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Aardig zijn - het beste medicijn
Scientific evidence has proven that kindness changes the brain, impacts the heart and immune system, and may even be an antidote to depression. We're actually genetically wired to be kind. In this book, inspirational ex-scientist David Hamilton shows that kindness has evolved in us and thus its effects are felt daily throughout our nervous systems. When we're kind, our bodies are healthiest. This groundbreaking book is filled with fascinating new discoveries, how kindness developed in our genes; that love and kindness can make a damaged heart regenerate faster; how kindness and compassion alter the neural structures of our brains; and that gratitude can make you at least 25 per cent happier. This unique book fuses scientific research around being kind with inspirational real life examples of kindness from ordinary people. Reading these stories will nourish your soul and leave you with renewed optimism for the future, and this book will help you see the many levels on which taking the time to make a difference could transform your health - and your whole world.
- GenresHealthNonfiction
283 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2010
10 people are currently reading
166 people want to read
About the author
David R. Hamilton
22 books151 followersDavid has a first class honors degree in chemistry, specializing in biological and medicinal chemistry. He has the slightly geeky honour of having achieved 100% in his 3rd year university degree exam in ‘Statistical Mechanics’, which is a branch of quantum physics applied to chemistry.
After completing his PhD, he worked for 4 years in the pharmaceutical industry, first developing drugs for cardiovascular disease and cancer, then a year managing leadership and change projects. During this time he also served as an athletics coach and manager of Sale Harriers Manchester, one of the UK’s largest athletics clubs, leading the Junior Men’s team to three successive UK finals. Upon leaving the pharmaceutical industry, he co-founded the international relief charity Spirit Aid Foundation and served as a director for 2 years.
While writing his first book (2004-2005), he taught chemistry (main) plus ecology and mathematics (secondary) at West College Scotland (formerly, James Watt College of Further and Higher Education) and tutored chemistry at the University of Glasgow.
He’s now a bestselling author of 8 books (No’s 9 and 10 are due out in 2017) published by Hay House UK, and offer talks and workshops that use science to inspire – fusing neuroscience, the mind-body connection, kindness, and philosophical and eastern spiritual teachings. He also writes a regular blog on his website as well as occasional blogs for the Huffington Post (US edition) and Psychologies Life Labs, and is a columnist for Soul and Spirit Magazine. In 2016, David won the Kindred Spirit, ‘Best MBS Writer Award’.
He has been featured in numerous publications, including ELLE, RED Magazine, Psychologies, YOU Magazine, Good Housekeeping (both UK & US), and several newspapers.
You might wonder how he got into writing on the subjects he does. In his own words, “Well, during my time in the pharmaceutical industry, I was fascinated by the placebo effect – how people improve through believing they are receiving a drug – so I began to study mind-body interactions in my spare time. I decided to leave the pharmaceutical industry after 4 years because I wanted to educate about the mind-body connection, help people to believe in themselves more, and spread a little more kindness in the world in my own way.”
After completing his PhD, he worked for 4 years in the pharmaceutical industry, first developing drugs for cardiovascular disease and cancer, then a year managing leadership and change projects. During this time he also served as an athletics coach and manager of Sale Harriers Manchester, one of the UK’s largest athletics clubs, leading the Junior Men’s team to three successive UK finals. Upon leaving the pharmaceutical industry, he co-founded the international relief charity Spirit Aid Foundation and served as a director for 2 years.
While writing his first book (2004-2005), he taught chemistry (main) plus ecology and mathematics (secondary) at West College Scotland (formerly, James Watt College of Further and Higher Education) and tutored chemistry at the University of Glasgow.
He’s now a bestselling author of 8 books (No’s 9 and 10 are due out in 2017) published by Hay House UK, and offer talks and workshops that use science to inspire – fusing neuroscience, the mind-body connection, kindness, and philosophical and eastern spiritual teachings. He also writes a regular blog on his website as well as occasional blogs for the Huffington Post (US edition) and Psychologies Life Labs, and is a columnist for Soul and Spirit Magazine. In 2016, David won the Kindred Spirit, ‘Best MBS Writer Award’.
He has been featured in numerous publications, including ELLE, RED Magazine, Psychologies, YOU Magazine, Good Housekeeping (both UK & US), and several newspapers.
You might wonder how he got into writing on the subjects he does. In his own words, “Well, during my time in the pharmaceutical industry, I was fascinated by the placebo effect – how people improve through believing they are receiving a drug – so I began to study mind-body interactions in my spare time. I decided to leave the pharmaceutical industry after 4 years because I wanted to educate about the mind-body connection, help people to believe in themselves more, and spread a little more kindness in the world in my own way.”
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 15, 2015
This is another inspiring book by the wonderful Scottish author, David Hamilton. He communicates to us all sorts of uplifting truths and provides us with scientific evidence to back up his information.
