It has been drilled into our heads over and over that for optimal health, you should exercise daily and eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. A new research now suggests that you can improve your health even further by telling less lies.
Whether it is a big lie or a little white lie, everyone lies from time to time. However, the accumulation of all those lies may have a negative impact on your health, a study finds.
The research was done at Notre Dame University and consisted of 110 participants, half of which were instructed to refrain from lying as much as possible for a period of 10 weeks. The other half were given no such instruction. The findings showed that the no-lie group exhibited fewer instances of anxiety, tension, sore throats and headaches.
Previous research shows that people on average tell about 11 lies per week. This can range from little white lies and minor embellishments to much more serious lies like filing a false complaint or infidelity.
What’s more, the Notre Dame study also showed that those who lied less also reported an improvement in their personal relationships with their spouse, children, friends and coworkers.
All the participants were between the ages of 18 and 71 and were from various ethnicities and income levels. At the end of each week, each subject would report the number of lies they told and the severity of each one. Those in the no-lie group also reported having to devise clever ways to get around lying, such as avoiding questions or answering a question with a question of their own.
There appears to be a lot of internal guilt associated with lying, which can eat you up inside. While no one is expected to be truthful 100 percent of the time, it appears that being honest as much as possible can lead to a more stress-free life.