In the health and fitness world, we spend a lot of time talking about what helps us live longer. Exercise and nutrition are often at the top of the list—and for good reason.
But one of the strongest predictors of longevity is something we don’t talk about nearly enough:
Social connection.
What the Research
Shows
In 2010, researcher Julianne Holt-Lunstad and her colleagues published a large scientific review in the journal PLOS Medicine. Instead of looking at one small study, they analyzed 148 different studies, following more than 300,000 people over time.
Here’s what they found:
People with stronger social relationships had a 50% greater likelihood of survival compared to those with weaker social connections.
That’s not a small effect. It’s comparable to
well-known health behaviors like quitting smoking or maintaining a healthy weight.
In plain language:
Staying socially connected helps people live longer.
Here's a link to
this facinating study:
Holt-Lunstad, J., Smith, T. B., & Layton, J. B. (2010). Social relationships and mortality risk: A meta-analytic review. PLOS Medicine, 7(7), e1000316.
