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The Health Review - Is Chasing Constant Joy Making Us Less Happy?
Hi everyone — hope you’ve all had a good week. I can’t believe how quickly we’re inching towards Christmas… it honestly feels like we blinked and the year fast-forwarded.
I’m writing this from Paris, where I’ve escaped for a few days. Naturally, I had to make a stop at 48 Collagen Café — the wellness-meets-beauty spot. Think collagen lattes, smoothie bowls and LED face masks you can literally wear while you drink your coffee. It’s such a fun mash-up of beauty and wellness. Every recipe on offer has been carefully crafted and the experience combines nutrition, aesthetic technologies (photobiomodulation, radiofrequency), and skin biohacking. Well worth checking out if you’re ever here and are looking for a cool experience!
Anyway, onto this week’s health news — lots of interesting studies, trends and discoveries to get into…
This week’s edition covers:
Health news: 🧬 Longevity spending set to hit $8 trillion, could dates be a natural anti-inflammatory boost? and coffee is having a wellness moment.
Feature: 🙃 The Happiness Trap: Why Chasing Constant Joy Is Making You Less Happy
This Week on The Health Review podcast: 🎧 The Truth About Affairs, Shame & Why Relationships Break Down with psychotherapist Victoria Shalet
Thanks so much for reading — and as always, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Emily x
Top Health News
🧬 Longevity Spending Is Set to Hit $8 Trillion
A UBS report projects that global longevity spending will reach $8T a year by 2030, driven by rising life expectancy, ageing populations and booming consumer interest in health optimisation. From forecasts suggesting GLP-1 drugs could exceed $200bn in annual sales, to breakthroughs in Alzheimer’s, cancer and cardiovascular medicine, longevity is fast becoming a major economic engine. Prevention is overtaking treatment, with functional foods, supplements and performance products surging — and “inside-out” optimisation shaping everything from skincare to recovery tools to financial planning for a 100-year life.
💡 4 Daily Habits That Improve Sleep (and Heart Health)
A new study of nearly 39,000 adults found that four core circadian-alignment behaviours — morning light exposure, time-restricted eating, zone 2 cardio training, and breathwork — were associated with improved sleep consistency. Participants also showed lower resting heart rates and higher HRV, suggesting these habits may support not just sleep quality but nervous-system regulation and longer-term cardiovascular health. A good reminder that the basics still matter most.
🌴 Dates May Be a Natural Anti-Inflammatory Boost
A new study in Food Science & Nutrition found that dates may have meaningful anti-inflammatory properties thanks to their unusually high concentration of polyphenols, flavonoids, and carotenoids — compounds associated with lower oxidative stress and inflammation. Researchers noted that dates contain specific antioxidants that can help modulate cytokines involved in chronic inflammation. The study also highlighted their natural soluble fibre, which feeds beneficial gut bacteria and supports more stable blood sugar — a big plus for hormone balance!
🏠 Indoor Air Pollution: A Hidden Risk in UK Homes
A new UK study analysing indoor PM2.5 levels — the ultra-fine particles small enough to enter the bloodstream — found that many British homes regularly exceed WHO air-quality guidelines (5 µg/m³ annual mean). Researchers used real-time sensors in hundreds of households and discovered spikes caused by cooking (especially gas hobs), poor ventilation, candles, cleaning sprays and indoor heating. Rented homes and properties in more deprived areas showed the highest and most persistent levels, partly due to older buildings, limited ventilation and higher reliance on gas stoves. PM2.5 exposure has been strongly linked to inflammation, oxidative stress, reduced lung function, cardiovascular strain and higher long-term risk of respiratory disease — meaning the quality of our indoor air may matter just as much as exercise or diet.
☕️ Coffee Is Officially Having a Wellness Moment
Coffee is being rebranded from “guilty pleasure” to genuine wellness drink, thanks to a new wave of new research looking at its effects on the heart, metabolism and longevity. A trial presented at the American Heart Association found that, among adults treated for atrial fibrillation, those assigned to drink about one cup of coffee a day were less likely to have a recurrence of AFib or atrial flutter over the following six months than those told to avoid caffeine. A large review of cohort studies and meta-analyses suggests regular coffee drinkers have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, with some analyses reporting around a 20–30% lower risk in the highest versus lowest intake groups. Researchers point to coffee’s high polyphenol and antioxidant content — along with its effects on the nervous system and gut — as key reasons for these benefits.
