Why Readers Are Healthier, Say Studies

If it only made me more knowledgeable, reading would be less interesting to me, although they say that knowledge is power. I'm not so keen on power. Who cares? Yeah, lots of people would care and be greedy about it, but not me. I have always been very comfy with being low profile and just quietly lingering in the background.

Photo above by Thought Catalog on Unsplash.

But reading does something else. It improves your physical health and even your chances of preventing illnesses and possibly enjoying longevity, all with regular workouts and healthy eating, of course. I've noted this in my dad. He lived till 85 enjoying good heart health--always getting normal results with his cholesterol and triglyceride counts even if he loved fatty food. I suspected that it was his love for reading.

Get fit just right in simple ways.

Read anything you can get your hands on. And I mean anything. Offline or online. Checkout anything that is readable. I remember reading somewhere that one guy read even the labels of all the products he bought (aside from books and magazines) when he started his determined bibliophile journey. Yup, he read even ads.

Anyway, studies have proven that reading makes you healthier. Just watch this (when I say "watch" I mean try to picture this in your mind and make it move like a motion picture):

Less Free Radicals

Reading considerably lessens free radicals in your body. Free radical cells are mostly to blame for a lot of illnesses (about 70 percent due to inflammation), even deadly diseases like cancer, heart failure and diabetes. And stress is the number one cause of free radical cell proliferation. In 2009,  however, health experts at the University of Sussex (UK) found that reading reduced stress. They did this by checking muscle tension and the heart rates of folks while reading. According to the study, merely 6 minutes after reading a book, stressed is reduced by 68 percent.

Obviously, it depends on the type of reading material you have. Don't read anything stressful, like bad news, bashers' comments on your post, depressing emails, violent stories, the like. Although some people may actually be relieved of stress by reading suspense novels on war, crime, violence or zombies. The rule is, read what entertains you. My best suggestion is read the bible.

Longevity 

A study done at the Yale University involving 3,600 folks aged over 50 years (the study lasted for 12 years) found that daily reading for 30 minutes made readers live longer for almost 2 years than those that didn't. Those who read more than 3.5 hours a week reportedly increased longevity by 23 percent while those who read less as often only 17 percent. "The benefits of reading books include a longer life in which to read them," the study experts said.

If I were to interpret that, the desire to read more gave readers the will to live longer. I can relate this very easily to love for bible meditation. The more desperate you are, the stronger your will for LIFE, the one that Jesus gives.

Source for the above findings.

Better Sleep

Better sleep means better health. I don't need to explain this. It's common sense. And reading holds the key to better sleep, experts say, if you opt more for printed, hard copy books instead of those saved in devices and read on screen. Light from screened devices can worsen sleeping habits and lead to other serious illnesses. However, this is not to downgrade materials found online. Gadgets are easier to carry around than books, so it's a wise thing to save articles online or e-books in your phone so you can read anywhere conveniently. 

And there are a lot more information online than in a book. So I suggest you consider both sources--offline and online. Hardcopy books and reading stuff found online.

Here's a tip: Read printed books or e-books while sitting in bed aided by a reading lamp. Don't lie down reading because eye experts recommend books to be positioned at 60 degrees to your eyes which is difficult to do lying down. Or, you may sit on a comfy chair near your bed. I sit on my comfy stool near enough to my bed so that one fall and roll fits me nicely on my bed when I get sleepy.

No More Depression

Suffering from depression? Try being absorbed in a book you're reading, like the bible. Depression can worsen one's health and lead to serious health complications, but it doesn't need to go that far. Because depression makes you feel so alone, reading good books can help make sufferers feel like they're in company with someone, or a company of characters.

Fiction stories that entertain can provide an escape from a world that depresses you. Identifying with the heroism, victories and adventures of a fictional character can alleviate depression during moments of reading. Nonfiction materials, on the other hand, help you with useful information that elicits hope and a positive mindset.

Better Informed

When you're better informed about health through reading and apply what you learn, you have more chances of getting healthier. That's how it usually works. So keep reading books and other materials about health or about your specific health concerns. The United Kingdom National Health Service, in fact, encourages people to join "Reading Well," a program on "Books on Prescription" where medical experts prescribe reading certain self-help books that address specific health problems.

Source of the above infos.

Healthier Meals

When you get to the habit of reading, you'd find yourself reading even the ingredients of the food you eat and drinks you take. Most readers become conscientious and determine to do what is right. Reading develops the habit of correcting personal mistakes and wrong patterns, practices and routines. It happens all the time with me. So, you naturally do not want toxins and unhealthy stuff in your food and drinks the moment you read medical experts and health buffs on this.

Healthier Relationships

Relationships score big in things that make us either healthy or sickly. Good relationships foster good health and bad relationships, bad health. And here's the thing--reading often equips you with good friendship tools. I mean, your broadmindedness makes it easier for you to make friends than enemies. And even with enemies, you're able to put things under control, especially so when you're an avid reader of the bible and get smart with relationships because of it.

Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies. [Psalm 119.98]

With healthier relationships maintained because of the wisdom you get from reading, you become healthier due to lesser relationship stress. Yeah, even with your spouse and kids. Knowledge is definitely power here. Here's what a medical expert has to say about this:

“People involved in loving, philia-based (friendly) relationships have [fewer] doctor visits, shorter hospital visits, have less pain, and have more positive emotions,” according to Dr. Kirtly Parker Jones, of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Utah Healthcare.

She further said that good friendships help us become more resilient in hard times. Source.

Self Confidence

Finally, a habit of reading a lot gives you self-confidence that aids in better physical health, not just mental and social health. A study on self-confidence and health has this to say:

Positive self-esteem is not only seen as a basic feature of mental health, but also as a protective factor that contributes to better health...and the ability to cope with diseases like cancer and heart disease.

In particular, a quiet self-confidence (as against a boastful one, or one that is overconfident) gives you peace of mind, especially in seeing that there's no need to prove yourself to anyone just to be recognized or accepted. Love for reading can help achieve this if it makes you see the wisdom in quiet humility. 

In quietness and confidence is your strength. [Isaiah 30.15]

Any questions about the article? Email me at choysblog@gmail.com.