Good Stress (The Health Benefits of Doing Hard Things)

Ten protocols to counteract the “chronic ease” that creates our modern epidemic of dis-ease, from a wellness industry leader who can prove they work—because he’s tested them on himself.

Jeff Krasno, the founder and CEO of the global wellness platform Commune Media, thought he was pretty healthy. Though he suffered from brain fog, chronic fatigue, and bouts of insomnia, those symptoms seemed utterly normal in today’s society. When he learned he had diabetes, his first thought was, How can that be? I run a wellness company!

His diagnosis propelled him to consult every expert at his disposal and engage in intensive “me-search” in order to turn his health around. On this journey, he began to form a larger picture of what’s wrong with our health in the modern world. In Good Stress—co-authored with his wife, Schuyler Grant, who shepherded him through 300-plus interviews with doctors and helped distill the results into actionable information—Jeff shares what he’s learned and outlines a practical program for readers to reset their own health.

Jeff explains that the comforts and conveniences of modern life in the developed world undermine our biology. Humans evolved with Paleolithic stressors and scarcity, which conferred health and resilience.

Modern life sets us up for diabetes, dementia, heart disease, cancer, and more. Chronic disease is the result of chronic ease: an endless abundance of calories, sedentary desk jobs, exposure to blue light, and separation from nature. To come back into balance, we need to thoughtfully subject our bodies and minds to the stressors we’re naturally built for.

This book distills the hundreds of conversations that Jeff has had with acclaimed teachers and practitioners in mind-body wellness, including Gabor Maté, Mark Hyman, Marianne Williamson, and Dr. Sara Gottfried. Jeff gives readers uncommonly wise and relatable guidance for 10 practices to extend both our lifespan and our healthspan, including:

• Time-restricted eating
• Cold and heat exposure
• Light therapy
• Eating “stressed plants”
• Building our “psychological immune system” and more

For each practice, Jeff shares his own experience (there’s a great story of how Wim Hof finally convinced him to get into an ice bath); unpacks the science behind it, the place it has in our culture, and the effects it has on body and mind; and explains how to undertake it safely and mindfully.