“18 Proven Health Benefits of Reading”

Many people take reading for granted and in this new world of videos and movies lots of people hardly ever read. But the simple act of reading has many powerful health benefits which are important.

Reading Lowers Stress and Creates Tranquility - Simply reading something uplifting can help us relax and allow stress to melt away. Studies show that reading also helps us feel more tranquil, peaceful, and content with life. And studies show that reading helps to lower blood pressure, create a calm feeling. Studies at Sussex University showed that reading for 6 minutes daily lowered stress by up to 68%… that’s pretty amazing! Just think what reading for 30 minutes or more can do.

Reading Helps with Mental Illness - Reading something uplifting, tranquil, and peaceful helps us to feel more at ease and also helps with mild mental illness.

Reading Improves Your Imagination - Compared to watching TV and movies reading improves a person’s imagination because it makes the mind work and create neural connections. And in this day and age of information having a great imagination is important.

Reading Creates Better Concentration and Focus - Studies show those that read have a better ability to focus and concentrate compared to those that don’t read. Most of the time we have multiple things going on with texts, phone calls, watching TV, listening to the news and more— this creates havoc in our brain. Just the opposite happens when we relax and sit and read for 20 minutes or more—-we feel relaxed and are better able to focus and concentrate.

Reading Helps with Depression - Studies in the Journal of POLS ONE showed that reading self-help books and having therapy sessions at the same time can ease depression.

Reading Makes Us More Productive - Studies show that those who read more often are more productive. This goes back to calming the mind and thus the mind can recoup and when we are healing we are much more productive.

Reading Makes us Live Longer - Research done in the UK showed that those who read throughout their life seemed to live longer. And that maybe because people who read books engage with other people to talk about what they have read and thus they build a strong support system.

Reading Creates Better Memory and Thinking Capabilities - A study at Yale University showed that those who read on a regular basis instead of watching movies had better memories and less memory decline as they aged. Not only that, people who read had more complex brains and thus were better equipped to solve tough problems. And a study at Emory University showed that those who read had more capacity for empathy that those that did not read.

Reading Helps us Accomplish Life Goals - Studies at Ohio State University showed that those who read about someone who was courageous and outgoing usually fulfill many more of their life goals… and had the courage to ask for raises and overcome life challenges and had more self-confidence and self-esteem.

Reading Improves a Persons Mood - Reading an uplifting book has been found to improve a person mood and help them feel happier.

Reading Creates More Brain Connections - Studies at Harvard Medical School showed that people who read on a regular basis engaged their brains—thus creating more connections between nerve cells in their brain.

Reading Can Help Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease - A study at Rush University showed that people who read on a regular basis had a much lower chance of coming down with Alzheimer’s Disease. And this study also showed that those who read on a regular basis had a 32% slower rate of cognitive decline later in life.

Reading Helps us Feel More Connected - Studies at the University of Buffalo showed that those who read about real life relationships developed more friends.

The Book We Choose Matters - Reading something uplifting, something peaceful, something that makes us smile has positive effects on the body and lowers stress. While reading something ghastly and grotesque can have just the opposite effect.

Reading Improves Attention Span - Reading helps kids and adults to have longer attention spans according to neuroscientist Susan Greenfield. And reading helps kids learn to do things with more order— and learn to do things in sequence.

Reading Helps a Person Sleep Better - Studies at the prestigious Mayo Clinic showed that reading something uplifting just before going to bed improved their quality of sleep. That is reading a regular paper book, reading on a tablet or computer actually created a decline in sleep quality… so read a paper book and sleep better.

Reading Creates a Large Vocabulary - Studies show that the more books we read the larger our vocabulary becomes — thus it’s important to keep reading and learning more words daily.

Reading Turns Off Electronic Overload - Reading a regular printed book can be an escape from our electronic overload that we experience daily. Just shut everything off and curl up with a good book will relax your mind and de-stress your life.

So if a person wants to improver their brain, sleep better, have a better imagination, have more self-esteem and self-confidence, live longer, lower their blood pressure, and feel less stressed… then it’s important to read a lot of books and feel great.

Many Blessings to Everyone!

Dr. Paul Haider - Master Herbalist