Have you ever had a bad day at work, or even bad week or like most of us, this year has gone to complete uncertainty? Well if you needed a reason to grab your clubs and head for the green, consider this as a healthy way of reducing stress levels. A new research study from the University of Missouri has concluded that golf is a sure-fire way to reduce your stress levels.
For over 10 years, the scientists at the University of Missouri followed a group of 5,900 adults and at the end of the trial, those who played golf at least once per month have halved the risk of early death compared to those who didn’t. They also had an 8% lower death rate from all causes.
They discovered that not only does being outside on the links help lower your levels of cortisol (a hormone that controls blood pressure), it’s also a cardiovascular activity (just think of all that walking.) and lastly? Drum roll, please ………………………………………………….. Golf is incredibly social, with previous studies showing that healthy relationships have a significant impact on both physical and mental health.
By the way, this isn’t the first time the benefits of golf have been brought to our attention. These findings echo those out of a study from Sweden in 2008, which established that regularly playing golf can increase your life expectancy by up to five years.
Case closed – catch you at the golf course?
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