Whether you attend an amateur football team or a voluntary association does not matter. It seems fundamental, for our health, to be together with others.
An active and satisfying social life can have beneficial effects on our health, even greater than those induced by a healthy diet and proper physical activity.
There is recent evidence, in fact, that participating in group activities significantly reduces the risk of getting sick, even from viral diseases such as colds.
Active social life as prevention
According to researchers from the Universities of Exeter and Queensland, Australia, humans are a social animal, they evolved to live in social groups.
As a result, belonging to a group improves not only mental performance, cognitive abilities, the ability to overcome difficulties, but also physical condition.
There is much evidence that an intense social life protects against cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (such as heart attack or cerebral stroke), but now it has also been seen that participating in group activities can really protect against colds, more than it exposes us to the risk of contagion.
On a physical level, in fact, social activity reduces stress and, consequently, helps the nervous system to stay in balance, supporting the activity of the heart and the immune system.
Joycelyn Elders is the author and creator of EmpowerEssence, a health and wellness blog. Elders is a respected public health advocate and pediatrician dedicated to promoting general health and well-being.
The blog covers a wide range of topics related to health and wellness, with articles organized into several categories.