

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Collagen protein is the most abundant type of protein in the human body. But once we reach our 30s and 40s, nearly all women and men produce less collagen. In fact, sometime after the age of 20, collagen production naturally begins to diminish (sometimes by up to 1 percent each year). That shortfall can really add up over the years.

We can thank this process and lower levels of collagen for contributing to “normal signs of aging,” such as fine lines, wrinkles, sagging skin, as well as impacts to the hair, joints and the gut.

Meanwhile, many people, without being aware, are so-called “collagen bankrupt,” meaning their diets included hardly any of this valuable protein — and thus missing a significant way to support their joint, digestion and skin health.

A “collagen loading protocol” can help people get back on track for collagen intake and boost those declining collagen levels.

What is collagen loading? As explained in more detail below, it’s when you consume up to three servings of collagen per day, most often from collagen powder or capsule supplements.

This approach can help people benefit from improved joint comfort and mobility, enhanced exercise recovery, healthy gut function, skin improvement and much more.

Of course, you should always consult your healthcare professional prior to beginning any new dietary or lifestyle regimen, including collagen loading.

What Is Collagen Loading? Does It Work?
Collagen loading is a supplement plan that involves consuming collagen protein daily, usually about three servings of collagen powder or capsules, for a designated period of time.

Does collagen loading really work? Like any supplement or diet plan, it depends on the individual and their overall lifestyle. However, the addition of collagen to many people’s diets can go a long way in promoting joint, digestive and skin health.

Collagen is a unique protein because it’s brimming with certain amino acids that are not very abundant in proteins like meat or dairy, including glycine, proline and arginine.

The average person today doesn’t consume much collagen from their diet, if any at all. That’s because collagen is only available in very few foods, most notably bone broth (made with collagen-filled animal bones, connective tissues and skin), which is no longer a mainstay in the modern diet like it used to be centuries ago.

This helps you to obtain an array of amino acids that your body requires for maintenance of healthy tissues that help form your gut lining, joints, cartilage, ligaments, skin, hair and nails.

Health Benefits
By now you’re starting to understand why collagen is so valuable. Here are other benefits associated with collagen supplements, particularly Ancient Nutrition’s Multi Collagen Protein powders or capsules, taken as part of a collagen loading protocol:

Provides support for healthy hair, skin, nails, joints, and gut

Reduces joint discomfort and helps joints recover faster

Supports exercise recovery

Promotes healthy hair thickness and growth, and reduces hair breakage

Improves the appearance of crow’s feet after 4 weeks of use

Reduces knee stiffness at 7 days of use
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Intermittent Fasting Benefits and Schedule

By Rachel Link, RD, MS

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Unlike other diet plans, an intermittent fasting diet doesn’t set any strict standards, rules or restrictions on which foods are permitted or how much you can eat, although eating a healthy diet is always wise. Instead, it requires you to revise your eating pattern and abstain from eating altogether during specific windows of time.

While many choose to adopt an intermittent fasting diet for weight management, there are plenty of other reasons to consider it as well. Interestingly enough, research suggests that fasting may also help support healthy blood sugar levels, support a healthy response to inflammation and keep your heart healthy and strong.

From fasting for a few days every week to simply switching up your eating schedule, intermittent fasting (IMF) is a simple strategy that can help you make major strides in your health.

Is intermittent fasting suitable for women? Generally speaking, yes, but women tend to be more sensitive to the effects of fasting compared to men. Certain women may encounter hormone issues if they fast for days on end — therefore, they may benefit from doing intermittent fasting only a few days a week rather than every day, for example.

What Is Intermittent Fasting?
Also known as cyclic fasting, intermittent fasting is an eating pattern that has risen in popularity in recent years. With new research constantly emerging on new potential intermittent fasting benefits, dieters have turned to this popular plan looking to manage their weight, maintain healthy blood sugar levels and boost their overall health.

Although it’s only recently started popping up in mainstream media, intermittent fasting is hardly a new concept. In fact, fasting has been used for centuries during times when food was scarce and it even plays a central role in many major religions. Once a year during Ramadan, for example, Muslims around the globe observe a month-long period of fasting from dawn until sunset.

So how does intermittent fasting work exactly? Cutting-edge intermittent fasting science suggests that it could positively impact cells by helping to fight free radicals. Practicing intermittent fasting can also help your body’s ability to deal with stress at a cellular level, which could help with healthy aging as well as overall health.