I have known for a long time that love heals, but now David shows us how! When we are loving to one another we emit oxytocin, a “kindness protein” or a “molecule of kindness”, and it turns out that this oxytocin speeds up wound healing, reduces blood pressure, softens our arteries, reduces inflammation, stimulates angiogenesis (the growth of new blood vessels), repairs a broken heart and turns on heart-muscle regeneration. I found this to be amazing and wonderful information.
When we connect with someone, oxytocin flows through our brain and body. It gives us “the helper’s high”. Kindness “occupies the same neural circuits as addictive drugs”. The helper’s high comes in part from the release of endogenous opiates in the brain. Endogenous opiates are those produced by the body.
When we are kind, serotonin and dopamine are also released in the brain, helping to lift our mood and make us feel more positive. The oxytocin produced by an interaction between two people helps to strengthen bonds with others by making us feel more connected. Kindness can be as good as pain-killing drugs owing to the release of the endogenous opiates or endorphins. These bond to cells in the part of the brain involved in transmitting pain, “taking the place of the chemicals that transmit pain signals and so interrupting the transmission of pain signals through the brain”.
We are informed of the benefits of loving-kindness meditation (see my review of “Loving-kindness, The Revolutionary Art of Happiness” by Sharon Salzberg), which benefits include pain relief and the increase of positive emotions such as love, joy and gratitude in those practicing this meditation on a daily basis.
There are chapters about the power of compassion, having the nerve to be compassionate and how kindness changes the brain.
Just as the brain changes as we move our muscles, it also changes as we think. This changeability of the brain is known as neuroplasticity, and is the means whereby a compassion meditation increases the thickness of the prefrontal cortex. Thinking compassionate thoughts creates millions of new connections on the left side of the frontal cortex of the brain just above the left eye. If kindness becomes a habit, we can significantly alter the wiring of our brain.
There are several chapters about oxytocin (David keeps going back to this significant chemical), which is called both the “love hormone” and the “cuddle chemical”. It is produced when we have sex and during orgasm and when we touch or stroke each other. Kindness, compassion and socializing produce it. Some of the ways to increase oxytocin are as follows: 1) Get inspired 2) Express emotions (women who suppress emotion, especially negative emotions, are more at risk of developing breast cancer) 3) Get a massage 4) Support a loved one 5) Give hugs and 6) Stroke a pet.
Oxytocin plays an important role in food digestion and helps the movement of matter through the colon by stimulating contractions. Oxytocin levels are lower in people suffering from IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). David suggests that IBS sufferers talk kindly to their bowel a few times a day.
Oxytocin may be the key to relieving both IBS, fibromyalgia and depression. Oxytocin reduces inflammation, which plays a role in many types of cancer.
Thus, love, making love, kindness, hugs, warm touch, gratitude, inspiration and connection with other people reduces inflammation in the body, keeps ourselves healthier and helps ourselves to live longer. Good-quality relationships are good for our health because they maintain good levels of oxytocin.
A chapter entitled “Supporting the heart” tells us about the Roseto effect. Roseto is a town in the USA which previously had an extremely strong sense of community (this is no longer the case, unfortunately) and this resulted in the rate of death by heart disease in the town being half the national average for men aged over 65 and almost zero for men aged 55-64.
The heart yearns for love, so being socially isolated from others is not good for us. Social interconnectedness is a better predictor of a healthy heart than “smoking or cholesterol”. Hostility and stress is more influential in the development of heart disease than poor diet or lack of exercise. People in happy marriages tend to have a happy heart.
The book contains innumerable valuable chapters, including one on counting your blessings and one on letting go of the past. At the end of each chapter in the book we are given stories of kindness.
David also presents us with the 21-day kindness challenge, the suggestion to do three acts of kindness a day, “a few ideas for schoolteachers” and finally a list of 50 suggestions for acts of kindness.
Thus, I would strongly recommend that you read this well-written, uplifting and oxytocin-producing book. In fact I would suggest reading a David Hamilton book once a month for increased stimulation of your production of oxytocin to create a healthy heart and body!
I have known for a long time that love heals, but now David shows us how! When we are loving to one another we emit oxytocin, a “kindness protein” or a “molecule of kindness”, and it turns out that this oxytocin speeds up wound healing, reduces blood pressure, softens our arteries, reduces inflammation, stimulates angiogenesis (the growth of new blood vessels), repairs a broken heart and turns on heart-muscle regeneration. I found this to be amazing and wonderful information.
When we connect with someone, oxytocin flows through our brain and body. It gives us “the helper’s high”. Kindness “occupies the same neural circuits as addictive drugs”. The helper’s high comes in part from the release of endogenous opiates in the brain. Endogenous opiates are those produced by the body.
