Read More, Die Later

Opening a book shuts the covers on the algorithm. Your brain stays active while the body recuperates, lighting up neural pathways and broadening horizons as you step into the shoes of people you’ll never meet.

Great, sure, nice. Reading also makes you less likely to die.

A twelve-year study following 3635 adults found that book readers had a 20% lower chance of dying during the research period compared to non-book readers – even accounting for age, gender, race, education, income, health conditions, depression and marital status.

“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” – Richard Steele

The survival benefit came from improved cognitive function. Simply put: healthier brains last longer.

It’s something fleshed out in numerous papers. One 14-year study demonstrates how reading “significantly” slows cognitive decline. Another found similar effects, even in participants whose brains showed signs of Alzheimer’s.

More is More

Estimates differ wildly, but the average person is likely consuming more words than ever. But it’s all bite size content. Listicles, newsletters and carousels all have their place, but the benefits that reading truly offers emerge from longer form, grappling with characters and context and motives – elongated arguments that require nuance. 

The things you’re reading should be books of more than 100 pages in order to retain these faculties, or literacy ability takes a hit. When that happens “you become a more passive consumer of whatever [something like] ChatGPT tells you. You’re not reflecting on it,” says professor Andreas Schleicher, “You’re not looking at different aspects of the narrative. That’s the risk.”

Downing Tools

If dying earlier and getting dumber didn’t drive home the point, the act of reading also regulates the nervous system–a crucial behaviour for anyone trying to make the most of life. Reading “redirects attention away from internal ‘worry loops’ and constant external stimuli.” 

What’s more, according to neuroscientist Dr Le Cunff, it “tends to slow breathing, heart rate and release muscle tension, [which] suggests it can be good at nudging the body from ‘fight-or-flight’ towards ‘rest-and-digest’.

Surprisingly, reading also triggers our social response even when there’s nobody around. “Fiction can provide us with a proxy for social experience,” says Professor Raymond Mar, “allowing us to mentally practice relationships, emotions and perspective-taking.” Of course, a book club would enhance this, but even solo reading can go some way to enhancing connection. And we all know how physiologically damaging loneliness is.

Mind Lift

If you’re a listener not a reader, there is evidence that the brain processes stories in the same way whether they’re read or heard. The benefit comes from grappling with perspectives and newness. That said, a 2025 YouGov survey found that 40% of Britons haven’t read or listened to a single book in the past 12 months…

Referring to the first study at the top: books, as opposed to newspapers and magazines, were found to be “significantly more beneficial for survival.” Suggesting that, whilst non-fiction type content undoubtedly has its benefits, there are unique benefits that stories provide.

Grab something that’s over 100 pages, preferably fiction, and dive in. Whether it’s Fifty Shades, Osmon’s Murder Club or Atlas Shrugged is immaterial–the act of reading itself is what you want to introduce into your routine.

High performance culture can trick us into thinking that the sole purpose of reading is to finish it with a bank full of productive quotes to tuck in your back pocket. It’s not. It’s a tried and tested way of keeping the brain active while giving the body time to rest. It’s like meditation, but you get to see through the eyes of an alien, detective or even a seagull.

Pick your kink, but know those pages have more in store than thoughts and ink.