Longevity isn't only about eating right, exercising, and taking supplements. Some less expected factors turn out to matter, and rest is one of them. But the evidence here is more interesting, and more cautionary, than the usual "take a holiday, live longer" headline suggests.
The study
In 2018, Finnish researchers published a 40-year follow-up of the Helsinki Businessmen Study.
The original trial ran from 1974 to 1980 and included 1,222 middle-aged male executives, all with at least one cardiovascular risk factor. They were randomly split into an intervention group of 612 men and a control group of 610.
The intervention group received medical counselling every four months, with advice to exercise, eat better, lose weight, and stop smoking. When that alone didn't produce the expected results, they were also given blood pressure medication. The control group received no special medical attention and carried on with their usual healthcare.
The unexpected result
On paper, the intervention worked. Risk factors improved across the board: body mass index, blood pressure, serum lipids, and glucose. Total cardiovascular risk fell by 46% in the intervention group.
Despite that, total mortality was consistently higher in the intervention group than in the control group for up to 25 years after the trial ended.
Where vacation comes in
Searching for an explanation, the researchers re-examined the men's baseline characteristics. One stood out: annual vacation time.
Among men in the intervention group, those who took three weeks or less of vacation a year had a 37% higher risk of death over the following 30 years than those who took more. In the control group, vacation time made no measurable difference at all.
The men who took shorter vacations also worked longer hours and slept less.
What this means for us
This study doesn’t show that taking holidays extends life.
What it does suggest is more pointed. As the study's lead author put it, the harm from the intensive lifestyle regime was concentrated in the men with shorter vacation time. An otherwise healthy lifestyle did not compensate for working too hard and not taking breaks.
Rest isn't an optional extra bolted onto a healthy routine. If you're pushing hard on diet, exercise, and everything else while never actually stopping, this study is a reason to look again at that balance.
