Harvard study over 85 years shows the #1 secret to a longer life isn't green juice. It's who you love. What are your thoughts?

[HawkPerception]

Harvard tracked people for 85+ years, and the results will shock you.

The Harvard Study of Adult Development followed hundreds of people for over 85 years to find out what truly makes us happy and healthy. The number 1 factor?

Good relationships.

NOT wealth.
NOT success.
NOT even fitness.

People who had strong, supportive relationships lived longer, got sick less, and stayed mentally sharp into their 80s and beyond.

Meanwhile, those who were lonely or stuck in toxic relationships saw their health decline earlier, no matter how much money they made.

The researchers found that emotional connection protects both your body and your brain.

In fact, your relationship quality at 50 can predict your health at 80.

[DishLady]

Those with loving hearts do live fuller, happier lives, which can contribute significantly to longevity, however that doesn't tally up to a specific number. (Nothing does... not even green juice.) My best example is my mom, who by all logic should have passed on in her 30s, but she was a trooper with a heart of gold who lasted well into her 70s despite a plethora of medical ailments.

[Simslover92]

I believe this to be true. My grandmother is almost 76 and her partner is around the same age and what keeps them going is each other. They look out for one another. Keep each other healthy and vibrant. I believe if they didn't have each other they might not have lasted this long.

[Chazmatazz269]

How many times does Harvard have to be at the center of an ethics scandal before you realize the words “Harvard study” probably aren’t the flex you think it is?


https://apnews.com/article/harvard-president-plagiarism-claudine-gay-14330935453134c7c9c9a9c496020568



https://www.newsweek.com/who-francesca-gino-professor-harvard-fraud-dispute-explained-2077386



That’s just Harvard. All of the soft sciences took a hit years ago with the Grievance Studies Affair.


https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00491241211009946

https://youtu.be/kVk9a5Jcd1khttps://youtu.be/OlqU_JMTzd4

[AviatorTom]

I'm not surprised. My father lived to 98, in a long happy marriage.

[princeofromance]

I guess I am going to die sooner than later, because I have not been able to find my Soulmate.

[Effably]

I haven't read what this alludes to so if i miss the mark, educate me.

However it seems to be inherently flawed to me. A good longterm relationship is built on more than just the relation in itself.

To not turn toxic or unhealthy, a fairly stable life is required. That means we have a standard of wealth. To keep pace we also need a decent bodily health.

As for success while not mandatory, a degree of mutual progress or achievement is also paramount to a lasting relationship.

So while I am not really disagreeing I find that it is a bit misleading. A bit like praising Harvard graduates for being successful afterwards. Absolutely, it makes sense. But in order to get in they were already lucky, driven, had good backgrounds and were successful. While Harvard very possibly added to that if I only train the most promising we would expect my results to exceed someone who trained everyone.

A good and lasting relationship needs so many other things in life to be mostly positive too that it feels more like saying Wealth and Health is more important to longevity than just one of them!

[Screenwriter]

Don't need a Harvard study to know THIS!!! It's incredibly obvious. Good family, good friends, THEN good work, satisfying volunteering, enjoyable hobbies that you also share with other people with similar interests, good general health... long, happy life.

I think you DO need enough money to have more than your basic needs met, however. Not just enough to pay the bills, but enough to be COMFORTABLE: some art on the walls, a vacation, a car that doesn't break down, some dollars in the bank, a stable and maybe paid-for home, good medical care. To me, that's wealth. Not WEALTHY...

So, I disagree with the "not wealth" part. They need to define wealth more narrowly.

[sage2021]

I am older and I am alone but not lonely.

I did have love for 6 years and felt like I was cared for and loveed by my boyfriend. Unfortunately he passed away 19 months ago but his memories are lingering and I still feel loved.
Ha!! The last person who was around me for years pretended to care about me but all the while she was a snake in the grass and stole all of my belongings from me twice - each time I moved.

