Health
Slashing screen time for mental health: Carlos Whittaker shares his unplugged journey
Ironically, it was a notification on his phone that prompted author and podcaster Carlos Whittaker to embark on a seven-week screen-free journey that would change his life.
Whittaker, who lives in Nashville on a “suburban farm” with his wife, three children and dog, knew he used his phone a lot, but didn’t consider it a problem until he sat down and did the math.
After getting an alert that he had averaged seven hours and 23 minutes of daily phone time that particular week, Whittaker realized that if he lived to be 85, he would spend more than a decade of his remaining life on the device.
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In the summer of 2022, Whittaker embarked on a seven-week journey across the United States, navigating his life without the use of any screens.
He documented the mission in his latest book, “Reconnected: How Seven Screen-Free Weeks with Monks and Amish Farmers Helped Me Recover the Lost Art of Being Human,” which was published on Sept. 10.
Carlos Whittaker, pictured, lived without screens for seven weeks in 2022 in an experience he described as life-changing. (Carlos Whittaker)
“That’s exactly what I did,” Whittaker told Fox News Digital in a Zoom interview. “I lived with these monks and the Amish, and it absolutely changed my life.”
The author spent two weeks at a monastery, two weeks with the Amish and three weeks with his family, living entirely without screens.
“I lived with these monks and the Amish, and it absolutely changed my life.”
Before and after the experiment, Whittaker’s brain was scanned and analyzed by neurologists – and he details those results in his book.
Whittaker, who described himself as an evangelical Christian, was connected to St. Andrew’s Abbey – a Catholic, Benedictine monastery in California – which allowed him to stay in a guest cabin for the first part of his journey.
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Digital detox
Whittaker almost quit the experiment at the very beginning.
“When you can’t get out of your head by picking up your phone and scrolling TikTok or X or whatever it is, and you’re stuck in your own thoughts – that’s something we’re not used to, and I definitely wasn’t used to it,” he said.
This sudden digital detox led to “four days of panic,” he said, as he experienced “panic attacks, night sweats, heart palpitations [and] jitters.”
Whittaker said he nearly quit his experiment right as it began, finding the sudden lack of a smartphone to be physically taxing. (iStock; Carlos Whittaker)
Not having his phone felt like “coming off the drug of knowledge and the drug of control,” Whittaker said.
But on day five of the experiment, something changed.
“It literally felt like an elephant stepped off my chest and I could breathe again,” he said. “And I got it. But those first four days were the crazy days.”
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In the book, Whittaker writes about how he initially felt uncomfortable living among Benedictine monks and found their prayer routine to be “boring.” (Benedictine monks pray the Liturgy of the Hours, a daily prayer, at different times throughout the day.)
“I’ll be blatantly honest, the first two days, I was bored out of my mind,” he said. “We were praying five or six times a day.”
“When you lower the volume of life, the volume of God goes up.”
But eventually, he said, “I got it,” adding that he has kept up the practice of praying the Liturgy of the Hours even after leaving the monastery.
“I missed it so much. It created a rhythm in my day,” he said. “It gave some stability to some parts of my faith that maybe were unstable.”
Whittaker lived among the Benedictine monks at St. Andrew’s Abbey in California for two weeks, joining them for daily prayer and Mass. (Bryan Chan/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
“What I learned from the monks is that every day, I had multiple opportunities to lower the volume of life and slow down — and when you lower the volume of life, the volume of God goes up,” he said.
After his time at the monastery, Whittaker moved to the Midwest and lived for two weeks with an Amish family. (The Amish are a religious group that eschews most modern technology.)
Getting permission to live among the Amish, however, was more challenging. Whittaker was rejected by many people he contacted, as they were wary of an outsider temporarily joining their community.
Whittaker spent two weeks living with an Amish family as part of his screen-free experiment. (iStock)
“We finally ended up with a sheep-farming family that was like, ‘Absolutely, come on in,’” he said. “And they helped me become as Amish as I could in 14 days.”
Throughout his seven screen-free weeks, Whittaker journaled and recorded videos each night on a small, screen-free camera.
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Those videos will be compiled into a documentary, also called “Reconnected,” that will be released on Oct. 25, he said.
