The Power of Connection in Menopause | Healthspan, Longevity, and Midlife Well-Being

Connection may be the most underrated medicine for longevity. Research shows that people with strong social ties cut their risk of early death by 50%, while loneliness raises it by 70%. As dangerous as smoking and worse than obesity.

In this episode of The Menopause Method, Cam Allen shares why relationships, community, and even your relationship with yourself are as important for healthspan as food and exercise. From the Blue Zones to the famous Alameda County Study, to Harvard’s Counterclockwise Study on acting younger, the evidence is clear: connection shapes how long and how well we live.

You’ll discover:

• Why healthspan isn’t just about steps and calories
• How loneliness impacts your body like smoking
• What the Blue Zones teach us about community and belonging
• Why environment shapes digestion, stress, and even aging
• The role of self-connection in the midlife awakening of menopause

👉 Comment below: Who makes you feel most connected right now?
👉 This episode is part of my Longevity & Healthspan series. Watch the full playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35LUiqkxSVo&list=PLy4QQqqi26gyGjOUbxq7kIyT2X2sgJhRz

Free Home Gym Guide: https://www.camoyler.com/gym-equipment-guide
Free Menopause Sleep Guide: https://www.camoyler.com/pl/2148586038
Get the Menopause Mini Workouts: https://www.camoyler.com/meno-minis.

Chapters:
00:00 Longevity: Muscles, Stress, and Resilience
04:02 Environment's Impact on Food Experience
07:46 Self-Connection: The Overlooked Medicine
09:25 Nurturing Connections and Self-Care