Other people are just out for themselves and now I don't trust anyone anymore (except for one person) so my memories of Patrick John are good memories and I would rather live with my memories than with real people because I never will trust anyone again.

[HawkPerception]

Oof. Sorry to hear you can't trust anyone. Not all people are bad. You can't judge everyone for the mistakes that one person made.

If someone assumes you're a bad person because they met a bad person before, would you appreciate that?

[sage2021]

I guess that I don't trust people because I am a very nice, kind person and that is the perfect recipe for people who think that I am weak (but I'm not!) and take advantage of me.
Hey, I'm not going to change my essence of who I am at my core just because people have changed into greedy monsters. No thanks!! 😎

[TheSpaceGnome]

While a healthy relationship is important to health, its not going to make you invincible to malnutrition, injury, infection, etc. And loneliness alone isn't strong enough to cause physical harm.

Most adults over the age of 30 are happily married.
Most adults over the age of 30 are in poor health.

I'm a single virgin thats almost 40.
I still have the looks and health I had at 14 despite constant stress from wanting a compatible wife and not being able to find one I like enough to marry.

I also lack any social support systems, and I do not interact with my family, all of whom are in much poorer health than me despite most of them being in relationships.

I'm going to have to call BS on that study.

The primary cause for poor health in humans is malnutrition.
With injury and infection trailing close behind.
Typically poverty is why those 3 things happen.

[HawkPerception]

Just as I'm going to call BS on your looks and health being the same you had at 14 😂

And I'm sure you know more than Harvard research over 80+ years 👍🏼

[TheSpaceGnome]

I mean its not bs though, I'm no different now as I was then.

Harvard has produced lots of erroneous claims over the years, as most for profit prestige colleges often do.

Plus the evidence speaks for itself, just go outside and look at what shape happily married couples are in and compare it to single people yourself instead of believing everything you read on the internet.

[HawkPerception]

I'm not saying you're not in awesome shape for your age. I am too. And friends and acquaintances all tell me the same thing... I look like I've barely aged. But there ARE differences. Injuries accumulate. Pains start coming. The more active you are, the more you wear down your cartilage. Ironically, you need to be physically active to stay in shape, but the more physically active you are, the faster you burn your fuse.

I'm also not saying that eating healthy isn't important. It is. But the claims of this post are simply that healthy relationships are a main, if not THE main factor behind longevity. And I agree. Mental health that comes from healthy relationships should not be underestimated.

[TheSpaceGnome]

"Injuries accumulate. Pains start coming. The more active you are, the more you wear down your cartilage. Ironically, you need to be physically active to stay in shape, but the more physically active you are, the faster you burn your fuse."

In my 20s I became very ill, I was in searing pain most of the time, had a number of injuries, poor circulation, looked twice my age, and had trouble just standing. It got so bad that I thought I would actually die, and a few times, I almost did. But today, I'm in no pain, I can run around, I have the energy of a hyperactive child on holloween candy, and I look like my 14 year old self.

You can reverse damage.

When you get a cut, it heals yes? Ever get one that doesn't scar? Most of the body can do that.

How did I reverse it?

By eating my way to good health.
Not excersize, not love, not support systems, I had none if that.
I didn't even have a doctor that knew how to help, I had to figure everything out on my own.

[TheSpaceGnome]

I now have no scars, no broken parts, no wear, no damage, no symptoms of illness, I'm healthy again, at the cost of a mostly isolated life. That health allows me to be more active. Being more active doesn't wear me down because I'm not being stupid about how I'm active.

For example people who do body building, thats going to damage them over time. Not because they are active, but because they are straining themselves, especially their heart and blood vessels and muscles.

If healthy relationships were the main factor for good health, then I wouldn't be frustrated that women my age think i'm jailbait, and teens keep harrasing me with dating requests.

I wouldn't even be alive today, let alone returned to the pristine health I started with.

Food is medicine, anyone who says otherwise is either just guessing, or is a fraud.
I agree that a good lifelong spouse is essential for happpiness, but if it was required for health, I would not be here to type this, because I spent most of my life wanting one and going without.

