By Brent Hauver

It is arguable that health is the most precious asset that a person can have. It makes sense. Good health allows for so many options and enjoyment. Money, achievements, and possessions cannot give the pleasure that health affords. In our society today, our crusade for health is not necessarily dominated by avoiding deficiencies, but by learning to balance our abundance. The pursuit of optimal health in modern times has led to the creation of whole industries dedicated to diet, exercise, power of will, or any combination. The results and benefits of diet and exercise have been studied, tried, and exhausted and yet still the combination of diet and exercise alone all too often comes up short. Our abundant society with all of our accomplishments still has not attained a truly superior state of health. Why?

In our pursuit of ever better exercise routines and more perfect diets, we are overlooking an incredibly basic health factor: our relationships.

It is intuitive for all of us that heart disease, smoking, alcoholism, and obesity are unhealthy and to be avoided, and yet multiple studies from various countries around the world confirm that happy relationships can have a larger impact on overall health than diet, exercise, etc. It then follows that loneliness must be detrimental to overall physical health. “Social Relationships, or the lack thereof, constitute a major risk factor for health – rivaling the effect of well established health risk factors such as cigarette smoking, blood pressure, blood lipids, obesity, and physical activity” (House, Landis, and Umberson, Science, 1988) Since 1988, studies involving over 308, 849 people followed over 7.5 years found the same results – we need to feel connected to the people around us to be optimally healthy.

This additional health information could dramatically change the way we prioritize our health goals. In no way are the importance of diet and exercise diminished. Our health still depends on activity and monitoring what we put into our bodies. Now we know that we can enhance our previous efforts at good health by including strong relationships in our health goals. A circle of close friends and strong family ties can boost a person’s health more than exercise, losing weight or quitting smoking and alcohol, so why not exercise with a friend? How much better would healthy eating goals be if they were a family effort? If a healthy lifestyle strengthens family bonds, and family bonds increase heath benefits, there is no downside to including those we love in our health.

Having a good relationship stirs the soul, soothes the brain, and gives you a health boost as well. We all know how healthy relationships influence mental and emotional wellbeing; that is hardly news, but if lengthening life and increasing the quality of life can be accomplished with the same simple solution, relationships, can any of us claim to be too busy for others? Can a health conscious person choose to be lonely? Can we focus on diet and exercise to the exclusion of strong interpersonal relation ships? Absolutely not!

Let’s all get out there and improve our health. Let’s have healthy meals with our families. Let’s find exercise buddies. How about a quick phone call to a loved one before heading out for a jog?

Our lives may depend on it, or at least the quality of our lives.

Brent Hauver is a Holistic Health Researcher who owns and operates Sage Health and Empowerment Center in Overton, NV.