Besides exercising and being careful about what and how you eat, and of course, your genetic inheritance, social activity makes you healthy as well.
- Real-life interaction can increase your chances of a healthy life
- Not socializing may lead to high blood pressure or even obesity
- In time, a low level of interaction can lead even to increased risk of cancer
We are constantly advised to eat healthy and have a balanced diet. Exercise is also a must and everyone is signing up for gym subscriptions like they’re for free. But we rarely take into consideration how much of an impact our social life can have on our health.
Of course, much research has been done about how social media impacts our life and how it’s bad to us compared to real-life interaction. But now a new study showed that social relationships can have a say in our physical well-being. A low level of social interaction could lead to inflammation, high blood pressure and obesity.
The critical ages for social activity are adolescence and late adulthood. It is not yet sure whether the number of friends or acquaintances you have is necessarily relevant for your health, but the impact these friendships have on you can tip the balance towards a healthier life.
The researchers looked into national surveys and focused on social integration, support and strain. They also examined blood pressure, body mass index, levels of C-protein and waist circumference, all of these being factors which could increase the mortality risk.
People who are less social or who don’t interact at all with other people unless necessary are more likely to develop certain disorders and physical changes which could, in time, lead to chronic diseases, even cancer.
Probably social impact is most visible in teenagers. There are many of them who willingly or not separate themselves from the outside world and communicate as little as possible. Many of them don’t have friends or have only one friend and refuse even to interact with their family unless needed.
An alarming number of young adults spend their time online. Although many are on social media, online interaction it’s not the same with real-life interaction. Moreover, there are also the ones who spend time online playing games, which means even less interactivity and more time spent in an alternative virtual reality than in real life.
All in all, it is advised that besides balancing your eating habits and doing sports you should also invest more in the time you spend socializing as it might save your life.
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