Because there are so many different variations and styles, there are no exact guidelines or rules for how to do intermittent fasting. However, most types involve abstaining from food altogether for a period of 16–24 hours at a time.

Types
There are several different variations of fasting, making it easy to find an intermittent fasting plan that can work for you.

Here are a few of the most popular types:

16/8 Fasting:This method requires you to fast for 16 hours every day and limit your eating to an eight-hour window. Typically, this involves not eating anything after dinner and skipping breakfast the next morning. This is the most popular form of intermittent fasting.

Alternate-Day Fasting: This involves eating every other day. On fasting days, some eat no food at all and others eat a very small amount, usually around 500 calories. On non-fasting days, you should follow your usual, healthy diet.

The Warrior Diet: This diet entails eating only specific foods (such as fruits, vegetables, clear broth and hard-boiled eggs) during the day and eating one large meal at night.

Eat-Stop-Eat: This variation involves picking one or two days out of the week in which you fast for 24 hours, then eat nothing from dinner one day until dinner the next day. On the remaining days, you should follow a regular diet.

5:2 Diet: For five days of the week, you eat normally. During the remaining two days, you should restrict your caloric intake to between 500–600 calories daily.

Benefits
Here are a few of the top benefits of intermittent fasting.

1. Boosts Weight Management
Many people turn to intermittent fasting for how to lose weight or weight management, and for good reason. Not only does it help reduce your overall caloric intake by restricting your eating window, but it can also rev up fat-burning by pushing your body into ketosis.

Ketosis is a metabolic state in which your body uses fat for fuel instead of sugar. Similar to the ketogenic diet, intermittent fasting works by depriving your body of its main source of energy, forcing it to start breaking down fat cells instead.

2. Maintains Heart Health
Much of the emerging intermittent fasting research has focused on its ability to help with heart health. In fact, studies show that intermittent fasting can positively influence heart health factors, including supporting healthy cholesterol levels and triglycerides.

It may also support a healthy response to inflammation, another major factor that can benefit a healthy heart.

3. Supports Healthy Brain Function
Although current research is mostly limited to animal models, some studies have found that intermittent fasting could support brain health. It can also support a healthy response to inflammation, which can support healthy aging and healthy neurological function.

4. Supports Already-Healthy Blood Sugar
Intermittent fasting is a great tool for supporting already-healthy blood sugar levels. Plus, it can also help support healthy insulin levels, which can benefit the body’s ability to use this important hormone efficiently in its normal function of transporting sugar from the bloodstream to the cells.

5. Supports a Healthy Response to Inflammation
Inflammation is a normal immune response designed to protect the body against injury and more. Chronic inflammation, on the other hand, can lead to chronic issues.

Promising research suggests that fasting may help support a healthy response to inflammation. Plus, it can also support a healthy response to reduce oxidative stress throughout the body.
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Text Neck Syndrome: How Your Chiropractor Can Help
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Your neck pain and headaches could be symptoms of text neck, a condition that's become increasingly common in today's tech-obsessed world. Easing your pain can be as simple as visiting the chiropractor and changing the way you hold your devices.

Do You Have Text Neck?

Accidents due to distracted walking or driving aren't the only dangers of texting. Bending your head while you look at your phone stresses the vertebrae and tissues in your neck and may cause chronic pain. Although the condition is called "text" neck, it can occur if you use any type of digital device or participate in activities that require keeping your head bent for long periods.

Your neck is designed to support the weight of your head in an upright position. Bending your head at a 45- to 60-degree angle puts 50 to 60 pounds of stress on the neck, rather than the usual 10 pounds, according to SPINE-Health.

Text next can affect anyone and may cause symptoms after just a few hours. If you keep your head bent while you text or work, you may experience these symptoms:

Neck Pain
Frequent Headaches
Muscle Stiffness and Spasms in Your Neck, Shoulder and Back Muscles
Pain Between the Shoulder Blades or in the Back, Jaw, Arm or Hand
Numbness and Tingling in Your Arm and Hand
Posture Changes and Balance Problems
Pain isn't the only problem you may notice if you have text neck. Stress and strain could damage the discs that cushion the bony vertebrae in your neck and back. These rubbery discs absorb shock and help you move and change position easily. If one or more spinal discs bulge or rupture, your pain may increase.

Bulging or ruptured discs may pinch the nerves that travel from your neck to your arm and hand. Symptoms of a pinched include pain that travels from your neck to your arm and hand, tingling in your hand and fingers, and weak shoulder, hand, and arm muscles.

