(upbeat music) - Hello, health enthusiasts, and welcome to RevUp Health, your go-to podcast for all things wellness. I'm Dr. Mark Heckler. - And I'm Tandy Heckler. Together, we're here to fuel your health journey with the best of functional medicine and holistic well-being. - Each episode will dive deep into topics that matter to your health, bringing you the latest insights, research, and inspiring stories. So whether you're on a quest for vibrant health or just looking for daily health tips, we've got you covered. - So let's embark on this journey together and transform the way you live. - Hello, and welcome to today's podcast. Today, we're gonna be talking about community, and that is something that we're really trying to achieve with Revelation Health and Wellbeing with RevUp Health and social media that we're doing. We're really looking to kind of create this community where people who come together. - We encourage folks, yeah, to come together, but also to associations with more like-minded people. So find out, our discussions, I mean like-minded people will tend to navigate together, but also tend to benefit all of each other by having friendships and relationships. - Yeah, so I think the first thing to know is that community is really important. You know, it's great to be at a place in your life where you're really comfortable with yourself and you like your time that you spend on your own, but community can really provide so much additional debt and benefit. - Right, exactly. So obviously, social relationships, now there's done a lot of studies on what role social relationships in community involvement and interactions like that have on health and improving health and extending health just all in general. So, I mean, obviously there's studies that show that multiple studies on hundreds of thousands of participants that show stronger social relationships at a 50% increase in survival rates compared to those with weaker social interactions. So, and I mean that basically rivals, they mimic that to rivaling the cessation of smoking. So we stop smoking and that increases your risk of survival, so does having social interactions and relationships with folks too, so. - Yeah, and the Blue Zone studies that have been done in Blue Zones, they've noted that there is this difference in community that those areas have. - Blue Zones folks are essentially those individuals that are with an advanced age. So, community is where there's an older population though. - It's entirely-- - 100 or so, yeah. - 100 years older in that area. So, that community has a higher percentage of folks that are lived to 100. And there's a lot of reasons for that, obviously too, which we go through with a podcast throughout the times that we have these podcasts, but one of the biggest thing is that social connection that they have, they have a huge social connection. And there's, even with mental health, mental disease, I mean, there's a four times likelihood of having depression if you don't have the social interactions that you need, especially in the elderly population, that's a big deal. But individuals that engage in these social groups and activities, they're just more likely to participate in even health promoting activities. So, that's certainly something where it's important to get involved, getting involved is also healthy. - Yeah, a Harvard study found that a strong social tie could promote brain health as we age too. So, the lack of social bonds is associated with decreased levels of stress and inflammation. - Increase in those other ways, yeah. Increasing levels of stress, yeah, I know what you meant. So, you can look at it in our ways, but it increases your stress and inflammation if you're not involved, you're not socially involved. - Okay. - Exactly, so it's kind of hard to understand that sometimes. But yeah, these interactions are very important from that standpoint. I mean, obviously, if you're able to use your brain, use your mind and induce those thought processes where you keep the aid yet. Keep the nerves, the working matter, you keep things sharper. So, developing new skills, new activities, things that require thought and movement. There's studies that show not just increasing thought by doing crossword puzzles, but doing activities that train your brain and move your body at the same time, exponentially increase that level of health. So, and really helps to maintain the brain. - Yeah, I think another thing that's interesting is oftentimes we have a hard time keeping promises to ourselves and keeping ourselves accountable. But when we are, you know, make a promise to a friend or someone else, we're more likely to, you know, go do that thing that we said we were gonna do, that if it was just ourselves we might say, oh, I'm just not gonna do that today. - Keeps you accountable. - Yeah. So, something that has been coming a lot too is how community changes as you age. So, you know, it is a really fascinating thing. How your community changes as you grow an age. - Right. - 'Cause, you know, younger in the younger community, you know, you're gonna go run around with your friends, your buddies, if you're 70 or 80 years old and maybe you do it, don't run around buddies at the bar, you know, good at, you know, it's been like that. But, you know, maybe it's more of a card games or maybe it's a dancing events, you know, pickleball. Never knows, pickleball is a big thing right now. So, those types of things are community based and they're social interactions. - No, so I do think it's as looking back at my communities that I have had, you know, when you're in school, you've got your school friends and then as you start working, you've got friends at work. That's kind of where you're meeting people. And then, you know, you get married and you've got friends that you bring together in that relationship and then you bring the kids into the picture and then your kids' friends, parents are part of and, you know, depending on what community you live in, you know, when. - But even in work environment, obviously, just, you know, hitting that work environment, you know, if you're in a line of work where you're by your self or instance, maybe you're at home doing the internet or, you know, remote work, you don't have that social interaction necessarily. And, you know, so a line of work can make a big difference in your interaction, in your oath. - That