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Hey friend,

Thanks for opening this one. Today is Election Day, and I know this week can feel heavy no matter how you vote. Gallup says worries are running high going into these midterms, and my guess is your phone has been telling you that for weeks.

I personally believe too much of our discussion makes us believe there are only two sides to an issue, when more often than not there are more perspectives. I prize the freedom of conscience as the most glorious part of the Republic, and I believe there is data to back up that when we practice what we believe, we are in better health. When we act in ways contrary to what we hold true, it harms us, even if deep down and unnoticed for a while. I wrote a book about a year ago on this topic called America’s Trojan Horse.

Regardless of outcomes, let’s do our best to take care of our health this coming week, and the health and wellbeing of those around us, as best we can.

This issue leaves the ballot to you. It looks at what this week does to your body and to the people you love, and how to come out of it with both in good shape.

Researchers at Kaiser Permanente in Southern California looked at hospital visits around the 2016 election. In the 2 days after Election Day, visits for heart attack and stroke were 1.62 times higher than in the same 2 days the week before. That is a 62% jump. It showed up in men and women, young and old, and every racial group they checked.

I think that's a big deal. Stress doesn't stay in your head, it reaches your heart.

And most of us feel it. In the American Psychological Association's Stress in America survey, 69% of adults called the 2024 election a significant source of stress, up from 52% in 2016.

Odds are the person you're most upset with this week is losing sleep over it too.

Two economists used anonymous phone location data to measure how long families stayed at Thanksgiving dinner after the 2016 election. The average dinner ran about 4 hours. When the guests came from neighborhoods that voted the other way, dinner was 30 to 50 minutes shorter. The effect tripled for people from places with heavy political TV ads.

Add it up across the country and the authors counted 34 million hours of family time lost in one holiday. Thanksgiving is 3 weeks from this Thursday.

Part of the problem is that we guess wrong about each other. In a study of Democrats and Republicans, both sides believed the other side disliked them and saw them as less than human about twice as much as the other side reported. The strongest partisans guessed the most wrong. And the worse people thought the other side saw them, the more they wanted to keep their distance.

Your uncle across the table probably thinks better of you than you think he does. And he's probably making the same mistake about you.

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After the Boston Marathon bombing, researchers surveyed 4,675 adults. People who took in 6 or more hours a day of bombing coverage in the week after reported more acute stress than people who were there. The news kept the event going in their heads long after the event was over.

I suspect election night works the same way, because the scroll keeps it going.

A 2022 survey of 1,100 adults found that about 1 in 6 (16.5%) had a seriously problematic news habit, the kind that takes over your thoughts and your day. In that group, 61% said they had physical symptoms "quite a bit" or "very much." For everyone else it was about 6%.

Stepping away has been tested. Around the 2018 midterms, economists paid people to shut off Facebook for 4 weeks and compared them to people who kept using it. The group that stepped away spent more time with family and friends, felt better and came back less divided. Many of them kept using it less after the study ended.

I have my finger on the pulse of culture and news, but increasingly at a distance, because it is so easy to go down the rabbit hole and start to get stressed out and worry about tomorrow. I’m reminded of the words of Jesus that today has enough trouble of its own. No need to borrow from tomorrow’s troubles.

When Jesus picked his 12 closest friends, he chose Matthew, a tax collector, and Simon, called the zealot. Tax collectors worked for Rome. Zealots wanted Rome gone. In today's terms, he put two guys from opposite sides of the hottest issue of their day at the same dinner table for 3 years.

He gave them something bigger to care about together.

"God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God." Matthew 5:9

Paul put it in plain words: "Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone." Romans 12:18 Notice it says all that you can, not all that they can.

1. Pick a news window. Check results once in the morning and once in the evening, then put the phone in another room, before you throw it across the room.

2. Go to bed on time Tuesday night. The results will still be there in the morning, and your heart does better with sleep at a steady time. After all, with the time change this past weekend and candy abounding, this is a week of assault on sleep, immune systems and cortisol levels. Be careful out there.

3. Walk it off. A walk outside Wednesday morning, before you open any app.

4. Ask one real question. With someone who votes differently, try "What worries you most right now?" Then listen.

5. Keep one table political-free. Have one meal this week with no news and no phones, and see who shows up hungry for real talk.

Who in your life votes differently than you, and when did you last share a meal with them?

Thoughts? Hit reply and tell me how your family handles it.

-Jared

P.S. - My wife Baddie Crocker has a beautiful newsletter where she shares her perspectives on tending the land, recipes, women’s health and more.

P.S. - This newsletter does not provide medical advice. The content, such as graphics, images, text, and all other materials, are provided for reference and educational purposes only. The content is not meant to be complete or exhaustive or to be applicable to any specific individual’s medical condition.

Here are links to things that have helped me improve my health:

Whoop - Track your HRV and REM Sleep

Function Health - Optimize Your Health via 160+ BioMarkers

Here are a few topics I think you’ll love if you haven’t checked them out before:

How to Breathe for Better Health

How to Supercharge Your Sleep

The Power of the Sauna