A pinched nerve may also occur due to a subluxation. Subluxations happen when one or more vertebrae move out of their normal position due to increased strain on your neck. In addition to causing spinal misalignments, subluxations tighten tissues around the nerves, which can also cause pain.

If you ignore your text neck symptoms and don't change your habits, you may develop arthritis or bone spurs in your neck. Unfortunately, these conditions will only worsen your pain. Eventually, your upper back may become hunched due to permanent changes to your spine.

How Can My Chiropractor Relieve My Symptoms?

Turning to your chiropractor is a smart decision if you think you may have text neck. These healthcare practitioners specialize in treating conditions that affect the spine, joints, and soft tissues. Your chiropractor offers several treatments that relieve text neck symptoms, including:

Massage. Massage loosens tight muscles and tissues in the neck, shoulders and upper back, easing pain. Natural pain relievers released during a massage enhance the effect and help you feel relaxed.
Spinal Manipulation. Your chiropractor may perform spinal manipulation therapy if you have subluxations. Although people often refer to this treatment as "cracking" the neck, there's no cracking involved. Using quick movements, your chiropractor repositions misaligned vertebrae. Once everything's positioned correctly, tight muscles and tissues loosen and flexibility and range of motion improve. Inflammation, a key component in pain, also decreases after spinal manipulation.
Exercises. The muscles in your neck, shoulders, and upper back help you keep your head upright. Text neck weakens those muscles, making it difficult to maintain proper posture. During your visit, your chiropractor will show you a few exercises that will strengthen your muscles and prevent text neck symptoms from recurring.
What Can I Do to Prevent New Symptoms?

Keep these tips in mind when you use your digital devices:

Raise Your Phone. Hold your phone at eye level rather than in your lap or on a table or desk. A cellphone holder makes it easier to keep your phone at eye level.
Take Frequent Breaks. Get up and stretch for a minute or two after you've been using your phone or device for a half-hour.
Buy a New Chair. New York-Presbyterian recommends using an office chair that reclines 25 to 30 degrees. This position reduces stress on the neck and stops slouching.
Don't let text neck cause permanent changes to your spine. Contact our office to schedule an appointment with the chiropractor. kenwoodchiro.com

How Much Protein Do I Need Per Day? Is It Different for Women and Men?

By Rachel Link, RD, MS

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For people looking to improve their body composition and potentially manage a healthy weight, one of the most common questions they have is, “How much protein do I need a day?” Of course, that varies from person to person, and you should always consult your healthcare professional prior to starting any new dietary or lifestyle regimen.

Protein is one of three essential macronutrients. Foods provide us with amino acids, the building blocks of protein, that is essential for dozens of bodily functions.

How much protein you need per day depends on factors like your body size and level of activity. Below we’ll look at protein needs based on goals including weight management, muscle building and maintenance of general health into older age.

Why Is Protein Important?
You might associate protein mostly with building lean muscle tissue, but it has many other essential roles, too. For example, a lot of your organs, cells and tissues require protein for proper functioning.

We require it for muscle synthesis and burning fat, supporting our metabolism, and even for bolstering the health of certain organs and glands, like the thyroid and adrenal glands. In other words, we need protein to be generally active and it's also a top healthy eating tip.

This macronutrient also helps in the overall health of the body, so if you're very active or work out a lot, you typically need more protein intake during those times. Learning how to count macros can be important if you want to reach your protein goals.

Your Daily Protein Needs
To determine how many grams of protein per day you need, let’s break things down into three categories:

How much protein do you need on a regular basis to generally support overall health?

How much protein do you need to help potentially manage a healthy weight and/or burn fat?

How much protein do you need to build muscle per day?

If your goal is to maintain general health, mobility and well-being as you age, then, for most people, consuming about 50 percent of your body weight in grams of protein per day is about what you want.

Let’s say you weigh 160 pounds and you’re looking to be generally healthy, then shoot for about 80 grams of protein per day from your diet.

Therefore, if you’re eating three meals a day, you’re going to be getting about 25 grams of protein per meal.

Second, let’s say you’re working towards maintaining a healthy weight, and you’re looking for the right fat-burning foods. In this case, it can be a good idea to focus on having a substantial amount of protein, as protein has been shown to be satiating and to help with appetite control.

