The famous Tuscan singer Irene Grandi sang a few years ago “I have been on vacation for a lifetime. Why not?”. A thought and more than anything else a desire that we share in many. Now we also have scientific proof. The results of a study published in 2018 in The Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging, confirm what we have always hoped for in our hearts. We refer to the study conducted by the University of Helsinki under the guidance of Professor Timo Strandberg.
It leaves us stunned to know how long we have to stay on vacation for our physical well-being
The reference sample for this study are the 1,200 businessmen who had already participated in a previous study between 1974 and 1975.
Managers, all born between 1919 and 1934, were recruited for research on cardiovascular risk factors. All participants had at least one heart risk factor from smoking to hypertension, from high cholesterol to high triglycerides, to overweight.
The researchers of ’74 divided the 1,200 managers into a group called “intervention” and one “control”.
What does it mean?
The researchers for five years followed the intervention group from a pharmacological point of view and with health education. They gave instructions on how to do aerobic physical activity. He was advised of healthy diets to achieve an ideal weight. Hypertension and weight medications such as beta-blockers, diuretics, and probucol were administered.
The control group was “left” to the usual public health.
At the end of the study, the monitoring of the health conditions of the two groups showed that the “intervention” group had improved their state of health. The cardiovascular risk had dropped as much as 46% for the lucky ones who had had the researchers as “tutors”.
But the surprise came later in the follow up of the 1989 and then 2014 studies.
In the “intervention” group, 15 years later, there were more deaths than in the “control” group. Same result until 2004.
Between 2004 and 2014, however, the mortality rates between the two groups of samples were aligned on the same values.
What happened, then, between 1975 and 2004 to nullify all the improvements in diet, lifestyle habits and drugs made on the “intervention” group?
Let’s go back to the present and see what Timo Strandberg’s team discovered.
The Helsinki researchers took into account multiple parameters and information about the lives of the managers in the sample. They also assessed the amount of work, sleep, and vacation.
Well, here is the fact that has left everyone speechless. Those who took a vacation of three weeks or less had increased their mortality risk by 37%.
In the control group, however, the vacation data had no influence.
What then emerged from the study?
Stress and relentless pace without more than three weeks of rest can frustrate any dietary education or medication.
It is therefore very important to take a break from everyday life and go on vacation for more than three weeks!
That’s why accustomed to a stressful routine, it leaves us stunned to know how long we have to stay on vacation for our physical well-being.
To learn more: here we find some ideas for some nice and long holidays.
(We remind you to carefully read the warnings regarding this article, which can be consulted who”)