Want to live longer? Read a book

Could a little light reading each day help you live longer?

According to a recent Yale University study, reading books was positively connected with a longer lifetime; readers, on average, lived about two years longer than non-readers.

expanding it by a few pages

Researchers analyzed data on 3,635 Americans over 50 in the study published in the journal Social Science and Medicine.

After controlling for variables like gender, color, and education, respondents were divided into three groups: those who read 3.5 hours or more per week, those who read up to 3.5 hours per week, and those who didn’t read at all.

The researchers found that people who read more than 3.5 hours per week had a 23 percent lower risk of passing away within 12 years, while those who read up to 3.5 hours per week had a 17 percent lower chance.

Becca R. Levy, a Yale University professor of epidemiology and co-author of the study, told the New York Times that people who read for even a half-hour each day had a considerable survival advantage over those who did not.

The further advantages

Researchers discovered that reading books demonstrated improved cognitive skills like remembering and backward counting.

However, reading magazines or newspapers didn’t have the same impact unless readers engaged in the activity for longer than seven hours each week. An 11 percent decrease in mortality was linked to this.

Although prior research has indicated that readers tend to be generally healthier, wealthier, and better educated, all of which may contribute to a longer life, it is unclear why there is such a high relationship between reading and longevity.

Adults who read for just 20 minutes a week are 20% more likely to be content with their life, according to a separate survey of 4,164 adults in the UK, including both readers and non-readers.

As opposed to individuals who frequently read for enjoyment, non-readers were 28% more likely to report experiencing depressive symptoms. Five percent of readers claim that reading makes them feel less alone.

This study was assisted in its execution by Josie Billington, a senior lecturer and deputy director at the University of Liverpool’s Centre for Research into Reading. She discusses how reading can contribute to better health:

“Reading does more than only acquaint readers with larger life systems and more universally understood meanings. It can also help people rediscover past interests, jobs, or information and skills they still possess, which can help them feel more rooted and purposeful in the world, “She composes.

It can also help people rediscover past pursuits, current knowledge, and abilities, which can help them feel more a part of the world and like they have a place in it.

Readers have a wider view of the world and a more secure sense of their place within it than non-readers do. They are also more conscious of social issues and cultural diversity. According to our research, reading just 30 minutes a week increases your likelihood of feeling socially engaged by 52 percent and your chance of having a stronger sense of community by 72 percent. Additionally, readers are 37 percent more likely to enjoy their social lives. The Discussion

In the Quick Reads study, readers said that reading made them feel more relaxed than watching television, using social media, or reading more leisurely like magazines. Reading is associated with a certain form of mental and emotional “engaged” relaxation, unlike the passivity associated with other leisure pursuits, such as watching television.

Many “down-time” activities, including social media, don’t help people “turn off” and may even anger individuals more than they calm them down. Reading helps personal anxieties fade away and provides shelter from the interruptions and stressors of daily concern since it requires concentration and induces immersion in a parallel universe. In the survey, 43% of readers claimed that reading improved their ability to fall asleep.