Podcast Summary: Feel Better, Live More with Dr. Rangan Chatterjee

Episode #602: How Kindness Boosts Your Immune System, The Power of Visualisation & The Importance of Empathy with Dr. David Hamilton
Date: December 10, 2025

Episode Overview

This inspiring conversation explores the science behind kindness, empathy, and visualization – and how simple, intentional acts can profoundly impact our physical health, mental well-being, and even the people around us. Dr. David Hamilton, scientist, author, and expert in the mind-body connection, shares powerful research and practical tips. He and Dr. Chatterjee weave together studies, personal stories, and a deep belief in humanity’s inherent ability to create positive change through connection.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Science of Kindness on Health

• Empathy and Immune System

  • Dr. Hamilton recounts a study where 700+ cold/flu patients rated their doctor’s empathy. Those who scored their doctor 10/10 had a 50% higher immune response than others.
    • "It just came down to empathy, how it made them feel, and what you're seeing is how you feel then is physically affecting the function of the immune system."
      — Dr. David Hamilton [00:00]
  • Empathy impacts biology, not just our perceptions.

• The Mother Teresa Effect

  • Watching a compassionate act – like a video of Mother Teresa helping the homeless – increases immune antibodies (SIgA) in viewers’ saliva by ~50%.
    • "Just that emotional bonding experience of watching them on that video spiked the immune system."
      — Dr. David Hamilton [19:08]
  • Simply witnessing kindness triggers beneficial immune changes.

• Oxytocin: The Kindness Hormone

  • Acts of kindness, connection, or even witnessing warmth boost oxytocin ("the cuddle chemical"), with wide-ranging benefits: stress reduction, lower blood pressure, improved cardiovascular health, and even anti-aging effects.
    • "Kindness, compassion, empathy – anything that generates that sense of warmth and connection – we know produces oxytocin... kindness is the opposite of stress."
      — Dr. David Hamilton [29:53]

2. The Power and Biology of Placebo

• Mindset Alters Chemistry

  • Dr. Hamilton’s pharmaceutical research experience led him to notice large numbers improving on placebos. Placebo effects are real, physically measurable via endogenous opioids and other neurochemicals.
    • "Believing this is a drug caused their brain to produce natural versions of morphine... real physical change caused by real chemical changes."
      — Dr. David Hamilton [14:19]

• Connection as Healer

  • Dr. Chatterjee highlights that genuine connection trumps technical knowledge in effectiveness as a healthcare provider.
    • "The number one skill for any healthcare professional is their ability to connect...that trumps knowledge any day of the week."
      — Dr. Rangan Chatterjee [17:03]

3. Connection, Touch, and Their Physiological Effects

• Touch & Social Contact
  • Quality of touch (stroking, upper back/shoulder) triggers oxytocin, reduces blood pressure/heart rate, and boosts immune defenses.
    • Professor Francis McGlone’s research: certain nerve fibers (C tactile afferents) evolved specifically to promote social bonding; most are located where you’d need another person’s touch.
      — [23:43–25:17]
  • Human-animal bonds also boost oxytocin and result in measurable reductions in heart events for dog owners.

4. Mindset, Emotion, and Visualization

• Visualization Changes the Brain and Body

  • Citing research, Dr. Hamilton explains the brain responds almost identically to visualized and actual movement.
    • Harvard/MIT studies: Imagining playing piano or flexing a finger leads to nearly the same neural/muscular gains as actually doing it.
      — [58:12–61:00]
    • "By just imagining that you'd moved your finger, they'd got 35% stronger versus 53% for real movement."
      — Dr. David Hamilton [60:34]

• Applications Beyond Sports

  • Visualization aids in public speaking, overcoming fears, or preparing for challenging moments by ‘priming’ your nervous system.
    • "You visualize the physical body the way you would move it if you felt, 'I've got this.'... The brain wires that in as if you're really doing it."
      — Dr. David Hamilton [72:20]

5. The Ripple Effect: Kindness as Contagious

• Kindness Spreads Through Networks
  • Acts of kindness travel up to three degrees of separation – your kindness increases the likelihood that 125+ people will exhibit more kindness that day.
    • "If you ever feel small...even with the little things that you don't think matter, they matter to the person that you've helped, who will then spread it out."
      — Dr. David Hamilton [84:17]
  • “Be the change you want to see in the world.” discussed as practical, not just inspirational [85:02].

