How seeing family affects your heart

Observations from an N=1 experiment using the Oura ring

How long has it been since you’ve seen the people you love the most?

I just came back to Sweden after spending two weeks at my hometown in Morocco. And it seemed to have an incredibly big effect on my heart and overall recovery.

Of course, deep inside, I always love going back. And although some would say that “it’s only been 6 months” since I’d last seen my parents and siblings, or that going there twice a year is just enough, I would say “it’s been SIX WHOLE MONTHS”.

I know that the streets are not as clean nor as organized as the streets in Sweden, where I currently live. I know that it is going to be chaotic, that I will feel like an immigrant in my own country, that I will have trouble doing simple tasks such as crossing the street. But I also know that I really really love being there.

It turns out, this time I have data that shows how my heart reacts to me being back home, literally. This time I used my Oura ring while I was back home to see what my Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and Resting Heart Rate (RHR) look like when I’m home.

Note: I will briefly explain how HRV and RHR measurements can be interpreted below. Feel free to ask more in the comments

The bottom line is, a higher Heart Rate Variability (and a lower Resting Heart Rate) is usually an indicator of a recovered body and a calm heart.

The results

The two weeks that I spent home with my family were weeks 23 and 24 (from the 1st to the 15th of June). During these two weeks, my bedtime did not significantly differ from its baseline, however, I did notice some significant changes when it comes to my HRV and RHR measurements as follows.

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) increased significantly

An increase in HRV is typically a sign of general health and fitness. As you can see in figure 1 below, my HRV increased significantly during my stay at home (weeks 23, 24).

Figure 1- Heart Rate Variability per week

HRV is a good indicator of your recovery status. When a person is under physical or mental stress, parasympathetic activity tends to decrease and sympathetic activity increases (parasympathetic activity is related to resting while sympathetic activity is related to being in a fight or flight state). As a result, HRV decreases. The increase in HRV during those two weeks indicates that the opposite happened, i.e: an increase in parasympathetic nervous system activity and a decrease in sympathetic activity.

In other words, my body felt safe, calm and rested more than I ever was in Sweden (even on holidays).

Resting Heart Rate (RHR) decreased significantly

Just like the previous graph, you can clearly see a strong lowering of my average Resting Heart Rate during weeks 23 and 24 that I spent in Morocco.

Typically low resting heart rate (unless it is too extreme) is associated with a more recovered heart, good fitness, and overall health. Things like working out late or higher temperatures can cause the RHR to increase. But although the weather was warmer in Morocco and I kept a similar workout routine as I had in Sweden, my RHR seems to significantly decrease.

Figure 2- Resting Heart Rate per week

Interpretation

With these results, there is no doubt this affected me positively. And since those results are so staggering there is definitely no need for evaluating statistical significance or computing p-values.

So what could have caused this?

I have a couple of possible interpretations:

• The first one is obvious and it is that I was on vacation.
• The second one is that the environment is more suited for my biology overall since my ancestors have most likely not been in Sweden.
• However, a third interpretation that I have and I think is the most significant one is this: I was home with my family, with people I loved and I knew loved me back.

It is most likely all of the above. However, a change like that does not seem to happen if I’m on vacation while staying in Sweden or other places far from my family.

So what is it about being with family that could help with recovery then?

The cheesiest health upgrade no one is talking about

Being with your loved ones

We all know about the benefits of sleep, eating well, working out, etc. But how much do we really take into account this factor: relationships. Being with people we truly love.

Spending time with friends and family is way more important than most people realize. And it is very easy in our socially accepted busy-ness epidemic to forget to schedule a time for the most significant people in your life.

On one hand, it appears that individuals who live a lifestyle defined by compassion, altruism (selfless care for others) and a sense of purpose, have surprisingly lower levels of inflammation (which directly correlates with aging).

On the other hand, the opposite seems to be detrimental both physically and mentally (if those two things are even different). Lack of social support seems to be one of the highest predictors of all-cause mortality. This could be due to many biological factors. A simple easy example is sleep quality. According to research done on loneliness and lack of sleep by Ph.D. Matthew Walker and his team, it seems like these two work synergetically with each other. Meaning that the more a person lacks sleep the less likely they are to make significant social connections, the more lonely a person feels the less quality of sleep they will get.

Conclusion

In Sweden, the word Fika refers to having a coffee break that’s more about socializing than drinking coffee. It is quite ironic to observe a relative lack of social interactions and social bonds in Sweden where Fika is a widely accepted practice. And my conclusion is this:

Life is too short, go and have Fika with someone.

So, go and visit a loved one, give them a call, organize a dinner party. Maybe keep it simple and organize a tea party. Or maybe just write a letter to someone telling them how much you appreciate having them in your life.

I suppose it is possible that I will regret not working harder, learning more about the world, or traveling or writing about things I want to say…

But I think, or rather, I feel what I really want and long for are: more late-night talks, cups of tea, hard laughs, hugs and holding hands with those that matter the most. The people you truly love.