There’s a lot of buzz going on right now about how happiness can improve your health. However, there was a time in the not so distant past when the thought of actually being happy was a pipe dream. Not anymore. Nowadays even scientist have been busying themselves with researching the benefits of happiness. How happiness improves your health is top of the list.

Let’s take a look at how happiness can, in fact improve your health and wellbeing.

Happiness Can Improve Your Health by Encouraging Healthy Living

According to Vocabulary.com, Happiness is that feeling that comes over you when you know life is good and you can’t help but smile. It’s the opposite of sadness. Happiness is a sense of well-being, joy, or contentment. When people are successful, or safe, or lucky, they feel happiness.

According to emerging studies, happier people are almost twice as likely to eat more fresh vegetables than people who state that they are not happy. Conversely, eating more fruits and vegetables may make you “feel” happier, according to a new study from Australia.

“Researchers found that people who switched from eating almost no fruit and vegetables in their daily diets to eating eight portions of fruit and vegetables a day experienced an increase in life satisfaction equivalent to what an unemployed person feels after finding a job.”

Eating more produce will automatically improve your health and give you more energy. This should be a no brainer, but so many times we don’t apply what we  know. If you’re feeling tired or lethargic the very first thing you should consider is your diet. Have you been eating enough green leafy vegetables.

When you tend to eat better, you tend to end up with more energy. It’s hard to imagine it but being negative or sad can literally drain your energy out of your body while being happy can give you more energy and give rise to the desire for healthier foods.

Happiness Can Improve Your Health by Boosting Your Immunity

Eating better, moving more, and feeling happy will also increase your ability to fight off illness and disease because it improves your immunity. One study showed that people who report happiness tend to fight off illness faster than people who report sadness.

According to detailed article written by Dr. Mercola:

“Positive thoughts and attitudes are able to prompt changes in your body that strengthen your immune system, boost positive emotions, decrease pain and chronic disease, and provide stress relief. One study found, for instance, that happiness, optimism, life satisfaction, and other positive psychological attributes are associated with a lower risk of heart disease.”

Happiness Can Improve Your Health by Decreasing Stress

If you’re happy, you’ll have a lot less to keep you up at night, and therefore you’ll end up with less stress. However, it goes deeper than circumstances  because happy people tend to report less stress even when they are facing stressful things. Due to the strength that happiness gives you, you’ll experience less stress.

Most of you are familiar with cortisol the stress hormone that’s responsible for many health related woes.  Happier people tend to have lower levels of cortisol coursing through their body. It doesn’t mean that these people have less stressful events or circumstances. It simply means that they’ve managed to find small activities that might life their mood. These activities over time lead to internal happiness and internal happiness leads less stress. Less stress, leads to better health.

Happiness Can Improve Your Health by Protecting Your Heart

Happiness can improve your heart health by reducing high blood pressure. In a study of over 6500 people over age 65 who had a positive sense of well being also had a 9% lower risk for  high blood pressure.

Also, you’re eating better and moving more due to your happiness, you are also protecting your cardiovascular health by possibly lowering your blood pressure. You’re less likely to suffer a heart attack, stroke, or other issues related to heart health and the cardiovascular system.

Happiness Could Possibly Diminishes Pain

People who have chronic pain may have a right to be upset or feel sad about it. However, the fact is people who report being happy tend to deal with their chronic pain (and other illness) better than those who were not happy to start with.

When you are happy, you’re more likely to eat right, drink enough water, and move. It’s mostly because you have more energy to do active things. If you are having difficulty maintaining your happiness, learn how easy it is to change your mindset. Happiness has nothing to do with your circumstances (what you may not be able to control) but everything to do with how you choose to react to them( what you can most definitely can control).

Happiness May Increase Longevity (Shout Halleluyah)

Because you’re eating right, exercising more, and you’re feeling great about life, you will likely live longer. According to one long-term study that tracked the lives of 32,000 people to find out who lived longer, the people who report happiness, or the people who report being less happy. The happy people tend to live 14 percent longer. Ahhhh…no surprise there.

Happiness is an important ingredient in a healthy life. As you can see there are many studies indicate that happiness plays a major role in your health, whether it’s living a healthy lifestyle or reducing the amount of chronic pain – happiness is the solution to many health woes and can indeed improve your overall health and wellness.

To your health!!

All the best,

Elaine