Holy Health: How Church Makes You Healthier and Happier

Who would have thought that church adds six to seven years to your life on average? Whether its church synagogue mosque or temple literally thousands of scientific studies confirm that people who regularly attend worship services are more likely to live longer have better physical health better mental health higher educational attainment higher incomes stronger marriages stronger families and/or a greater sense of meaning and purpose. Theyre less likely to get heart disease cancer and a host of other ailments. Theyre not as prone to depression anxiety suicide divorce drug and alcohol abuse or crime and delinquency. Their kids are more apt to be well adjusted and get better grades. And church lifts poor and minorities. What is it about prayer and worship that so improve health happiness and longevity? There are actual physical effects within the brain. Peppered with inspiring stories of transformed lives Holy Health presents the faith factors many pathways to better health and well-being and how you can take full advantage.Its extraordinary that our secular universities popularly known for their hostility to religion are churning out study after study touting the benefits of religion. Holy Health distills key takeaways from hundreds of such studies.Holy Health makes clear that plummeting church attendance is fueling skyrocketing rates of depression anxiety and deaths of despair. The book is a rousing call to action to put a stop to the carnage.In the book youll learn: - Why churchgoers are less prone to heart attacks autoimmune diseases hypertension and dying from Covid.- How church lowers stress depression and anxiety.- Why even nonreligious therapists and physicians recommend faith-based therapy to their patients.- Why many atheist scientists choose to go to church and why other atheists extol the benefits of religion. A prominent atheist famous for his criticism of religion now says it can be a good thing after all.- Why churchgoers have higher marital satisfaction and better marital sexual intimacy.- Why their children tend to get better grades and are less prone to alcohol and drug use.- How church helps the poor and disadvantaged.- Whether watching online church services has health benefits and whether being spiritual but not religious can improve health.- How a supposed ghost prompted college test-takers to avoid cheating and how an imaginary princess motivated grade-schoolers to not cheat.There are four levels of happiness. Holy Health tells stories of people whove reached the highest levels. John went from being a self-serving unhappy manipulator into someone who considers others welfare in all he does. Another man couldnt make friends to save his life but turned that all around. An eighteen-year-old finally overcame her depression and anorexia. They all had one thing in common.In the book youll also find out: - The neurological and molecular science behind why church boosts health.- Whether prayer really works. Scientists have put it to the test.- What one commentator said is the most powerful civilizing force in all of human history.- How a New York Department of Transportation talked a man out of jumping off a bridge.- What regular activity reduces the likelihood to near zero that a person will ever commit suicide.- How to get whats essentially a mini-psychotherapy session for free.Holy Health may be the mother of all self-help books. It powerfully makes the case that the single most effective thing anyone can do to boost their wellness is: go to church.(Page count excluding endnotes and index: 248)