2. Logistical support

The same people who offer emotional support may also be the ones who make your day-to-day life a little easier, by providing a ride to the airport or dropping off a meal when you’re sick. That network becomes even more important when bigger issues arise, such as the loss of a job or a serious health diagnosis.

“Who will respond to you in a crisis? Who’s there to help you if something goes wrong?” says Ken Stern, the author of Healthy to 100, a book about how social ties influence longevity.

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According to Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Brigham Young University, four to six close relationships is a good number to aim for. That way, you’re not too reliant on any one person.

3. Healthy habits

Our relationships can also motivate us to take better care of our physical health. Research shows that people with supportive social networks are more likely to exercise and eat a healthier diet as well as go to doctor appointments and take prescribed medications.

For some people, a spouse or grown children might play this motivational role; others may have a walking group or workout buddy who keeps them accountable.

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The drive to be healthier can also come from within, Kotwal says. When you care about your social connections, “you want to do things that improve your health so that you can continue to participate,” he says. “You’re demonstrating the value of those relationships by taking care of yourself.”

4. Mental stimulation

The benefits mentioned above often depend on friends and family. But when it comes to mental stimulation, the experts recommended looking outside your home or tight-knit circles. That’s in part because conversations with strangers or loose acquaintances can require more of you cognitively.

“With your close ties you can almost speak in code,” says Karen Fingerman, a professor in the department of human development and family sciences at the University of Texas at Austin. “I can say to my husband, ‘You remember that dinner in Paris?’ And he’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, yes, the snails!’”

“If I wanted to have that conversation with you,” she continues, “I have to use a great deal more language and cognitive stimulation. And you have to use more to understand it.”

The casual conversations you have at the grocery store, during your commute or at your local coffee shop can all provide this type of stimulation and be beneficial for health, Stern says.

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Of course, a person’s subjective experience of their social life is important. If someone doesn’t feel lonely, even if they’re alone, they won’t have such a harmful stress response, Kotwal says.

But don’t use this as a reason to stay home. “I think there’s this misperception that simply because someone’s introverted that somehow they don’t need as much connection,” Holt-Lunstad says.

Instead, she advises, “focus on socialising in the context that you feel comfortable, rather than just not socialising at all.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.