Can Reading Books Help You Live Longer? Here is What the Science Says

Adults over the age of 50 who regularly read books experience a 20% lower mortality risk and live an average of 23 months longer than non-readers, according to a widely cited 2016 study published in Social Science & Medicine. While the findings highlight a strong link between literature and longevity, experts note that the observational data establishes a correlation rather than a definitive cause-and-effect relationship.

What did the Yale study find?

A 2016 study examined 3,635 participants over the age of 50 across a 12-year follow-up period, as reported by Upworthy, National Geographic, AOL, and Men's Journal. Researchers split the participants into categories: non-readers, those reading less than 3.5 hours a week (roughly 30 minutes a day), and those reading more than 3.5 hours a week.

Upworthy and AOL / Men's Journal reported that adults who regularly read books had a 20% lower risk of mortality over the 12 years compared to non-readers. Furthermore, Upworthy noted that those reading less than 3.5 hours a week were 17% less likely to die than non-readers, while those reading more than 3.5 hours a week lived 23 months longer than non-readers. National Geographic similarly reported that regular book readers lived an average of 23 months longer than non-readers.

Researchers controlled for variables such as wealth, education, baseline health, depression, and cognitive ability. Notably, the data showed that book reading carried a distinct and stronger survival advantage compared to reading newspapers or magazines.

What do experts say about the cognitive and physical mechanisms?

Medical and psychological professionals attribute the survival advantage to the deep mental engagement required by books.

• Becca R. Levy, senior author and professor of epidemiology at Yale, stated via The New York Times in Upworthy that people reporting as little as half an hour a day of book reading had a significant survival advantage over non-readers even after adjusting for wealth, education, and cognitive ability.
• Zoe Shaw, a Los Angeles-based psychotherapist cited by National Geographic, stated, “When you get lost in a book, you often enter a trance-like state similar to meditation and that state is deeply protective,” adding that reading gently pulls the nervous system into regulation.
• Raymond Mar, professor of psychology at York University cited by National Geographic, noted that reading fiction provides a proxy for social experience, stating, “Social connection is incredibly important for healthy aging... and reading fiction can provide us with a proxy for social experience.”
• Elizabeth A. L. Stine-Morrow, research professor of educational psychology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, cited by National Geographic, praised the study and described reading as a “whole-brain activity” engaging memory, attention, meaning, emotion, and imagination.
• Kathleen Jordan, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Midi Health, stated in a snippet reported by Verywell Mind that reading is more than a pastime and serves as a powerful tool for cognitive health.

Additional context from other studies cited by National Geographic includes a 2020 study finding that mentally stimulating activities slow cognitive decline, a separate 2020 study showing lifelong reading and writing slows memory decline even with signs of Alzheimer's, and a 2022 study by Stine-Morrow finding novel reading improved working and long-term memory in older adults.

Can the study prove reading directly extends life?

AOL / Men's Journal noted that the Yale study was observational and cannot establish that reading directly prevents disease or extends life, as readers may similarly differ from non-readers in unmeasured ways. Men's Fitness also noted that the study cannot prove reading will definitively add years to a person's life. Despite these limitations, experts like Nick Buttrick, assistant professor of social psychology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, advise simply incorporating 10 to 30 minutes of daily reading into a routine.

This is educational information, not legal, financial, tax, or investment advice.