Originally published on Today:
Doctors say the “rabbit effect”—how the social world impacts health—also powerfully affects humans.
Evidence of the health power of kindness starts with a mystery involving rabbits.
In the late 1970s, researchers conducted animal experiments to see how food affected the heart. Unexpectedly, one group of lab rabbits fared much better than others despite being fed the same harmful high-fat diet.
It turned out that all the thriving rabbits had the same affectionate caretaker, who wasn’t just feeding them but petting and talking to them.
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