Dr. Eric Verdin, president of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, argues that people are overemphasizing supplements and high-tech devices in their pursuit of health and longevity, while neglecting simpler factors such as sleep, movement, nutrition, stress reduction, and human connection. Studies have shown that loneliness can increase the risk of premature death by 26% and is more harmful to longevity than smoking or obesity. Dr. Verdin suggests that good social connections not only improve mental health but also directly impact physical health, while bad social connections can accelerate age-related diseases. He notes that modern life often makes it difficult for people to form strong social connections.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-26,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
While biohackers are “optimizing” and Bryan Johnson is turning his life into one giant longevity experiment, regular people are left wondering how rigid their routines really need to be for better health and well-being.
asserted
routines → optimize → health
And in all the health “maxxing,” supplement stacks and high-tech devices, something crucial may be being forgotten.
uncertain
something → forget → maxxing
Ultimately, one of the most proven drivers of longevity is free, backed by science — and something you likely want to do.
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you → prove → science
Dr. Eric Verdin, president and CEO of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, worries there’s too much focus on supplements, cold plunges, red-light panels and continuous monitoring.
But there is no need to spend your hard-earned cash making life feel less enjoyable.
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life → worry → cash
Instead, he stresses, people should be focusing on sleep, movement, nutrition, stress reduction — and human connection.
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people → stress → sleep
That’s because the simplest key to health may just be fun, friends and simply enjoying yourself.
uncertain
key → ’ → yourself
“You can’t buy it, track it on a wearable, or optimize it into a protocol — so the longevity-as-engineering crowd tends to skip past it, but the biology is real,” he told The Post.
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he → buy → Post
“Loneliness and isolation drive chronic stress, and chronic stress drives inflammation, which is one of the core mechanisms of aging.
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which → drive → aging
The data is legit — and the cost of not engaging socially is sobering.
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cost → engage → ?
Those who feel they belong to a community are 2.6 times more likely to report good or excellent health than those without.
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they → feel → those
Loneliness literally increases the risk of premature death by over a quarter, with a 2015 analysis of more than 3.4 million people finding that people who reported being lonely had a 26% higher likelihood of mortality.
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who → increase → mortality
Another study from BYU found that social relationships improve your odds of survival by 50%.
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relationships → find → %
A lack of social connection may be as harmful to longevity as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day — and is more harmful than obesity.
uncertain
lack → smoke → obesity
For one, people with a social network may be more likely to take care of themselves.
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people → take → themselves
“When someone is connected to a group and feels responsibility for other people, that sense of purpose and meaning translates to taking better care of themselves and taking fewer risks,” BYU professor Julianne Holt-Lunstad explained.
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Lunstad → connect → risks
Though her study lumped all social connections together — both negative and positive — Verdin argues that bad social connections can age you too.
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connections → lump → you
“Adverse social conditions keep the stress response chronically switched on.
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response → keep → ?
That elevates inflammatory signaling and chronic inflammation (what some of us call ‘inflammaging’), accelerating essentially every age-related disease, from cardiovascular disease to neurodegeneration,” he said.
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he → elevate → neurodegeneration
Having good connections, meanwhile, buffers stress and dampens that inflammation.
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Having → have → inflammation
So why aren’t we all just… hanging out with our loved ones?
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we → hang → ones
A large part of the problem is that modern life doesn’t help.
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life → help → problem
Strong human connections and avoiding loneliness have become a matter of national importance, with the CDC researching loneliness across the country.
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CDC → avoid → country
Social isolation has increased in the aftermath of COVID, and in America, young men are reported to be lonelier than those in other wealthy countries.
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men → increase → countries
One poll suggests a quarter of men aged 15 to 34 had been experiencing loneliness.
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quarter → suggest → loneliness
Another found that in 2021, 12% of Americans reported having no close friends; that’s up 3% since 1990.
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that → find → 1990
It’s not just company we need — there’s also joy.
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we → ’ → ?
Gerontologist Dr. Kerry Burnight’s bestselling book, Joyspan, brought a new word to aging science.
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book → bring → science
The term gives a name to the years you can enjoy a good quality of life, well-being and satisfaction.
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you → give → life
“Joy isn’t luck or temperament,” Dr. Burnight explained.
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Burnight → explain → ?
“It’s a learnable skill built on four research-based practices: grow, connect, adapt and give.
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It → ’ → practices
“You can perfect every protocol and still miss the point…
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You → perfect → point
Social connection rivals or beats most of what we track on a lab report.
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we → rival → report
So by all means, measure your glucose and your VO2 max, but then also ask yourself: Who did I laugh with today? Who did I reach out to?
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I → measure → Who
Connection isn’t the soft stuff around the edges of longevity; it’s the engine.”
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it → ’ → longevity
The idea of “joyspan” popped up at The Longevity Show (coming to New York next May) in London — even amidst a mix of leading experts talking about buzzier topics like what we can learn from our oral microbiome and the pros and cons of various tracking devices.
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we → pop → devices
Day two of the event opened with a “longevity rave.”
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Day → open → rave
Coverage of these events had gone viral when 60-year-old health strategist and entrepreneur “DJ Tina Technotic,” aka Tina Woods, first took to the decks in 2024.
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Technotic → go → 2024
This was not a midlife crisis: The company she cofounded is pioneering research into the science of human connection and how it impacts our biology.
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it → cofounde → biology
Those attending have been known to range from 18 to 81 years old.
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Those → attend → 18
The whole exercise has now evolved into what they call the “JoyScore Experiment,” a science program for neuroscientists, longevity researchers, universities and tech people to see how music, dance, synchrony and community impact how we age.
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we → evolve → what
…and 24 more, not listed.
