We know that being thankful can help us have a more godly attitude and a better outlook on life. But did you know that a grateful heart can actually make you a healthier person? Below are some interesting findings from a number of recent studies on gratitude and health:
From WebMD:
- Grateful people take better care of themselves and engage in more protective health behaviors like regular exercise, a healthy diet, and regular physical examinations.
- Grateful people tend to be more optimistic, a characteristic that researchers say boosts the immune system.
- In separate studies, patients confronting AIDS, as well as those preparing to undergo surgery, had better health outcomes when they maintained attitudes of optimism.
From USA Today:
- People with high blood pressure not only lower their blood pressure, but feel less hostile and are more likely quit smoking and lose weight when they practice gratitude. In one study, patients just called a research hotline once a week to report on the things that made them grateful.
- People who care for relatives with Alzheimer’s disease feel less stress and depression when they keep daily gratitude journals, listing the positive things in their lives.
- Those who maintain a thankful attitude through life appear to have lower risks of several disorders, including depression, phobias, bulimia and alcoholism.
- Most people can lift their mood simply by writing a letter of thanks to someone. Hand-deliver the letter, and the boost in happiness can last weeks or months.
From VegSource.com: Having a sense of gratitude can be uplifting and serves to fill the room with loving smiles and high spirits. It also has some wonderful health benefits. Here’s a list of a few things to be thankful for about being thankful:
- Heightened state of well-being with positive emotional and interpersonal benefits
- Increases your overall happiness, enables you to cope better with stress, and leads to a longer life
- Improves your ability to develop and maintain healthy relationships
- Leads to higher levels of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, attentiveness, and energy
- Better sleep quality and longer duration of sleep
- Individuals who kept a gratitude journal on a regular basis were found to exercise more, have fewer physical health symptoms, and were more optimistic about themselves and their overall life
- Reduces your risk of cardiovascular disease and depression
From the Wall Street Journal:
- A growing body of research suggests that maintaining an attitude of gratitude can improve psychological, emotional and physical well-being.
- Adults who frequently feel grateful have more energy, more optimism, more social connections and more happiness than those who do not, according to studies conducted over the past decade. They’re also less likely to be depressed, envious, greedy or alcoholics. They earn more money, sleep more soundly, exercise more regularly and have greater resistance to viral infections.
How Grateful Are You?
Take this TEST from the Wall Street Journal to find out!
