With it being the International Day of Happiness, TRA wanted to look into how happiness can affect you and your health. There has recently been a mass of research stating that happiness and good health go hand in hand. It has been found that it makes our hearts healthier and our immune systems stronger- which results in living longer.
Below we have a look at the six ways happiness improves your health:
1. Happiness protects your heart:
Happiness can reduce blood pressure which means that your heart is more protected.
2. Happiness strengthens your immune system:
A healthy immune system is essential for overall long-term health. There have been multiple studies which show that happier people have a high antibody response to illness.
3. Happiness combats stress:
Stress can cause individuals to have high cortisol levels. Cortisol is the stress hormone our bodies produce. Excess of this hormone can cause sleep disturbance, high blood pressure, weight gain and even diabetes. Happiness could combat this stress.
4. Happy people have fewer aches and pains:
Happiness does not necessarily reduce the amount of pain you might have, but it can help you to feel like the pain is less intense than it really is. This is because many happy people are able to look past the pain and understand the positive outlook on it.
5. Happiness combats disease and disability:
Being happy changes the way in which individuals run their day to day lives. Happier people eat more healthily than those who feel depressed. Happier people are more positive, which can cause an individual to have a lot of determination to combat the disease or fight an illness such as cancer etc.
6. Happiness can make you live longer:
This 6th point can link closely with the 5th point. Overall, being happy and positive can make it easier to overcome anything. It has been found that individuals who are happier have a 14% higher life expectancy than unhappy people.
These 6 points all have one thing in common and that is happiness. Of course, sometimes it is hard to be happy when it is the opposite of what we are actually feeling. Further tips which may help: Take a look at how you can make yourself happy; write down the things you are grateful for and exercise (this increases your serotonin levels which make you feel great). Last but not least, make sure your body gets the right amount of quality sleep.
Happy International Happiness Day!
References:
Six Ways Happiness Is Good for Your Health
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