When you’re looking into things like fitness plans, health info, and aging, there’s always a flood of new studies and research pouring into magazines and websites at an incredible rate. If keeping up with all this was necessary for a healthy lifestyle, you’d be reading three magazines a day— leaving you more time flipping pages than actually staying in shape.
That’s why it’s smart to stick with the basics—exercise, a healthy diet, low stress, and the like. Most studies just tweak these core elements of a healthy lifestyle. For example, new studies linking stress levels to fat accumulation in the blood just remind us that high stress can lead to heart issues. It’s useful info, but not a must-have for staying healthy.
Then there are studies you should take with a grain of salt. Like the Norwegian study from 1970 that tracked over 400,000 patients for 40 years. It claimed single men had a 35% higher chance of dying from disease compared to married men, among other findings.
These stats were quickly picked up by countless magazines to argue that being single is bad for your health. So, if you want to live longer, the sooner you settle down, the better. But honestly, this is a classic example of a study that’s only accurate from a distance.
The real culprits for increased disease rates are lack of exercise, high stress, and bad diets. It is quite absurd to attribute marital status as the primary cause. Single guys might be less motivated without a partner nudging them to stay healthy. Plus, some are single because they’re widowers and might suffer from depression that worsens bad habits.
So, there’s no need to freak out and call a matchmaking service if you’re single. Just focus on taking care of yourself, even without a partner to keep you in check. Obviously, if you’re spending your time snacking on chips and binge-watching, you’re setting yourself up for health issues.
Besides, being married might not even offer those health perks. It could have the opposite effect, depending on your personality. Some people might actually avoid that 35% disease risk by staying single. So, in short, don’t base your whole lifestyle on the latest studies—there are too many personal factors for those stats to be spot-on for everyone.