Culture 3 min read

New Study Claims Vacation Could Improve Heart Health

icemanphotos / Shutterstock.com

icemanphotos / Shutterstock.com

New research suggests that going on vacation could be beneficial to your heart health.

Summer is the prime vacation season. It’s a time to take a break from work and just spend your days on an exotic island, soaking up as much sunlight as you can.

However, recent statistics show that Americans no longer understand the importance of taking a break.

From 1976 to 2000, the average American took 20-days away from work every year. But, the number has been shrinking since the year 2000.

In 2015, employees took an average of only 16 days off. A study from the U.S. Travel Association’s Project Time Off revealed that 52 percent of Americans didn’t even use their vacation days in 2017.

Aside from boosting employees’ productivity, several anecdotal evidence points to the health benefit of vacation

Now researchers from the University of Syracuse have contributed to that growing body of knowledge. According to the authors of the study, Professor Bryce Hruska and Brooks Gump, vacations can help boost our heart health.

In a statement, assistant professor of public health at Syracuse University’s Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, Prof. Hruska said:

“What we found is that people who vacation more frequently in the past 12 months have a lowered risk for metabolic syndrome and metabolic symptoms.”

How Vacation Could Improve Heart Health and Reduce Risk of Cardiovascular Diseases

According to Prof. Hruska, metabolic syndrome is a collection of risk for cardiovascular diseases. That means, the more you have them, the higher the risk to your heart health.

In the study, the researchers noted a reduction in the risk for cardiovascular diseases in participants that take time off work to go on vacations. Here’s the reason.

With a healthy habit, not only is it possible to change or reduce the metabolic symptoms, but we could eliminate it. In other words, a person can reduce the metabolic symptoms – and by extension, risk of cardiovascular disease – just by going on a vacation.

How could a weekend trip to Hawaii reduce your metabolic symptoms, you ask?

The researchers are still trying to figure that part out. Again, they emphasize the importance of people using the vacation time that’s available to them.

Hruska concluded:

“One of the important takeaways is that vacation time is available to nearly 80 percent of full-time employees, but fewer than half utilize all the time available to them. Our research suggests that if people use more of this benefit, one that’s already available to them, it will translate into a tangible health benefit.”

Read More: Coffee Not As Bad For Heart as Previously Thought

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Sumbo Bello

Sumbo Bello is a creative writer who enjoys creating data-driven content for news sites. In his spare time, he plays basketball and listens to Coldplay.

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