Reading can do so much. It can help you kill time in the most imaginative way possible and take you to new worlds, allowing you to create your own journeys from the comfort of your bean bag. But a new study shows that reading really is awesome for so many more reasons, with its way of making its patrons healthy.

The Reading Agency, a charity devoted to making a bibliophile out of every human being, recently commissioned a research conducted by BOP Consulting, to identify the side effects of losing oneself in a book in the name of pleasure. The organization found "strong evidence" of several benefits reading can cause.

As it turns out, devouring a tome can increase empathy, improve relationships with others, reduce the symptoms of depression as well as the risk of dementia in adults and in general, improve wellbeing throughout life. Reading for leisure also allow for social capital for all ages and better parent-child communication.

Independent adds that the research also discovered how reading can boost one's self-esteem, and, at the same time, provide the reader a wider understanding of various cultures, giving him/her the "ability to learn about the self and others, learning about diverse human populations and other cultures and learning about other periods of history."

The research, as stated by The Reading Agency, aims to "create a robust reading outcomes framework which will enable the organizations to evaluate the impact of their work." The researchers based their findings on 51 papers and reports that delve on literacy and academic success released in the past 10 years.

"I agree whole-heartedly with what this report is saying about the importance of reading for pleasure. When I write a story I hope to beguile, to enchant, to bewitch, to perform an act of magic on and with my readers' imaginations," author Phillip Pullman, President of the Society of Authors, which was part of the project, said via The Reading Agency.

Director of the National Literacy Trust, Jonathan Douglas, says that the research proves "how literacy transforms lives and can make society stronger, more successful and more equal," which is the very thing the company is about.

Meanwhile, The Reading Agency CEO, Sue Wilkinson, says that the findings helped in affirming their stand that "everything changes when we read" and it gives a vivid picture of how "that change looks like for different audiences."