is true. And I think especially since COVID, that's something that is even more present than it probably was prior to COVID because there's a lot more remote and working from home and those types of things. - Right. - And kind of a lot. Growing in this community, I think recently, you know, we've become empty nesters. And so that's a whole another, you know, you don't have kids at home to create certain things. - Just going to the events. Yeah, I mean, you know, they were so involved in sports or, you know, school related activities. And, you know, that's what you would see, you know, adults, for instance, of the other children. So, you know, you lose that social interaction. But yeah, as the age, it changes your interactions. - Yeah, and it does, it gets to be, for some people, I would say for myself, I'll speak for myself here, it is harder to make friends as you get older just because there's not as much... - Opportunity. - Opportunity to meet new people. I know that, you know, I've had different workout places that I've gone, that I've been able to make friends and things like that, I think. - Yeah, 'cause that's something of you. Like, you like to work out in a group, you know, or have a community of involvement where you work. But I'm kind of at the other end of that. I actually like to kind of work out alone or run alone. I'm not much of a social butterfly when it comes to exercise. - What about would you be if there was someone? - Potentially yes, and but also the benefits of that is that like we talked about is keeping you honest, you know? You have a commitment and it keeps you going. It keeps you on track with your health goal, if you will. - Sure, I would agree with that. But I think you might enjoy working out. In fact, I know you would. You would enjoy working out with other people as you may still do some things on your own, but real, you know, so. - Yeah. - Anybody who's into long distance running at a pretty quick pace, this is your guy, right here. - No, no. (laughing) It's called Waddison's running and struggling as you go. It's hard to speak sometimes when we have social conversations when I'm trying to get up the hill when the 90 degree heat. - Right, so another piece of community, as we're talking about, is, you know, in relationships, obviously, we have worked together. I mean, we are working together last time. - Anyhow. - And now that we ever have. - True. - Probably, except for at the very beginning. But essentially, obviously, we like hanging out together because we spend a lot of time together. - Well, we've got this business together. We're better like hanging out. - That's right. But it is interesting, too, to think about. We do enjoy hanging out with other couples that like to do the same things that we like to do. And, you know, focusing on, and what I don't know the word I'm talking about. But, you know, working on those relationships, it's, you know, important to do to remind yourself to get out there. And, you know, even past where we are, retirement. And we have, you know, sprints who have retired, and family members who have retired. And what a transition. I think we have a friend who recently retired and somebody was telling them, oh, congratulations, you've retired. And, you know, are you excited? And she was kind of like, well, it's kind of like somebody died. So, it is. It's a big transition. And you're going from a place where you're seeing these people at work, and then you're not anywhere. So you really have to be mindful about creating that space and interaction. - And it's really not easy to find other couples or individuals that have gotten to that stage in their life where they have retired, or they don't have children anymore, they don't have pets. And so, there's a lot of-- - Do have pets. - Yeah, there's a lot of parks that create a difficulty to interact with those individuals from a social environment too. So, but, you know, there again, you know, but you can always have areas of interest that you can come up with so that they do raise conversation, I suppose. - Yeah, well, and I mean, I think even for you, learning to fly, that opened up a whole new world of different friends for you to-- - Right. - --meet and-- - And you know, it's just like, better playing that banjo. I might just get me a gig going. Me a band gig, it will be traveling, I'm sure. - Oh boy, there we go. And I think it's also important to remember too that even relationships with your family, as you age, as you all age, your children are aging too, and they're becoming their own people, and they're getting their own interests and liking their own things. I think it's so important to be mindful about how you keep that connection because it's gonna be more work than it was when your kids were just living at home and they were kind of playing by your rules and doing your things or you're, you know, doing the sports and doing that thing. I have found this to be very true as my kids have grown and looking for things that we both enjoy doing 'cause, you know, I like to walk and go outside and do those types of things, and I have a daughter that isn't the funnest thing for her, so I have to look for things that we can both enjoy doing together, which-- - I think goodness, we like being outside and being active, so it makes it a little bit easier for us to motivate the other one to get to moving there to go do this, and so, but you're right. And then there's the pets, the role of pets. You know, it's a whole 'nother scenario there, but having, you know, the dogs are cats and kind of more of the dog kind of person, but they tend to motivate you also from a responsibility standpoint, but also you want them to be able to be healthy and be active, and they like to be outside and run and go play, and so then you start meeting other Sophia and meet other individuals, that's true, yes. - We did have a point when we had one dog that did not like Fox, and one dog that loves Fox. - So that makes that a little difficult. - It does make it hard. - 'Cause the dog's short for a long time. - So it's not just a people problem. - Yeah, true. And then that, you know, it's not just, just not just about four legged animals, either way, we got chickens too, so they created a little more of a responsibility standpoint, so more ways than one. - Yes, that is very true, very true. Having pets too is, I think you've kind of already