Are Your Social Relationships Harmful to Your Health?!

We all have that friend who brings us down a little bit.  Maybe she's a little passive aggressive, does or says things that hurt your feelings, or doesn't support you when you really need the support of a friend. You're "friends", though, because you work together, grew up together, or have social ties that make the relationship hard to break. A recent study has shed light (blinding light!) into some major reasons why that toxic relationship may be more than just exhausting...it can be downright harmful to your health!

A Harvard study just released new findings that state that people in unsupportive social relationships "tend to consume more alcohol, eat foods higher in fat, and get less exercise than their  social peers in positive, supportive relationships." While the study was intended to focus on those who are lonely, the statistics started to take researchers on a different path...one into the effects of a negative social relationship instead of the lack of social relationships.

While most women have endured the experience of dealing with their female peers who don't always follow "the golden rule", many never imagined the profound impact these particular relationships can have on your health, not just self-esteem.

The bottom line is this: life is too short to surround yourself with negative people, people who don't support you when you need it, or people who create feelings that can stand in the way between you and success. Focus your friendships on people who make you feel good, people who share your interests, and women you feel comfortable sharing your ideas, hopes, and goals with! Now that these new studies show the impact of positive social relationships on our health, you have even more reason to focus your time and energy on those who make your life better!!... Because now you know (for a fact!) that they actually do!