The Happiness Trap: Why Chasing Constant Joy Is Making You Less Happy
If you feel like chasing happiness has turned into a full-time job, you’re not imagining it.
We’re tracking everything these days — our steps, sleep, cycles, screen time, productivity, even our “mood scores.” We’ve tried journaling, supplements, breathwork, “that perfect morning routine,” and still… so many of us often feel flat, anxious, or quietly disappointed that despite doing all the things, we’re not as happy as we think we “should” be.
According to a recent paper by psychologist Ole Höffken, published in the Journal of Happiness Studies, the problem isn’t you — it’s the way our culture has defined happiness in the first place.
Happiness isn’t the absence of negative emotion
Höffken’s starting point is simple: happiness isn’t meant to be one long, uninterrupted high.
In the paper, he describes happiness as a “favourable balance” between positive and negative emotions — basically, a ratio, not a permanent mood.
Which means:
Feeling sad or anxious doesn’t mean you’re failing at happiness
You can be broadly “happy” and still have tough days
The goal isn’t to delete difficult feelings — it’s to make space for them
Höffken uses grief and nostalgia as examples. You can deeply miss someone and still feel warmth and meaning when you remember them. That mix of sadness and joy isn’t a problem — he says it’s a totally normal part of a healthy emotional life.
When modern life overloads an ancient system
Höffken also looks at happiness through an evolutionary lens — and this is where things get interesting.
Our emotional wiring evolved in small groups, with real danger, limited choices and very little stimulation. Today? We’re swimming in abundance, information and dopamine.
He highlights the impact of “supernormal stimuli” — basically, modern rewards that are way more intense than anything our ancestors ever dealt with:
Sweetness that once arrived rarely in foraged fruit is now available as constant, intense sugar.
The small but powerful signal of inclusion in a tribe is now mimicked by endless likes, notifications and follower counts.
Status, which once tracked useful roles in a group, is now measured in remote metrics – income, prestige, visibility – against a global comparison field.
These amplified rewards can pull strongly on our brain’s motivational circuits. Over time, we adapt to the intensity and need more of it to feel the same. That’s when our emotional balance starts getting thrown off.
A “compass”, not a map
Höffken doesn’t give a full happiness formula (sadly)! Instead, he says an evolutionary approach gives us a compass — something that points in the right direction, not a step-by-step plan.
According to his work, that compass tends to point towards:
Moderate, manageable stimulation (not constant intensity)
Real belonging and cooperation, not performance or visibility
An emotional balance, where positive and negative feelings both have space
In other words, happiness is a process, not a finish line. It’s less about staying in a good mood 24/7, and more about how well your inner emotional ecosystem is functioning overall.
What this means for real life
Even though the paper is academic, the implications for daily life are actually very practical.
Höffken’s research suggests shifting the question from:
“How can I feel good all the time?” to “Is my emotional system getting the conditions it needs to stay balanced?”
That might mean:
Noticing where your day is overloaded with “supernormal rewards” — doom-scrolling, notifications, constant stimulation
Spotting where you’re missing more basic human needs — proper rest, face-to-face connection, shared experiences, meaningful goals
Letting mixed, messy, contradictory emotions be normal instead of treating them as a red flag
And maybe the most grounding reminder from Höffken’s work:
Our biology was never designed for perpetual bliss. So expecting that from ourselves only sets us up for disappointment.
Instead, the real opportunity is designing lives that work with our emotional systems, not against them — lives built on real connection, manageable stimulation and a sense of meaning.
And when we do that? Happiness becomes less of a chase… and more of something that naturally emerges in the background.
This Week on The Health Review Podcast:
🎧 The Truth About Affairs, Shame & Why Relationships Break Down with Victoria Shalet
This week, I’m joined by Victoria Shalet, a Humanistic Psychotherapist and Certified Relational Life Therapist, for an honest conversation about the emotional patterns we carry into our relationships, often without realising it.
Victoria explains what happens inside Relational Life Therapy, and why working through each other’s wounds together can lead to more compassion, better communication, and a deeper sense of connection.
We talk about how childhood experiences shape the way we love today, and why shame — even when it’s subtle — can quietly run the show.
Whether you’re single, dating, or in a long-term partnership, you’ll take something from this episode!
🎧 Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or watch on YouTube.
If you love the episodes, please do subscribe and give the show a rating! 😊