Having about 0.75 grams of protein a day per pound of body weight can help to replace some of the extra carbohydrates and sugar in your diet, by contributing to you feeling fuller overall.

In this case, if you weigh 160 pounds, then multiply that figures by 0.75. You’ll want to then consume close to 100 or 120 grams of protein a day if you’re trying to help manage a healthy weight and/or lose body fat. This means that if you eat four meals a day, you’ll want to get in 25 to 30 grams of protein each time.

Protein Requirements by Age
The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of protein, based on age, are as follows:

Age 9–13 — 34 grams/day

Age 14–18 (girls) — 46 grams/day

Age 14–18 (boys) — 52 grams/day

Age 19–70+ (women) — 46 grams/day

Age 19—70+ (men) — 56 grams/day

For Women
Many women, especially as they get older, can fall short on their protein requirements. Benefits of protein for women (and men) include:

Takes longer to break down by the body than carbohydrate, so it's a long-lasting energy source.

Provides more consistent energy for the body because it takes longer to digest.

It's very important for women to maintain bone health as they age, and bones are made up of around 50 percent protein. Protein also increase IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor 1), the hormone that helps form bone.

The muscles need protein to recover from exercise, to assist in strength building and to add lean muscle (see more below).

For Muscle Building for Men and Women
What about if you’re very active — how much protein do you need per day to help build muscle?

If you’re trying to gain muscle and strength, take your weight and eat roughly that many grams of protein per day.

So if you weigh 160 pounds and want to pack on some muscle, then you should try to consume about 160 grams of protein a day. Over four meals, that’d be 40 grams of protein per meal. (It's why protein shakes make one of the best snacks for muscle building.)

Again, since everyone is different, you should always consult your healthcare professional about what amount of protein intake may be right for you.
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What High Triglycerides Mean for Your Heart & How to Lower Naturally
By Christine Ruggeri, CHHC

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With the growing epidemic of childhood and adult obesity, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease remains the leading cause of death and disability in the U.S. It’s estimated in 2020 study that 25 percent of the U.S population has high triglycerides, a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

A 2007 meta-analysis involving a total of 3,582 incident cases of fatal and nonfatal coronary heart disease indicates that there is a significant association between triglyceride values and coronary heart disease risk.

Thankfully, there are natural ways to lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels with diet and lifestyle changes.

What Are Triglycerides?
Triglycerides are a type of lipid, or fat, in the your blood. Any calories that aren’t needed when you eat are converted into triglycerides and stored in your fat cells. Then your hormones release triglycerides for energy in between meals.

This cycle only becomes problematic when you eat more calories than you burn, which leads to high triglycerides, also called hypertriglyceridemia.

The National Cholesterol Education Program labels triglyceride levels in the following way:

Normal — less than 150 milligrams per deciliter
Borderline high — 150–199 milligrams per deciliter
High — 200–499 milligrams per deciliter
Very high — 500 milligrams per deciliter or higher
Triglycerides and cholesterol are different types of lipids that circulate in the blood. When both are high, it’s called hyperlipidemia. While triglycerides store calories that aren’t used and provide the body with energy, cholesterol is used to build cells and produce certain hormones.

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) helps remove fat from the body by binding with it in the bloodstream and carrying it back to the liver for disposal. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) carries mostly fats and only a small amount of protein from the liver to other parts of the body.

Although elevated LDL cholesterol is well-established as a major predictor of coronary heart disease, evidence suggests that an elevated triglyceride level is also an independent risk factor.

Until recently, researchers believed that high triglyceride levels were not as significant as cholesterol at predicting plaque buildup and heart disease, but that perspective has changed. Most experts now consider triglycerides a third important risk factor for plaque buildup in the arteries, along with levels of “good” HDL cholesterol and “bad” LDL cholesterol.

In fact, in studies where LDL cholesterol levels were significantly reduced with the use of statin medications, many patients still had elevated triglyceride levels, putting them at continued risk of developing cardiovascular disease. This proves that in addition to the critical role that LDL cholesterol plays in the buildup of plaque inside the arteries, which is called atherosclerosis, high triglycerides also play a significant role.

Not Sure What to Do About Your Hip Pain? Chiropractic Care Could Be the Answer to Your Problem
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Gritting your teeth and ignoring the pain aren't the only options available when your hip aches. If hip pain has begun to affect your life, it's time to consider chiropractic care. Your chiropractor offers several treatments designed to improve hip function and reduce aches, pain, and muscle spasms.

