Taking a scientist's research from the lab to the TED stage...and what you can steal from his talk immediately!
It all started while I was walking the dog...
This is the story of getting an idea out of the lab and into the world.
On a chilly morning in 2023, I was walking the dog when I heard my NPR colleague Allison Aubrey reporting on a study that, ironically, stopped me in my tracks: moving for five minutes every half-hour had the power to rescue our health from our sedentary, screen-filled lives. A stroll at 2 mph! Nothing crazy!
But that was the lab. Could people do deal with these interruptions in real life, I wondered?
I emailed the scientist behind the research, Keith Diaz of Columbia University Irving Medical Center. He wrote back fast…he’d figured it was impossible for regular people to take these movement breaks and that his findings were the end of the road for his findings.
Regular readers know we ended up doing a clinical trial with over 20,000 people and showing that, not only could people take these breaks, they loved how they made them feel.
Sometimes the simplest solution is the most revolutionary.
Yesterday, I watched Keith take the TED main stage in Vancouver in a session I hosted called “Back to Biological Basics.” And I know it sounds cheesy, but truly, my heart swelled. Getting science out of the lab and into people lives, across the globe? It’s a nerdy journalist’s dream come true.
The talk isn’t out yet but here are some takeaways:
Americans spend, on average, 187 full days of the year sitting. That’s not a typo. The health consequences of lives built around chairs and screens accumulate slowly and then all at once: increased blood sugar, weaker cardiovascular health, disrupted sleep, accelerated aging.
The fix is almost insultingly simple. A five-minute walk every thirty minutes reduced blood sugar spikes after eating by roughly 60 percent, comparable in effect to medication. You don’t need to take a spin class; your kid doesn’t need to join the hyper-competitive soccer team. Just move your body.
And you don’t even have to be perfect. In our global study of 20,000 people, most people managed only four or five breaks a day. And it still had a HUGE impact! Fatigue levels still dropped by 25%. Mood didn’t sink like a depressed stone! Even one minute of moving an hour has an effect. You can’t really fail at this.
This is the kind of journalism that sets me on fire: When information and experimentation move people to action (literally). The consequences of getting in touch with Keith continue to ripple outwards.
In three years, Keith’s work went from a line in my ear to testing feasibility with thousands of participants, to a global stage. And next? The Body Electric book, which goes deep on the physiology, how people integrated these breaks into their lives, and the neuroscience of why it restores energy and focus.
Please support this work and preorder it here:
Get the full story into your hands…or the hands of someone who could use some help getting back in touch with what their body (and therefore, their mind) needs.
Then close the laptop and walk around the block. Keith's orders.
x Manoush
P.S. Check out this slide! Prep your mind before you take that next meeting!
Wow. That brain scan slide! Sold!