New habits
While Whittaker has largely returned to life as it was before his experiment – including the use of a smartphone – he has made changes that he says have improved his life.
“This book isn’t about how bad phones are. This book is about how beautiful it is on the other side of the phone,” he told Fox News Digital.
“This book isn’t about how bad phones are. This book is about how beautiful it is on the other side of the phone.”
“Instead of setting up all these rules and restrictions for my screen time, once I fell in love with wondering, with noticing, with savoring, with 90-minute meals – with all of these things I was doing without my phone, I just picked up my phone less.”
Today, Whittaker uses his phone about 3-½ hours a day, four hours less than before the experiment.
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“I’ve legitimately added half of my life back, half of the years back that I was losing before.”
4 tips to cut down on screen time
Whittaker offered a few tips for those who want to limit their daily screen time.
1. Charge your phone outside the bedroom
“The first thing everyone needs to do is stop charging your phone in the bedroom and start charging it in another room,” he said.
“Buy an alarm clock. I know it’s the craziest, most old-fashioned thing, but all it’s going to do is wake you up.”
One of Whittaker’s suggestions to cut down on screen time is to buy an alarm clock. (iStock)
2. Don’t pick up your phone right away
People should avoid looking at their phones for “at least 30 minutes in the morning,” Whittaker suggested.
“Just drink your coffee. When you’re just drinking the coffee, [it] tastes so much better. You get to savor it,” he said.
3. Subscribe to print media
Whittaker subscribes to a newspaper rather than relying on the constant buzz of a smartphone app.
4. Use the ‘do not disturb’ feature
“I’ve actually placed my smartphone in permanent ‘do not disturb,’ so I never get a ‘ding,’” he told Fox News Digital.
Whittaker said his smartphone is permanently on “do not disturb” for everyone except his family and his assistant. (iStock)
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Whittaker has set up his phone so that only his assistant and family can immediately reach him.
“I never get a buzz. I never get a notification,” he said.
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Older adults who avoid meat in their golden years may be less likely to reach age 100 than their meat-eating counterparts, new research suggests.
Researchers tracked more than 5,000 adults aged 80 or older who were enrolled in the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey.
Between 1998 and 2018, data showed that those who did not eat meat were less likely to reach their 100th birthday than those who consumed animal products regularly.
The findings seem to contradict previous studies that have linked vegetarianism and plant-based diets to lower risks of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and obesity.
Most evidence supporting the benefits of plant-based diets comes from studies tracking younger populations, the researchers noted.
The findings contrast with previous research praising plant-based diets for their positive influence on heart health. (iStock)
The study, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, points to losses in muscle mass and bone density with age, shifts that can increase the risk of malnutrition and frailty in the “oldest old.”
As people enter their 80s and 90s, the nutritional priority often shifts from preventing long-term chronic diseases to maintaining day-to-day physical function, experts say.
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“The headline ‘vegetarians over 80 less likely to reach 100’ sounds surprising, because it contrasts with decades of data linking plant‑forward diets to lower chronic disease risk earlier in life,” Erin Palinski-Wade, a New Jersey-based registered dietitian, told Fox News Digital.
“However, once you see that this research is limited to adults over the age of 80 who are also underweight — and that this link disappears with the consumption of eggs, dairy and fish — the results are less surprising.”
While diets earlier in life tend to emphasize avoiding long-term disease, older age necessitates nutrients and weight maintenance, experts say. (iStock)
In those over 80, restricting animal proteins may be less likely to promote longevity, according to Palinski-Wade, who was not involved in the study.
Eliminating all animal protein — particularly in a population that may already experience diminished hunger cues — can make it more difficult to meet adequate protein needs, potentially increasing the risk of nutrient deficiencies, the nutritionist said.
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In addition to a higher tendency to be underweight, older populations also face a greater risk of bone fractures due to lower calcium and protein intake.
Potential limitations
The lower rate of vegetarians reaching 100 was only observed in participants identified as underweight, the researchers noted. No such association was found in people who maintained a healthy weight.