What Causes Hip Pain?

Although falls are one cause of hip pain, several other issues can trigger pain as well. Exercise may stress or strain hip flexor muscles and soft tissues, as can a change in your gait or posture. If you've recently taken up running or another sport, you may be more likely to experience muscle spasms or tight, sore muscles around your hips. Thirty to forty percent of adults who play sports have chronic hip pain, according to UpToDate.

Age can be another factor in hip pain, even if you've never fallen. UpToDate estimates that 12 to 15% of adults over 60 experience hip pain.

The type of work you do could be to blame for your pain. British researchers discovered that people who sat or stood for prolonged periods, walked long distances over rough ground, lifted or moved heavy weights, or jumped were more likely to experience hip pain.

In some cases, hip pain occurs due to an issue with the arches in your feet. Your arches support your weight and help keep your ankles, knees, hips, and back properly aligned. If your feet turn too far in or are flat, or you wear shoes that don't support your feet adequately, the alignment of your legs, hips, and back can be affected.

A spinal misalignment, or subluxation, could also be to blame for your hip issues. Subluxations affect the vertebrae, the small bones that make up your spine. Spinal discs between the vertebrae give the spine its flexibility and allow you to bend, twist, and move easily.

Sometimes the vertebrae become misaligned, causing pain that can extend from your back to your hips and pelvis. Subluxations may also affect the ball-and-socket hip joint, causing pain every time you walk or move your hips.

Other causes of hip pain include:

Osteoarthritis
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Bursitis
Sciatica
Tendinitis
Overuse Injuries
Stress Fractures
Weak Core Muscles
Inguinal Hernias
Iliotibial Band Syndrome
Fibromyalgia
Using Manipulation to Treat Hip Pain

Chiropractors treat the source of pain rather than focusing primarily on symptoms. After a thorough examination that may involve X-rays or other tests, your doctor prepares a treatment plan. The specifics of your plan will depend on the cause and severity of your pain but may include spinal or joint manipulation.

If your hip pain is due to a subluxation in your spine, your chiropractor might recommend spinal manipulation. Using quick thrusts, he or she relieves pain by moving misaligned vertebrae back into their normal position. Manipulation can also be used to realign your hip joints. Joint manipulation relieves pressure and pain on surrounding muscles and tissues while reducing inflammation and irritation, improving blood flow, and restoring normal range of motion.

Dulling Pain with Hot and Cold Therapy

Both heat and cold offer natural pain-relieving properties. Cold packs reduce inflammation and dull pain, while heat soothes sore, tight muscles, taking the edge off pain. These therapies may be used before and after your chiropractic treatment.

Improving Foot Alignment with Orthotics

If your chiropractor determines that an issue with the arches in your feet causes or contributes to your hip pain, orthotics may be recommended. The custom-designed shoe inserts support your feet and keep your legs, hips, and back properly aligned.

Soothing Tight Tissues with Massage Therapy

Massage loosens and relaxes tight muscles and tissues and reduces muscle spasms and stiffness. This therapy, like many other treatments your chiropractor provides, prompts the body to produce natural pain-killing hormones.

Other Therapies

Your treatment plan may also include ultrasound, trigger point, or electrical stimulation therapies. Ultrasound relaxes tight muscles and tissues, boosts blood flow, and improves pain. Trigger point therapy breaks up knots that can cause hip pain, while electric stimulation prevents pain signals from reaching the brain.

Do you suffer from frequent hip pain? Contact our office to schedule an appointment with the chiropractor to discuss treatment options. kenwoodchiro.com

Kenwood Chiropractic Spinal Health Care for all ages. Spinal treatments offered by your chiropractor, eases the vertebrae

Kindness Slows Aging and Should Be Part of Everyone’s Wellness Plan
By Christine Ruggeri, CHHC

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Several studies show that exercising kindness boosts happiness levels, but new evidence shows it also promotes healthier aging, too.

Adding a little kindness into your day can boost your self-esteem, support your immune system, improve the health of your heart and promote healthy aging.

These are great reasons to add small acts of kindness to your day. Being kind creates a ripple effect that inspires those around you.

Think about how we can make small changes in our communities with kindness and learn how to be happy at the same time. It’s definitely a win-win.

What Does Kindness Mean?
Kindness involves enacting kind behaviors toward other people. It doesn’t have to be expensive or time consuming — it’s simply showing a bit of love, gratitude and compassion to the people around you.

