Everyone has heard and read time and again that reading is good for their health. But is there a science behind that notion? According to several studies and surveys, reading does, in fact, provide significant health benefits, including boosting your brain power. Let’s look at some ways reading can improve your health and well-being.
Reading books has the potential to make you smarter, improve your memory, make you more creative, and make you happier. There’s a popular saying that goes, “Reading is the art of losing yourself in books.” It is good for your brain. It builds vocabulary and analytical skills, improves your memory, and boosts your creativity. So, it makes sense that reading can help improve your health and well-being.
We read a variety of different books—and not all of them have the same positive effect on our well-being. Some books can help us feel happier; some make us sad, others can help us escape our troubles, while some even help us understand ourselves better. But did you know that reading, other than improving our brain and helping us learn, can actually have a positive effect on our physical health, as well?
Research shows that reading at least 10 minutes a day can improve your well-being, and it’s a habit that you can start at any age. It improves your vocabulary and comprehension and teaches you about new subjects that you might enjoy. It also allows you to escape into another world and can help reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. Reading is a cheap and healthy habit that you can start today (and reap the rewards of).
Reading can improve well-being and health. According to Reading to Recovery, research indicates that reading for leisure benefits:
The mind
The activity of the mind has a positive effect on our mental health. Our mental health affects our relationships, our ability to concentrate, our energy levels, and our motivation. Physical well-being – research published in The Lancet in 2014 confirmed that reading for pleasure has a positive impact on physical health.
Emotional well-being
Reading helps increase our emotional intelligence, which affects our ability to empathize with others, manage stress, and form good relationships.
The physical stimulation that comes from reading can be good for our brains. As suggested in the Guardian article Reading to Recovery, the National Library of Medicine suggests that reading (and writing) “promotes the development of language, memory, reasoning, vocabulary, and comprehension. The benefits of reading are similar to the benefits of physical exercise, another activity that experts recommend we all embrace. Reading has been shown to:
- Improve mood: When you read, you’re encouraged to think about the story. Mental exercise helps you manage stress and worries.
- Keep you mentally sharp: When you read, you’re likely to engage in a sort of mental exercise, using your brain to process new information. This exercise helps you keep your mind sharp.
- Lower the risk of chronic diseases: Studies have shown that reading regularly can lower the risk of chronic diseases.
- Help people live longer: Reading has been found to help people live longer since those who read regularly tend to connect with their communities and talk to people.
Reading is a great way to unwind and relax. Many people also say that it can improve well-being. Research has backed up these claims and found that reading can be good for your mind, body, and soul. There are some great ways to read to enhance your well-being. You can read something funny, though steer clear of any books that make you laugh out loud. Reading something thought-provoking can also enhance your well-being. It’s helpful to have some books on hand to read on a rainy day.
A recent study published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation found that reading can help reduce your risk of heart disease. Reading has been shown to reduce blood pressure, anxiety, and depression, and a Harvard study found that adults who read 20 minutes a day were 31 per cent less likely to die over a 10-year period.