6. Kindness in Children & Education

• Teaching Kindness Early
  • Both guests share ideas for fostering kindness and gratitude rituals with children. Dr. Chatterjee shares his family’s “gratitude game” at dinner:
    • Three (now five) questions, including: What have I done to make someone happy? What has someone done for me? What have I learned? How did I feel? — [97:09–99:37]
  • Schools undertaking kindness weeks/projects have visible impacts on students’ behavior and emotional intelligence.

7. Emotional Processing and Health

• Healthy Processing of Anger
  • Holding onto anger and resentment is detrimental; expressive writing and release processes are shown to improve immune resilience and lower health service utilization.
    • "One of the best ways I've ever found to reduce momentary feelings of stress is to move my body..."
      — Dr. David Hamilton [49:48]

8. The Five Side Effects of Kindness

(from Dr. Hamilton’s book/teachings)

1. Kindness Makes You Happier
2. Kindness Is Good for the Heart
3. Kindness Slows Aging
4. Kindness Improves Relationships
5. Kindness Is Contagious
   — [76:05]

Each is backed by research, including studies on happiness, oxidative stress, inflammatory markers, and the social ripple effect [76:23–78:06].

9. Practical Tools & Challenges

• The Seven Day Kindness Challenge
  Dr. Hamilton’s top actionable tip:

  • Perform a different act of kindness each day for 7 days.
  • One act must push you out of your comfort zone.
  • One act must be completely anonymous. — [102:27–103:28]

• Practice Kindness & Empathy in Everyday Life

  • Shift your default settings: If you catch yourself being judgmental/critical, pause and wonder what someone else’s struggle may be. Make kind thoughts and responses habitual [38:02–39:53].
  • Incorporate daily family or personal gratitude/kindness rituals.

• Visualization as Preparation

  • Apply visualization – with attention to sense and body – to anything you wish to improve, from sports to public speaking or difficult interactions.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Kindness is the opposite of stress. Physiologically, in many ways, kindness is the opposite of stress in terms of how it makes you feel."
  — Dr. David Hamilton [29:53]

• "It's not just one person you help, but it ripples out in all directions...if you ever feel that you don't contribute, you don't make a difference – you're doing it every single day."
  — Dr. David Hamilton [84:17]

• "Our minds, how we visualize things, they can absolutely play a difference in our body."
  — Dr. Rangan Chatterjee [61:38]

Important Timestamps for Key Segments

• Placebo, Empathy & Immune Study: [00:00], [15:44–16:44]
• Mother Teresa Effect & SIgA Study: [18:03–19:22]
• Touch, Oxytocin, Dogs: [23:43–29:24]
• Kindness vs. Stress: [29:53–35:01]
• Visualization, Performance, and Studies: [57:14–61:02], [66:46–71:27]
• Kindness is Contagious/Ripple Effect: [81:44–84:55]
• Kindness for Kids, Schools & Family Rituals: [89:18–99:37]
• Five Side Effects of Kindness: [76:05–78:06]
• The Seven Day Kindness Challenge: [102:27]

Takeaway Action Steps

• Embody Kindness: Practice daily, intentionally, even in small ways. Notice and 'lock in' how it feels.
• Connect Meaningfully: In health and daily life, prioritize empathy, active listening, and nonjudgmental communication.
• Visualize Success: Use vivid, sensory-rich visualization to prepare for challenges; your brain and body will respond.
• Teach & Model Kindness: With children (or adults), make reflection and acknowledgment of kind acts a routine.

Final Message

Dr. Chatterjee and Dr. Hamilton invite us to see kindness not as a luxury or a ‘soft skill’, but as a potent, scientifically supported medicine – for ourselves, our communities, and even the world beyond our immediate reach.

“When we feel better, we live more... Kindness is not only good for the world around us, it's good for ourselves as well.”
— Dr. Rangan Chatterjee [02:49]