What Does Kindness Do for Your Health?

Dr. Ng:  We are increasingly living in a world where people may be turning to their devices or turning to technology, but not necessarily to one another in meaningful ways. Being kind to yourself and others allows us to be connected to other people, and it's really that connection that is life-saving. We definitely see that when people are less connected and more isolated, they're less likely to be physically healthy, mentally well, or also live as long.

Courtney Allison: Welcome to Health Matters, your dose of the latest in health and wellness from NewYork-Presbyterian. I'm Courtney Allison.

This season on Health Matters, we're covering your health from A to Z, asking our experts to break down the health topics and wellness trends we're all curious about. Today, we're at K for kindness. You might not realize kindness can impact our health, but research shows it actually changes what's happening inside our bodies. To explore the science of kindness, we're joined once again by Dr. Warren Ng, a psychiatrist with the Center for Youth Mental Health at NewYork-Presbyterian. He shares why kindness makes us feel good, how it supports our mental and physical health, and how small, intentional acts of compassion can ripple outward.

Dr. Ng, thank you so much for coming back to Health Matters. We are so happy to have you here.

Dr. Ng: Thank you so much, Courtney. It's such a pleasure to be with you.

Courtney: So we're here today to talk about how kindness can benefit our health. To start, what does it mean to be kind? Is it an emotion? Is it an act?

Dr. Ng: I think being kind is a very rich experience. First, it starts with a thought and an intention, and also a sense of connection with another person.

Courtney: Yeah.

Dr. Ng: And hopefully it will result in an action which will be felt and experienced by the other, and it doesn't have to be a dramatic action. Being kind can just be greeting someone in the morning with intention, complimenting someone in a way that is unique to them and authentic to you. Kindness has a ripple effect, and it can be very contagious, and researchers have found that when you are kind to someone, they are more likely to be kind to at least five other people. So that could actually help create a better world just by being kind.

Courtney: Why do I feel so good after a kind interaction? Is it something in our brain? Are there feel-good chemicals being released?

Dr. Ng: Courtney, that is the magical question, and I think it really speaks to the power of our mind and our body connection. There are things happening within our body when we're kind. One of the things when you're kind is that you and your body release oxytocin, which is a hormone, which gives people these fuzzy feelings of contentment or happiness. People call it the feel-good hormone, but it's also very important because it allows us to feel connectedness and attachment to others. Oxytocin is seen as being a cardio-protective hormone-

Courtney: Hmm

Dr. Ng: ... meaning that it actually causes the release of nitric acid, which dilates our blood vessels, reduces our blood pressure, decreases risk of heart attack, stroke, dementia. The other thing that happens when we respond positively to acts of kindness is that there's a neurotransmitter, serotonin, which is increased within our brains and our bodies, and that can decrease the levels of anxiety. We actually create substance P, which is an endorphin, which we sometimes call a helper's high, and that also allows that person to feel better.

Courtney: Is there research that shows what that means for long-term health?

Dr. Ng: I really love the Harvard study on adult development because that's the longest-running study that really linked kindness and happiness to longevity, health outcomes, healthy life, even more so than IQ, wealth, and genetics. And it is related to not only the hormones and the neurochemistry that I spoke about, but just the fact that being kind can also reduce the level of our stress hormones, cortisol, for example, within our body. Kindness also helps us strengthen what we call our immunoglobulins, which is a part of our immune system. Researchers have studied that when people are actually watching or experiencing kindness or acts of altruism, that the levels of your immunoglobulin A actually increase for that individual. So these are some very positive physical health benefits to just being kind.

Courtney: I actually came across some research that said kindness might also help reduce skin aging. Could that be true?

Dr. Ng: It does actually slow aging, and it slows aging-

Courtney: Oh

Dr. Ng: ... by reducing our levels of stress hormone or cortisol, and we know that when we are stressed, it also impacts our immune system as well as aging.

Courtney: That's fascinating. So forget Botox.

Dr. Ng: [laughs]

Courtney: Go buy someone a coffee, go volunteer, [laughs] and you're all set.

Dr. Ng: Exactly.

Courtney: There was one study I thought that was really interesting. It was a large experiment called the Baltimore Experience Corps Trial, in which adults aged 60 and older were randomly assigned to either volunteer at elementary schools or be put on a waiting list. The volunteers spent at least 15 hours a week tutoring underprivileged kids. After two years, the volunteers had measurable changes to their brain health and cognitive function versus the waiting list.

Dr. Ng: There has been research looking specifically at Alzheimer's prevention and also mitigating some of the effects of aging, as well as your brain health, that have been noticed with acts of kindness, and particularly with volunteering and doing good for others. And there is a part of our brain called the hippocampus that is related to learning and memory, and they noticed in this study at the Baltimore Experience Corps that the people who volunteered actually maintained their brain volume more-

Courtney: Wow

Dr. Ng: ... than people who didn't. Some of the things they found very important in that study was really the idea of having purpose in life and having meaning, and volunteering is one way to manifest that.

