Marriage: a good bet? According to recent studies, the quickest road to long-term good health just might be a march down the aisle

Natural Health, Feb, 2007 by Robrt Pela

WHEN IT COMES TO "for better or for worse" and "in sickness and in health," married or otherwise partnered men are generally in better health. In a 2005 study published in the journal Cancer, UCLA researchers found that, compared with single guys, married men reported better psychosocial and spiritual wellbeing. The study also found that married men with serious illnesses like prostate or testicular cancer bounce back more quickly and experience fewer adverse effects from treatment. In addition, men whose wives visited them often while they recuperated from surgery recovered more quickly.

"We can't say definitively why married men tend to be healthier than their single counterparts," says John L. Gore, M.D., co-author of the UCLA study, "but one theory is that being married or partnered means you've got someone else in your corner, looking out for your welfare and helping to ease a lot of life's pressures."

From paying bills to attending social functions to living more healthfully, says Gore, life is less stressful when we don't feel as if we're doing everything alone. Having a spouse is also a motivating factor when making lifestyle choices. "Married or partnered men are less likely to smoke cigarettes or engage in other unhealthy indulgences," reports Charlotte Schoenborn, a health statistician at the National Center for Health Statistics in Maryland. "Of course, it's not an absolute that marriage is better for your health in every case." A spouse may be there to keep an eye on your bad habits and do things to promote healthier ones, but only if he or she is also mindful of his or her own health.

The rewards seem to outweigh any disadvantages. "I thought marriage would bring its own stresses," admits Ray Guzall, a lawyer in Detroit. "I wasn't counting on how great it would be to have someone supporting me in everything I do. I eat smaller portions now, and I rarely go out drinking with friends like I did when I was younger and unattached."

Better eating habits are a key part of the equation. According to a Harvard School of Public Health study of nearly 30,000 men, those who were divorced or widowed ate fewer vegetables, consumed more alcohol, and were more likely to pile fried foods on their plates at dinnertime--and, divorce or marital separation more than doubled the participants' risk of suicide. Also, the Harvard study confirmed earlier reports that social support from a spouse may lead to lower blood pressure and improved cardiovascular health.

So how, besides rushing out and getting hitched, can single men jump on the better-health bandwagon? "We stop far short of telling men to marry for health reasons," Schoenborn says. "But it wouldn't hurt for single men to take some cues--especially about controlling stress--from friends whose partners look out for their wellbeing."