There are tons of reasons to keep you inspired to lead a healthier life such as by improving your confidence, preventing diseases and ultimately increasing longevity. However, when was the last time you’ve focused on improving your health day by day?
Well, if you haven’t been doing anything to keep yourself healthy, it’s about time you did something about it! This is because your physical and mental well-being influences how you feel, think and behave everyday.
One of the best ways to feel better and improve your health is through focusing on the things that bring you nothing but happiness.
Is happiness good for your health?
To be honest, yes! It appears that happiness does not cure illnesses but it protects you from becoming ill. The effect of happiness is remarkably strong as it can do wonders to make you feel better.
Here are five ways the seed of happiness can help you make choices that can improve your mood and overall maintain a healthier life.
#1 Health and well-being
According to ‘Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being’, a study done in 2017 examined the effects of ‘subjective well-being’ which is to measure how people evaluate their own lives on various aspects and one of it being physical health.
With almost no doubt, the study confirmed that happiness can influence health. For example, people who are happy are more likely to take better care of themselves and choose healthy behaviours like:
- Exercising
- Eating well
- Getting adequate sleep
#2 Happiness strengthens the immune system
Do you know any grumpy person, let it be your family, friend, or even colleague, who often seem to fall sick? Well, that’s no coincidence. In 2003, a study on ‘Emotional Style and Susceptibility to The Common Cold’ was conducted to examine 350 adults exposed to common cold to understand the link between health and happiness.
Before the exposure, they were called six times in two weeks and asked how much they had experienced positive emotions such as:
- Energetic
- Pleased
- Calmness
After five days of being in quarantine, the participants with the most positive emotions were less likely to have developed a cold. This shows that being happier could keep your immune system strong and reduce risk of developing cold and chest infections.
#3 Happiness protects the heart
Heart diseases are one of the major causes of death worldwide. Being happy may protect your heart by reducing blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and other major factors that lead to heart diseases.
‘Depressed Mood, Positive Affect, and Heart Rate Variability in Patients With Suspected Coronary Artery Disease’, 2008 found a link between happiness and heart health. In the study, researchers studied individuals who had or suspected of having coronary heart disease.
The participants were asked to rate their happiness and their hearts were tested for symptoms. As a result from this experiment, those who rated the highest for happiness had the healthiest heart patterns.
This simply suggests that happiness does have health benefits, even with the present of illnesses or diseases.
#4 De-stress by being happy
Stress isn’t only upsetting on a psychological level. However, it also triggers changes in the hormones and blood pressure. Being stressful can cause an increase in the levels of cortisol (a steroid hormone) in your body that contributes to many harmful effects that develop from stress. Some of it includes:
- Distured sleep
- Weight gain
- Type 2 diabetes
- High blood pressure.
Conversely, happiness can temper these effects down or at least help you to recover quickly.
The study on ‘Stressed and Happy? Investigating the Relationship Between Happiness and Perceived Stress’, demonstrates that cortisol levels tend to be lower when people are happier.
#5 Don’t worry, be happy
Research on happiness and how it impacts your overall health is relatively new. However, it is long believed that most people are hardwired to be either naturally happy or unhappy, regardless of their life events.
The view on this has recently changed as more become aware about the science of happiness. So, push away those negative thoughts and welcome some positivity to live a healthy life!
There are numerous ways to help you become happier, including:
- Be optimistic
- Show kindness
- Adequate sleep
- Express gratitude
- Exercise regularly
- Practice forgiveness
- Have a healthy sexual relationship with your partner
So, there’s no reason to stay in the bubble of gloom and doom. Instead, be happy and enjoy a healthy life to the fullest.
Sources: Healthline, TIME, National Library of Medicine