[TheSpaceGnome]

At the end of the day, the body is literally made of food. Any damage you get can only be repaired by adding the nutrients and water that cells need to rebuild.

[TheSpaceGnome]

And i'm not referring to some stupid fad diet, I had to study the entire metabolic process and lab rat myself testing shit out in order to weed out the bs from facts.

[TheSpaceGnome]

I could have probably gotten a doctorate for it had a college been monitoring my studies.

[FreyaRed]

Most of those studies aren't worth the paper they are printed on. Academia and their postmodernists sociological studies are mostly made not to find out a reason but to find a theory that fits to defines result beforehand. I'm sure people in countries with strong family bonds and high peer pressure to sustain in relationship aren't living longer.

[Crimsyjo]

Yes I can totally agree with this. Both just because it makes sense and I work with elderly people so I see those thar live to 100 often and those that don't. And those that are happy or not happy. How many times you hear a person say they don't want to die because of their spouse or (grown) children or grandkids etc? The most happy seem most active with lots of social interaction.

[wynning]

Hmm I wonder if it's the "reason to live" aspect that has such a profound effect... as in, wanting to be healthy enough, strong enough and determined enough to make sure you live as long as possible because there's someone you deeply care about.

[MannMitAntworten]

Really doesn’t surprise me about the relationship itself being largely a determining factor. I mean, if there is peace, harmony, happiness, and support at home that alone takes away a lot of Life’s struggles.

[LazerBean]

Makes sense to me. A life filled with love and looking after each other is a good one.

[purplepoppy]

Ever noticed how people in the past chain smoked, drank 8 pints a beer a night, only ever ran for a bus, and their diet was 50% lard yet they lived to 80 .

Yet despite all our modern health improvements we're actually dying younger

[lightbulb27]

I'm done with GAG due to the AI thing popping up.

adios muchachos!

study makes sense.

[HawkPerception]

Dang I feel ya man. Sorry to see ya go 😓

[RingOfFire]

DAMN!

And all that money I spent on that green juice! 🤬🤬🤬

[WhitneySnow]

That’s great! My grandparents had a great relationship, but my grandma died and I’m concerned my grandpa won’t live much longer without her.

[HawkPerception]

That's usually what happens sadly. There are proven studies that health rapidly deteriorates after a long term partner passes away.

[BCRanger10]

It took a study at a comedy club to figure THAT out?

[exitseven]

This could be a factor

https://www.youtube.com/embed/LNQjGagUd2E

[Staximus]

Your brain can kill your body, it has too much influence over your health. Look how many old people die shortly after their long-term husband or wife die

[beenherebefore]

I agree that sharing a life with the one you love gives you drive to push forward in life.

[RavVid]

It doesn't really surprise me. Peace is important.

[captain_voidwalker]

Yeah well I wouldn't put much stock in anything coming out of Harvard these days. You can get a better education an elementary school kindergarten class

[andreasderjuengere]

Cool. With a few side-chicks I then can live forever?

[WonderingManII]

I think that is probably true. The more happy you feel, the better life feels.

[queenofcardio]

Love can be everything

[chocolatetwopointo]

nice, but i dont really wanna live that long in a world like this

[Xalooo]

This is really true

[ilistengood]

What if its green juice I love?

[robocop666]

their a business school not science

[HawkPerception]

Unsure where you're getting your info from.

Harvard University is known for its strong focus on liberal arts and sciences, particularly in social sciences, biological and biomedical sciences, and mathematics. It also excels in areas like law, business, medicine, and government, producing leaders in these fields. Interdisciplinary programs allow students to tailor their studies to specific interests.

[robocop666]

ok my bad however its overrated and has liberal nonsense and affirmative actinon

[Dongie]

Perhaps then without one it'll cancel out.

[Godihateyou]

Harvard. Opinion discarded

[spartan55]

Wth is green juice?