Did you know that kindness is actually contagious? Simply observing an act of kindness can boost happiness levels and make the viewer more likely to practice kindness. This is exactly why the “pay it forward” method works so well.

Random Acts of Kindness
Practicing kindness is like lifting weights — you need to exercise kindness and strengthen those muscles over time. The best way to do that is to perform random acts of kindness every day.

You’ll notice that it boosts your optimism, self-esteem and overall happiness — making you want to enact kind behaviors even more often.

Here are some random acts of kindness you can try:

Hold the door for strangers
Plant a tree in your neighborhood
Pick up litter at the park or beach
Pay for someone’s coffee (or dry cleaning, lunch, groceries, ice cream)
Get involved with a fundraiser
Compliment a stranger
Write a letter showing gratitude
Write a positive review for a local business
Mow your neighbor’s lawn
Mentor a young person
Prepare a meal for a family in need
Recycle, even when you aren’t home
Volunteer your time at a nonprofit
Bring your nieces and nephews out for a treat
Gift your spouse or loved one with a massage
Walk your neighbor’s dog
Contribute to a community garden
Grow vegetables, and share them with neighbors
Donate clothes or home goods
Smile at work
Health Benefits
There are many health benefits of kindness, and most only take a few seconds or minutes of your day. Here’s how kindness impacts your health:

Boosts happiness
Increases feelings of self-worth
Improves self-esteem
Improves anxiety
Reduces pain
Fights stress
Improves depression
Reduces blood pressure
Boosts immunity
Improves relationships
Increases longevity
Kindness Makes the Body Younger?
Here’s where it gets really interesting. A randomized, controlled trial conducted by scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that practicing loving-kindness meditation may actually slow aging.

When 142 middle-aged adults participated in mindfulness meditation, loving-kindness meditation or a “waitlist” control group during a six-week workshop, scientists recorded their telomere length. The participants in meditation groups attended six hourlong group meditation classes once a week and practiced meditation at home for 20 minutes per day using an audio recording.

Telomeres, the markers used for this study, are known as hallmarks of aging. They’re the protective caps at the end of chromosomes that prevent them from damage.

As we age, telomeres begin to wear down and shorten. Studies show that this is associated with a number of health issues, including DNA damage and cancer. In fact, telomere length is directly related to longevity.

We know lifestyle factors, like getting regular exercise and eating a healthy diet, reduce the rate of telomere loss, while factors like chronic stress and living a sedentary life wear them down earlier in life.

The meditation study found that the loving-kindness meditation group lost significantly less telomere length than the other groups. The mindfulness meditation group showed changes in telomere length that were intermediate between the loving-kindness and control groups.

Researchers concluded that loving-kindness meditation may work to “buffer telomere attrition,” thereby serving as a tool for healthy aging.

Want to give loving-kindness meditation a try? Here’s an exercise from the University of California, Berkeley’s Greater Good in Action program.

How Kindness Changes Your Brain and Body
A 2019 study published in the Journal of Social Psychology tested whether performing different types of kindness activities impacts happiness. Researchers found that performing kindness activities for seven days increased happiness levels. They also found a positive correlation between the number of kind acts and increases in happiness.

A study published in Journal of Happiness Studies indicates that happy people scored higher on their recognition and enactment of kind behaviors. Female undergraduate students in Japan reported that their subjective happiness increased simply by counting their own acts of kindness in one week.

The study results suggest that happy people become even more kind and grateful when they think back on their kindness, and a person’s strength of kindness plays an important role in increasing happiness.

Clearly there’s a powerful kindness-happiness connection, but why does this occur? Kindness affects the brain and body in several ways, including the following:

Boosts oxytocin: Witnessing or engaging in acts of kindness produces oxytocin, which is known as the “love hormone.” A boost in oxytocin can lead to a feeling calmness, joy, generosity and compassion. Oxytocin also releases nitric oxide, which dilates blood vessels, reduces blood pressure and lowers free radicals that cause disease.
Stimulates serotonin production: Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that sends messages from one area of the brain to another. It works to control your mood and reduces the production of stress hormones.
Reduces cortisol: People who engage in acts of kindness consistently produce less cortisol, a main stress hormone.
Triggers the “helper’s high” phenomenon: Being kind stimulates the brain’s pleasure and reward centers, causing what’s referred to as the “helper’s high.” This is due to increased dopamine levels after performing acts of kindness.