Last week I spent seven days riding my bicycle across Iowa during RAGBRAI, the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. Every year, thousands of cyclists ride from one side of the state to the other, stopping in small towns along the way. It is part cycling event, part traveling festival, and part family reunion.
Like most people who sign up for RAGBRAI, I went because I enjoy riding my bike – but I came home reminded that the real value of the week had very little to do with cycling.
It was about the people.
I reconnected with friends and friends of friends who hadn’t seen each other in years. I met dozens of new people while riding, eating, camping, and standing in line for coffee (and pie – and beer). It struck me how quickly complete strangers become friends when you’re sharing an experience together. Somewhere between the miles, the conversations, and the laughter, I realized that events like this are among the “healthiest” things that any of us can do. Not because of the exercise alone, but because of the relationships.
As someone who spends a lot of time teaching about nutrition, supplements, and the biochemistry of mental wellness, that may sound like an odd conclusion. But the more I study the science of health and longevity, the more convinced I become that meaningful social connections deserve to be considered one of our most powerful health habits.
We’re currently living through what many researchers describe as a “loneliness epidemic.”
We have more ways to communicate (and “like” – “follow” – and “share”) than at any point in history, yet many people report having fewer close relationships and spending less time with others face-to-face.
Loneliness has been linked to higher rates of depression, anxiety, cardiovascular disease, cognitive decline, and even premature mortality. Our brains evolved to function within communities, and they don’t always thrive in isolation.
One of the best examples comes from the Harvard Study of Adult Development, the longest-running study of human health and happiness ever conducted. After following participants for more than eighty years, the researchers reached a remarkably simple conclusion – that being that the quality of our relationships predicts our health and happiness more consistently than wealth, career success, or even many traditional health markers.
The same lesson appears when researchers study the Blue Zones, the regions of the world where people routinely live healthy lives into their nineties and beyond. These communities certainly eat well and remain physically active, but they also share something that is easy to overlook. People belong. They know their neighbors. They spend time with family. They contribute to their communities. They have a sense of purpose that is reinforced through relationships.
The Japanese concept of ikigai is often translated as “reason for being,” but I think purpose is rarely something we discover in isolation. More often, we find purpose by serving other people, teaching, creating, raising families, mentoring, volunteering, or simply showing up for those around us. Purpose grows through connection.
Interestingly, not all relationships have to be “deep” to benefit our health. Psychologists often distinguish between strong ties and weak ties. Strong ties include our family and closest friends. Weak ties are the people we interact with briefly but regularly, the barista who knows our coffee order, the neighbor we wave to every morning, the person at the gym, or even the familiar faces we see each week during an online community or webinar.
These small interactions may seem insignificant, but research suggests they contribute more to our emotional well-being than we once believed. They remind us that we belong to a larger community. They create moments of familiarity and positivity throughout the week. Those moments add up.
That idea has influenced the way we’ve built the Mental Fitness Community. Yes, it’s a place to learn about the science of nutrition, the microbiome, stress resilience, and brain health. But, more importantly, it’s a place where people can connect with others who are working toward the same goal of improving their health from the inside out – and maybe even sharing that knowledge with others as a Certified Mental Wellness Coach (CMWC). Knowledge is valuable, but community often determines whether that knowledge becomes lasting change.
People often ask me what the most important supplement is for improving mental fitness. The truth is that supplements are only one piece of a much larger picture (just look at my “SENSE” program that I’ve been educating about for almost 30 years). Healthy food, regular movement, restorative sleep, time outdoors, meaningful work, and strong relationships all have a profound influence on the biological networks that regulate our mood, cognition, and resilience.
That was the big lesson I brought home from Iowa.
I spent seven days riding my bike, but I returned with something much more valuable than stronger legs and great tan lines. I came home feeling reconnected to friends, inspired by new relationships, and reminded that some of the most effective strategies for improving our health cannot be purchased in a bottle.
Sometimes the best investment we can make in our health is simply spending more time with other people.
