5 reasons why being happy makes you healthier

5 reasons why being happy makes you healthier
PHOTO: Unsplash

You must have heard this before - being happy and positive helps you steer clear of heart diseases, reduces stress, and helps you to keep your blood pressure low.

All of us, at some point, would have read something like that from the Reader's Digest in the '90s and '00s - but are they true?

And, with the scientific and research advancements over the past two decades - do these little happiness fact tidbits and nuggets hold true?

Yes, and it seems like the little acts and truths about the benefits of positivity and happiness are not going anywhere.

Here, five positive emotions - love, hope, empathy, gratefulness, and happiness - and their effects and benefits on your body:

1. When you're in love...

Your body produces adrenalin and norepinephrine in the early days, which makes your heart race, and dopamine to make you feel euphoric.

Oxytocin and vasopressin, which create feelings of wellbeing and security, take over in established relationships to maintain the bond.

The Health Benefit: Newly paired couples have a higher pain threshold because intense love stimulates areas of the brain targeted by painkillers.

In the long term, love reduces your heart-disease risk and protects against a middle-age decline in life satisfaction. It also minimises how much cortisol you produce under stress.

Get That Feeling: Increase the feeling by watching and talking about movies with your partner where relationships are the focus.

When couples did this five times for one month they improved their relationships and halved their risk of splitting up.

Single? Book in for a massage or hug a dog - both strategies increase oxytocin levels, the hormone responsible for a lot of love's health benefits.

ALSO READ: How to be happy: The 10 universal principles

2. When you feel hopeful

The parts of the brain responsible for being able to think positively (the rostral anterior cingulate cortex & amygdala) fire up.

The Health Benefit: Feeling hopeful improves how your immune cells respond when confronted with a virus or bacteria.

You'll also find making healthy food choices easier because feeling optimistic about the future boosts self-control.

Get That Feeling: Increase the feeling by watching a funny movie. After just 15 minutes your 'hopefulness score' will be higher.

Researchers say it works because humour inhibits negative thoughts.

3. When you feel empathetic

Your brain increases production of the hormone oxytocin and triggers a network of brain neurons, simultaneously suppressing the network you use to analyse things.

The Health Benefit: Feeling empathetic increases how generous you feel towards other people, which improves your health and your life span. You'll feel happier on average, too.

Get That Feeling: Increase the feeling by reading a book. As long as It's fictional, reading gives the brain's empathetic region a workout.

ALSO READ: What you can do to be happier at work

4. When you feel grateful

Your brain strengthens structures linked with social awareness and empathy, as well as the region that processes rewards.

The Health Benefit: Feeling grateful equals feeling happier.

And if you verbalise it by saying thanks, it can also be a booster shot for your romantic relationships and increases your chance of turning a new acquaintance into a new friend.

Get That Feeling: Increase the feeling by writing down five things you're grateful for every week. After 10 weeks you'll feel 25 per cent happier.

And make sure you get enough sleep, as scientists have discovered a link between sleep deprivation and a tendency to feel ungrateful.

5. When you're happy

Your brain releases a combination of neurotransmitters, including dopamine, serotonin and endorphins. And levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, fall.

The Health Benefit: You'll stay healthier and live longer, with one study saying happiness's effect on longevity can be compared to the difference between smoking and not smoking.

Plus, compared to happy people, unhappy ones are 80 per cent more likely to develop age-related health problems.

Get That Feeling: Increase the feeling by playing some upbeat music and making a conscious decision to be happier - done together, it's a combination that works. Or catch up with a friend.

That increases production of progesterone, a hormone that boosts feelings of wellbeing.

ALSO READ: 10 good habits you can adopt to lead a happy, successful life

This article was first published in The Singapore Women's Weekly.

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