mentioned this, but gets you out to the dog park if you have a dog that's, and there's other folks that, you know, they're active, and they like to be outside with their pets too, so you kind of get to meet people that way also. - Yeah. - But yeah, obviously, you know, social interactions can, that really makes a big difference on, you know, your physical health and your mental health, I think those are two things that are real important, and that somewhat get overlooked. It's not just having a relationship or a friend that you can text or call, you know, it's about getting out and seeing them or being more active, and then that just improves your overall quality. - Right, and accountability. I think that is such a big piece. We kind of talked about that in another podcast about your healthcare and just, you know, being accountable for your own health. Well, this is another layer of that where you can help each other be accountable for those things that you know are gonna help you along the way of, you know, being more healthy and getting those healthy habits ingrained. - Yeah, just keeping that activity going, keeping that social interaction, the conversation that is gonna keep your mind sharp, keep you physically active, you know, and very importantly, reduce your likelihood of depression because when you get over it, you get isolated, isolation is such that you really create a lot of mental health problems for folks. - Yeah. - Like COVID did. - Yeah, for sure. So I think the other piece of this is so aligned with all of the other areas of health and the fact that the more proactive you are, the earlier you are at being proactive, the easier it is, right? So kind of being intentional about creating friendships and... - Right, right. That makes a huge difference. It's not always easy to get out there and put that foot forward to wanna try to do that. And a lot of folks feel uncomfortable, but you know, get out of your comfort zone. Might just change things for you. - Yeah, and I think that that is, you find that in a lot of different areas where the idea, I mean, this is for me absolutely the truth. The idea of doing something, it may feel like, "Oh, do I really wanna do this?" And then once I do it, I'm like, totally happy. - Yes, absolutely. So... - Yeah, like whether it's a race, a physical event or whether it's just simply a volunteer event, you know, go down to the food pantry or go pass things out or, you know, it's certainly something. Now obviously, you know, we met medical missions, events, you know, so we met on the other side of the earth. And so, you know, in those situations, you wouldn't have the opportunities that you have if you didn't go to volunteer for those types of charitable events. - Yes, that is very true. So there's lots of ideas, tips and tricks of things that you can do locally in your community. And, you know, I think even worldwide, you know, kind of creating connection and, you know, meeting people and then going to visit and travel. And then that's a whole new, whole new thing. - Right, yeah. It's fun to see them at, you know, similar events, you know, that you continue to go back to... - Yeah. - Or participate. And are you gonna get to catch up? - Yeah. - It's great to be fun. - So ultimately, as we're going through all of these different things, in community, is really big for your social health. And social health is a big part of your overall health. So, that's kind of where we got here. - Right, yeah. It's certainly something that it's, you know, socializing is one thing. I mean, I come easy for people, but, you know, once it's initiated, you know, you work at it a little, but it becomes very easy, very natural. And it's also very healthy. - Yeah, so we're putting it out there. We want to meet people who are interested in the things we're interested in. So if that's you, reach out. We'd love to connect and, you know, we'd love to offer resources too, if, you know, maybe we're not your cup of tea and that's okay, but, you know, maybe there's a way to make some connections with some people who are your cup of tea. - Absolutely, exactly. Very good. So we hope you learn something. We hope that you'll get involved. We hope that you'll think about, you know, your own social life and, you know, maybe the social life of your spouse or your significant other. So it's, or your kids or your family. Think about that and keep that interaction going forward. Keep positive. I think you're gonna find out that in the long run, it's gonna benefit you from many different ways and we know that it's gonna create a more healthier life for you. - Absolutely. - So have a healthy day. We'll look forward to talking with anybody and then we'll see you at the next podcast. (upbeat music) - Thank you for tuning in to another episode of RevUp Health. We hope you're leaving with some valuable insights to supercharge your health journey. - Don't forget to follow or subscribe to RevUp Health wherever you listen to your podcasts. And if you enjoyed today's episode, please leave us a rating and review. - Have a topic you want us to explore, reach out to us on social media channels. We love hearing from our wellness community. - Until next time, keep thriving and remember, your journey to health is a journey to a better you. - Stay well and we'll connect with you again soon. This is Tandy. - And this is Dr. Mark signing off from RevUp Health. Take care. (upbeat music) - The information provided in this podcast is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. The content is designed to support, not replace the relationship that exists between a patient and their healthcare provider. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional before making any changes to your healthcare regimen, including diet, exercise or treatment plans. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of revelation, health, and well-being.
Feeling isolated in today's world? You're not alone. But what if building strong social connections could be the key to unlocking a healthier, happier, and even longer life? Join Dr. Mark and Tandi Hechler, the passionate duo behind Revelation Health & Well-Being, as they explore the science-backed benefits of community and how it can transform your well-being. In this thought-provoking episode, you'll discover: The Science of Social Connection: Learn how strong social ties can rival the ...