Courtney: I’m just remembering a loved one who said, "The best thing you can do in life is to help others." I feel like when you volunteer and you’re helping someone else, you’re kind of getting your mind off your own problems. I wonder if there’s a benefit to that, too.

Dr. Ng: Sometimes we have to get out of our own heads in order to see ourselves more clearly. The beauty of having that relationship with someone else gives us an opportunity for empathy to try to understand the experience of someone else. And when we're able to do that, that gets us out of our head to be more empathic, because I think just focusing on oneself can be very isolating, and we've seen that that has negative impacts on our health and wellbeing as well. There's the word mindfulness that we often think of as a way to be more present and to be more aware of yourself, your surroundings, et cetera. And so some people have coined the phrase kindfulness.

Courtney: Hmm.

Dr. Ng: So it's being mindful and intentional about being kind.

Courtney: I love that, kindfulness. Could you expand on some ways we can be kindful?

Dr. Ng: Part of kindfulness is being mindful, so be intentional.

Courtney: Hmm.

Dr. Ng: Think about what you're doing for the other person, um, but also how it feels like for you. So if I'm being kindful and thinking about, "How can I be kind today? Is there someone that I'm worried about that I'd like to send a text to? Is there someone that needs my help today?" It's also really important just to be kind to yourself. Be mindful that you're important, too. By putting on your oxygen mask first, you can then help more people. Being able to think that way and being kind to yourself allows you to be there for others.

Courtney: I personally find it much harder to be kind to myself than to be kind to [laughs] others. So asking for a friend, do you have any more advice on that one? How can we be kind to ourselves?

Dr. Ng: The most important thing is that it's not selfish. It's really allowing ourselves to think about, "What would someone who cares about me want from me? And therefore, what are some of those things that I could do for myself?" And it can be little things like making sure that you eat, making sure [laughs] that you get enough sleep.

Courtney: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ng: The other thing is also being compassionate and forgiving for yourself. Also thinking about gratitude and what am I grateful for today. Having that wonderful practice and intention has also been shown to have very positive health and mental health impacts.

Courtney: What’s the relationship between being kind to yourself and self-esteem?

Dr. Ng: That's a great question. Being kind to yourself is acknowledging that you're important. And so being able to acknowledge first that you're important, that you matter, is an important component of self-esteem. Because self-esteem isn't about thinking about yourself in an exaggerated way. Self-esteem is just understanding your value.

Courtney: Hmm.

Dr. Ng: It's understanding your importance, understanding that you matter. And when we have self-esteem and a sense of our own value in our world, and to know that you can have such a positive impact on other people, yourself, that's a powerful thing.

Courtney: Why does being kind matter today? Why should grownups be concerned or bothered to be kind?

Dr. Ng: I think being kind today is more important than ever. We currently live in a world where there's a lot of stress. And during difficult times, we need to protect ourselves, and we need to protect the ones around us, and this is a wonderful way for us to do that. Sometimes we might feel a little powerless, helpless, and hopeless in our situation, and this is a wonderful reminder to say that you have agency. You have power. You have the ability to make the world a better place.

Courtney: Could being kind also help us feel closer to people, maybe a little less lonely?

Dr. Ng: Unfortunately, we are increasingly living in a world where people may be turning to their devices or are turning to technology, but not necessarily to one another in meaningful ways, and that has very serious health and mental health consequences. Being kind to yourself and others allows us to be connected to other people, and it's really that connection with other people that is life-saving.

Courtney: Wow.

Dr. Ng: We definitely see that when people are less connected and more isolated, they're less likely to be physically healthy, mentally well, or also live as long. People who are having difficulty being kind or are not kind, doesn't mean that they don't need kindness. Some people say that they're often the people who need it the most.

Courtney: Any other thoughts you'd like to leave us with on kindness and its impact on our health and those around us?

Dr. Ng: We need more kindness. We need more connections to one another and less focus on the media headlines and more on the underlying heartlines. The heartlines are really our collective humanity and what it really means to be human.

Courtney: Thank you for your kindness in sharing this with us, Dr. Ng.

Dr. Ng: Thank you, Courtney. It was such a joy and a pleasure to be able to share kindness with you and to also receive your kindness.

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Courtney: Our many thanks to Dr. Warren Ng. I'm Courtney Allison. Health Matters is a production of NewYork-Presbyterian. The views shared on this podcast solely reflect the expertise and experience of our guests.

To learn more about Dr. Ng's work with patients, check out the show notes. NewYork-Presbyterian is here to help you stay amazing at every stage of your life. Join us next time when we discuss Lyme disease and how to watch out for the ticks that carry it. That's in two weeks, right here on Health Matters. So you don't miss it, be sure to follow and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get podcasts.