Health and Healthcare

Is Vacation Good For Your Heart? Yes

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: June 23, 2019 7:25 am

Last Updated: January 6, 2020 3:31 am

Vacation is supposed to be the sort of downtime which is good to clear the mind and relieve tension. It apparently has physical health benefits as well, beyond whatever exercise the vacationer might do. A new study shows that vacation is good for the heart.

Recent work by Syracuse University professors Bryce Hruska and Brooks Gump show that “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. Metabolic syndrome is a collection of risk factors for cardiovascular disease. If you have more of them you are at higher risk of cardiovascular disease.”

The two researchers pointed out that 80% of full-time workers have vacation time available to them. Only about half the advantage of the benefit. The data that people do not take all of their vacation time is not new. A study by Ladders reports shows that over one of three people are “ashamed” to take a vacation. For that reason and others, people are reluctant to take all of the time off due to them.

The Syracuse study may mean that vacation could lead to a healthier workforce across the country, and across the economy. That begs the question of why more companies don’t push their employees to take the breaks they deserve.