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Because being underweight is already linked to greater frailty and mortality risk, the researchers noted that body weight may partly explain the findings, making it difficult to determine whether diet itself played a direct role.
Those incorporating animal-sourced products other than meat were just as likely to live to 100. (iStock)
Additionally, the shortened lifespans were not found in people who continued to eat non-meat animal products, such as fish, dairy and eggs.
Older adults with these more flexible diets were just as likely to live to 100 as those eating meat, as these foods may provide the nutrients necessary for maintaining muscle and bone health, the researchers noted.
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“This is an observational study, so it can only show associations, and does not prove that avoiding meat directly reduces the odds of reaching 100,” Palinski-Wade added.
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The researchers suggested that including small amounts of animal-sourced foods could help older seniors maintain essential nutrients and avoid the muscle loss often seen in those who stick strictly to plants.
Eliminating all animal protein — particularly in a population that may already experience diminished hunger cues — can make it more difficult to meet adequate protein needs, potentially increasing the risk of nutrient deficiencies. (iStock)
Palinski-Wade offered some guidance for those looking to optimize nutrition later in life.
“For adults in their 80s and beyond, especially anyone losing weight or muscle, the priority should be maintaining a healthy weight and meeting protein and micronutrient needs — even if that means adding or increasing fish, eggs, dairy or well‑planned, fortified plant proteins and supplements.”
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Strict vegan or very low‑protein patterns at that age should be carefully monitored by a dietitian or clinician, with attention to B12, vitamin D, calcium and total protein, according to Palinski-Wade.
“Younger and healthier adults can still confidently use plant‑forward or vegetarian patterns to lower long‑term chronic disease risk,” she added.
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In a dramatic turn of events that’s captured the attention of animal lovers worldwide, Punch — the young macaque at a zoo in Japan famous for his inseparable bond with a stuffed orangutan toy — has reached a major milestone in his journey toward social integration.
On Thursday, visitors and staff at the Ichikawa Zoological and Botanical Garden witnessed a breakthrough: Punch was seen cuddling with and hitching a ride on the back of a fellow macaque.
Punch’s story began with hardship. He was abandoned by his mother shortly after his birth in July 2025 — and to ensure his survival, zookeepers stepped in to hand-rear the primate.
On Jan. 19, 2026, the zoo officially began the process of reintegrating Punch into the “monkey mountain” enclosure.
The transition was initially fraught with tension.
Punch’s story began with hardship when he was abandoned by his mother shortly after he was born. To help him, zookeepers gave him a stuffed toy that he began dragging around everywhere he went. (David Mareuil/Anadolu via Getty Images)
As a hand-reared infant, Punch was bullied and ignored by the established group of monkeys.
He was often seen huddled alone with his orange plush companion while the rest of the troop interacted.
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In an official statement released Feb. 27, the Ichikawa Zoological and Botanical Garden detailed the meticulous care behind this process.
Previous viral videos showed Punch bullied by the rest of the troop, running to his plushy toy for comfort. (David Mareuil/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“From an animal welfare perspective, our primary goal is to reintegrate Punch with the troop,” the zoo said.
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The strategy involved nursing Punch within the enclosure, so the troop could recognize him as one of their own, and pairing him with a gentle young female macaque prior to his full release to build his confidence.
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The latest footage, captured by X user @tate_gf, suggested the zoo’s patience is paying off.
The video shows Punch seeking physical contact not from his toy, but from another monkey — eventually climbing onto its back for a vital social behavior for young macaques: the “piggyback ride.”
The zoo’s strategy appears to be paying off: Punch, shown at far left, was recently seen riding on the back of a fellow macaque. (David Mareuil/Anadolu via Getty Images)
While Punch still carries his stuffed toy for comfort during moments of perceived danger, the zoo remains optimistic about his progress.
The organization cited the successful 2009 case of Otome, another hand-reared macaque who eventually outgrew her stuffed toy, successfully integrated — and went on to raise four offspring of her own.
The zoo has had crowds coming to see Punch, with hundreds of people lining up to get inside to see the young star, according to reports.
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“I’m hoping Punch has a good life like everybody else does, and think he’s a cute little guy,” one person commented online.
“Such a precious baby,” another person wrote.
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