When we are kind, serotonin and dopamine are also released in the brain, helping to lift our mood and make us feel more positive. The oxytocin produced by an interaction between two people helps to strengthen bonds with others by making us feel more connected. Kindness can be as good as pain-killing drugs owing to the release of the endogenous opiates or endorphins. These bond to cells in the part of the brain involved in transmitting pain, “taking the place of the chemicals that transmit pain signals and so interrupting the transmission of pain signals through the brain”.
We are informed of the benefits of loving-kindness meditation (see my review of “Loving-kindness, The Revolutionary Art of Happiness” by Sharon Salzberg), which benefits include pain relief and the increase of positive emotions such as love, joy and gratitude in those practicing this meditation on a daily basis.
There are chapters about the power of compassion, having the nerve to be compassionate and how kindness changes the brain.
Just as the brain changes as we move our muscles, it also changes as we think. This changeability of the brain is known as neuroplasticity, and is the means whereby a compassion meditation increases the thickness of the prefrontal cortex. Thinking compassionate thoughts creates millions of new connections on the left side of the frontal cortex of the brain just above the left eye. If kindness becomes a habit, we can significantly alter the wiring of our brain.
There are several chapters about oxytocin (David keeps going back to this significant chemical), which is called both the “love hormone” and the “cuddle chemical”. It is produced when we have sex and during orgasm and when we touch or stroke each other. Kindness, compassion and socializing produce it. Some of the ways to increase oxytocin are as follows: 1) Get inspired 2) Express emotions (women who suppress emotion, especially negative emotions, are more at risk of developing breast cancer) 3) Get a massage 4) Support a loved one 5) Give hugs and 6) Stroke a pet.
Oxytocin plays an important role in food digestion and helps the movement of matter through the colon by stimulating contractions. Oxytocin levels are lower in people suffering from IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). David suggests that IBS sufferers talk kindly to their bowel a few times a day.
Oxytocin may be the key to relieving both IBS, fibromyalgia and depression. Oxytocin reduces inflammation, which plays a role in many types of cancer.
Thus, love, making love, kindness, hugs, warm touch, gratitude, inspiration and connection with other people reduces inflammation in the body, keeps ourselves healthier and helps ourselves to live longer. Good-quality relationships are good for our health because they maintain good levels of oxytocin.
A chapter entitled “Supporting the heart” tells us about the Roseto effect. Roseto is a town in the USA which previously had an extremely strong sense of community (this is no longer the case, unfortunately) and this resulted in the rate of death by heart disease in the town being half the national average for men aged over 65 and almost zero for men aged 55-64.
The heart yearns for love, so being socially isolated from others is not good for us. Social interconnectedness is a better predictor of a healthy heart than “smoking or cholesterol”. Hostility and stress is more influential in the development of heart disease than poor diet or lack of exercise. People in happy marriages tend to have a happy heart.
The book contains innumerable valuable chapters, including one on counting your blessings and one on letting go of the past. At the end of each chapter in the book we are given stories of kindness.
David also presents us with the 21-day kindness challenge, the suggestion to do three acts of kindness a day, “a few ideas for schoolteachers” and finally a list of 50 suggestions for acts of kindness.
Thus, I would strongly recommend that you read this well-written, uplifting and oxytocin-producing book. In fact I would suggest reading a David Hamilton book once a month for increased stimulation of your production of oxytocin to create a healthy heart and body!
April 16, 2011
I liked this book because it reminded me that what you give, you receive in return and to count my blessings. these things make you feel happier. It is was also an easy read, Hamilton writes clearly and with fluidity.
September 10, 2012
What a great read, makes absoulte sense to me as atherapist, Having not only read the book but also met and heard David speak, I would highly recommend this book. Backed up with scientific research this is a must have mind, body, spirit book :)
November 16, 2015
This was a really interesting read about the benefits - psychological, emotional and physical about kindness, compassion, gratitude and forgiveness. Some of it really resonated with me, especially the tips on doing the Loving-Kindness and Loving-Kindness-Compassion meditations.
January 12, 2014
Het boek bevat een zeer krachtige boodschap maar die kon evengoed de samenvatting van drie pagina's zijn. de rest is volledig ondersteunend materiaal dat op een saaie manier afgedramd wordt (uit x is gebleken dat uit y is gebleken dat ...). de persoonlijke touch op het einde van elk hoofdstuk kan me zeer bekoren jammer dat dit niet de nadruk was.
April 4, 2015
I think this is my favourite one of David's books. Really interesting
April 14, 2017
I feel like this should be required reading at secondary school!! Excellent book!!
February 17, 2019
For those who need scientific proof of benefits to back good advice, this is a good choice. It is quite heavy on the supporting information and the conclusions drawn are very valuable.
March 31, 2019
Another great one from David, again a must read if all interested in getting more from life.
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July 2, 2022Thank you for the book .I didn't read it but I enjoyed its review in youtube
January 26, 2023
this book did a very good job!
June 9, 2023
een van de beste boeken die ik in tijden heb gelezen
December 10, 2023
Very repetitive
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews