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A study shows people who read books live 20 percent longer than those who do not.
Warren Buffett once said sitting in his office reading all day was the secret to his success. But reading can do more than make you smarter (or, in Buffett’s case, wealthier too):
- Reading a book for just six minutes reduces your stress levels by up to 68 percent.
- Reading books slows cognitive aging; compared with nonreaders (people who read less than one book a year), regular readers experience a 32 percent lower rate of mental decline in their later years.
- Reading books changes your brain, at least over the short term: for up to five days after, reading can heighten connectivity in areas of the brain responsible for language and sensation.
- Even the presence of books matters: study published in Social Science Research found that kids who had more books in their homes turned out to be more proficient as adults in literacy, math, and the use of technology.
So yeah: reading books provides a number of benefits.
Including helping you live a longer life. According to a study published in Social Science & Medicine, people who read books were 20 percent less likely to die during the decade-long study period than those who did not.
Granted, the results are correlational rather than causal. Reading books is connected to greater longevity, not necessarily the driver. But there is this: after discounting longevity variables like health, wealth, and education (healthier, wealthier, and more educated people tend to live longer), the connection between reading books and longevity connection remained.
Interestingly, the impact was greater from reading books than from other forms of reading like magazines, screens, etc. Why? One of the researchers’ theories is that reading a book requires deeper engagement. If you’re reading a novel, you have to keep up with the plot, the characters, the story arc… the same is true for non-fiction as the “story” (because good non-fiction has a story arc) builds and develops.
Another theory is that reading a book is inherently relaxing. Instead of scrolling, you settle in. Less stress equals longer longevity; research shows chronic stress significantly shortens expected lifespans.
All of which sounds great, but how much reading is required to make a difference? Thirty minutes a day created a meaningful separation between “readers” and “non-readers.”
And if you spend more than 30 minutes a day reading? (I average 90 minutes or so.) The longevity connection grows larger.
Granted, you may be thinking, “I don’t like to read.” Or, more likely, “I don’t have time to read books.” Yet the average person spends between four and five hours a day (not work-related) looking at screens.
If that sounds like you, consider borrowing thirty of those minutes to read a book. (Try Jon Krakeur’s Into Thin Air; every self-styled “non-reader” I have recommended that book to has loved it.)
As the researchers write, “These findings suggest that the benefits of reading books include a longer life in which to read them.”
Sounds like a plan.
This post originally appeared at inc.com.
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