Transcript

0:00

We made it. We made it to part three of the Longevity series. Hey there. I'm Cam Allen. Welcome back to the Menopause Method. We have been looking at adding life to our years. We're talking about healthspan, not just adding years to your years. No one wants to be a hunched over lady walking through midlife. Oh, no, I'm going to carry my groceries and live my life to the fullest. So what does that mean? In episode one, we talked about muscle being the armor of aging. Walking is wonderful and I love walking too. But walking alone isn't enough if you want to stay strong, steady and independent all through your midlife. In episode two, we took a look at our lifestyle as far as stress goes. We talked about how our go, go, go living of our past years, our younger years, literally is not sustainable now. And we also learned that reframing stress as feedback instead of failure can actually turn it into resilience instead of a breakdown. And today we're talking about one of the most underrated drivers of longevity. It is actually community and connection. Not just relationship with others, but also our relationship with ourselves. Because that's one of the benefits of the midlife awakening. And that happens when we transition into menopause. We get to know ourselves better. We get to know and love ourselves better. So today we're talking about connection and relationships. Okay. There's powerful research showing that there is connection is critical to longevity, just as critical as diet and exercise. In fact, there is a massive meta analysis study. They took 148 studies and studied the studies, and it had over 300,000 people in it. And in their studies of the studies, they found people with strong social connections actually cut their risk of early death in half. Did you hear that? Half? Just by having strong social connections. That is powerful, and that's certainly more powerful than all the health hacks you hear on the Internet. On the flip side of that, social isolation raises the risk for early death by 70%. That's on par with smoking, and it's even more dangerous than being obese. We also know inflammation spikes inflammation in the body to some degree. And we know inflammation is the root of all illness. Let's zoom out even further to the blue zones. When you look at the blue zones, all of their diets are dramatically different. Some people eat fish and rice and beans and squash. Some other people are plant based. Some of the diets even include dairy. Yet all of these groups live long, healthier lives. So you gotta ask, why is that? And it's because they live Connected lives. They share meals together, they gather with friends. They belong to faith groups. They laugh. They're not doing life alone. Their health span is shaped by their connection. And there was another study in California, this. I remember learning about this when I was in health coaching school. Now, this isn't something that happens just on the other side of the world, right in the United States. In California, researchers followed over 7,000 people in a county near San Francisco beginning in 1965. They tracked their diet, their exercise, smoking, weight, and access to healthcare. And here's what they found. People with the strong social and community ties actually live significantly longer, even if their diet and their exercise wasn't perfect. On the other hand, people who were socially isolated were two or three times more likely to die early, even if they had access to healthy food and medical care. So think about that. You can have kale gems and all the supplements in the world at your fingertips, but if you don't have people around you, people that actually support you and lift you up, your health span is going to suffer. Now, I've seen this show up in food, too. Years ago, I stopped eating meat for a while because I couldn't handle the ethical treatment of animals, how they were treated, industrial farms. And I believe that the environment, and I still believe this, that the environment they lived in showed up in the actual meat itself. So, for example, Feedloft beet is not the same meat from, like, a regenerative farm. Literally the omega 3s and, and the nutrient density is different based on where the cow was raised. Okay, but we're no different. The environment we eat in also changes how we digest life. So let me ask you, have you ever eaten in an environment where you didn't feel comfortable, you felt uneasy, your body was in tension? Maybe you're sitting there because you've had a disagreement with the people at your table. I want you to remember that time. Did you notice that your stomach was getting tight or your digestion felt off? Did you have to use the restroom, like, suddenly because you just couldn't stomach what was going on? We even have language. We couldn't stomach it. Like, we couldn't stand it. We couldn't stomach it. Now I want you to compare that meal you shared with laughter, with friends, and it was fun. Maybe the sun was out, and maybe you're outside and you were with people. That made you feel safe and relaxed. Same food, totally a different experience in your body. So let's go even deeper. In the late 70s, Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer ran a study. What is Called the counterclockwise study. Check this one out. They, it was men, but so we'll forgive them for that. So what they did is they took a group of older men and immersed them in the environment that looked and felt like 20 years ago. So the world looked like it was 20 years ago. They listened to the music from 20 years ago. They watched TV and commercials from that time period. They did activities that they once enjoyed 20 years ago. And check this out. After just five days, they didn't just feel younger, they actually looked younger in the after photo. They acted younger and they even tested younger. They tested their posture, their energy, their grip strength, which we talked about in episode one. Memory. And all of their health markers improved in just five days. That's how powerful your environment is and the experiences that you share, who you're with and what you're immersed in. The rhythms and the rituals around you absolutely shape your body and your health span. I always say, like, your diet includes what you read, what you watch, and you know, social media can be amazing or it can be like very toxic. So your diet includes everything. So let's pull this idea through your four bodies, because we have a spiritual body, an emotional body, and a mental body that forms our physical body. So let's see how connection and community shows up in your physical body first. Well, you feel safe, you feel connected. You have lower stress hormones, which boosts your immunity and actually improves your digestion. Okay, so that's your physical body. What about your emotional body? Your belonging helps soothe your shame and your loneliness and your self doubt. So your emotional body, the things you say to yourself are going to be more positive when you feel connected. What about the mental body? That's the conversation and the perspective that clear the fog and to remind yourself that you're not alone. So mentally you feel better about yourself. And then spiritually, being seen and known affirms that you matter and you're connected to something bigger than yourself. So belief is part of that as well. And here's the piece that most of us overlook. Your relationship with yourself. Midlife is often the first time women pause long enough to ask, do I even enjoy my own company? What do I even like to do? How do I talk to myself? Do I talk to myself in kindness? Do I even know who I am? That relationship is also medicine, because if you don't feel steady with yourself, it's truly hard to receive steadiness from others. Yet most health advice stops at your food and your exercise. Just like, did you check the box? What's in your plate? How many macros did you eat? Did you get your steps in? Did you lift your weights? But the bigger question is who is at your table with you? Who is walking beside you? Who can you call when you need to talk to someone? And how are you relating to yourself? Maybe we're just counting calories when what we really need is we're starving for some connection. So I invite yourself to notice when you're with people, who feels like home? Do you feel it in your body? Like they feel awesome to you? What would it be like if you started seeing your relationships with others and yourself as literally medicine and longevity for your health? And what about this? Do you want to keep chasing health in isolation, checking the box? I did the workout, I got my steps in. Or do you want to step into health span, meaning that it's connection and belonging and self compassion really is at the center of it all. So I'm leaving you with another reflection you might want to journal on this. Who in my life do I feel safe with? Who do I feel seen and steady with? And how can I spend more time in those feelings? What's one small way I can deepen my relationship with myself this week? Maybe it's quiet time. We need some quiet time. Turn off the phone, turn turn off the TV and hang out with yourself. Because at the end of the day, health isn't about what's just on your plate. That's just like one part of the puzzle. It's really who's at your table with you and how are you showing up with yourself? I'd love to hear from you. Comment below and tell me who makes you feel the most connected right now or share what's one way you're choosing to connect with yourself this week? And if this conversation resonated with you, check the show notes. I've linked a whole bunch of free guides, including a bone health guide, and I even included a guided meditation thanking your bones. Your bones literally give you structure so you can experience your beautiful life. And there's also paid programs there if you're ready for the next step. And don't forget to like and follow and share this episode with a friend who needs a reminder. Tell them, hey you, you're part of my tribe and connection really is medicine. Be sure to tune in next week because we have Our Final Part 4 of the longevity series. I can't wait to hear from you then, so I'll see you then.