Stanford Neuroscientist: THIS Is The Secret To Living Longer (It's Not Diet Or Exercise)

I’ve always wondered how specifically having good relationships can decrease our likelihood of cancer or having a heart attack, and improve our immune systems and brain health. Well, I asked a Stanford Neuroscientist and his answers are absolutely fascinating. Dr. Ben Rein is an award-winning neuroscientist and lecturer at Stanford, and the author of the phenomenal new book, Why Brains Need Friends. We are talking about why hanging out with your friends floods your brain with a chemical cocktail that is basically a microdose of MDMA, why being married beats chemotherapy as the number one predictor of surviving cancer, why Botox and Tylenol and Advil are making it harder to make friends, yes, really, and why we should all probably get dogs and get our parents to get dogs if we want them to live a long time. You're going to come away with a ton of action steps to not only live longer and be healthier, but also just feel better every single day. 🎧 What you’ll learn: • How to find your ideal "social dose" • Introvert or extrovert: You might be wrong about yourself • How to audit your social life • The Botox friendship problem • The neuroscience behind social anxiety (why you dread going out) • What your pet is doing to your brain • The hidden social side effects of Tylenol and Advil Find the introversion to extroversion assessment and the social journal mentioned in this episode here: (tag @lizmoody and @dr.benrein with your results!). For more from Dr. Ben Rein: • Book, Why Brains Need Friends: • Instagram: • Website: Check out our NEW YouTube Channel with tons of YouTube exclusive Shorts, exclusive podcast content, and full video episodes: ⁠ Ready to uplevel every part of your life? Order Liz’s book 100 Ways to Change Your Life: The Science of Leveling Up Health, Happiness, Relationships & Success now! Connect with Liz on Instagram @lizmoody or online at

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Stanford Neuroscientist: THIS Is The Secret To Living Longer (It's Not Diet Or Exercise) is an episode from Healthier Together by Liz Moody.

This episode is 94:31 long.

This episode was published on Jun 10, 2026.

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