Be The Healthy U!
  • Healthy Blog
  • Healthy Recipes
  • Online Cooking Classes
  • I Can Help
  • 28-Day Program
  • Healthy Dog Blog
  • About Terri
  • Resources
  • Ask Dr. Terri
  • Testimonials

Benefits of Gratitude

11/29/2013

0 Comments

 
Yesterday was Thanksgiving, a day set aside every year to give thanks. No matter what is going on in our mostly hectic and stressful lives, we all can find something to be grateful for. It can be for someone we love. It can be for someone we appreciate. It can be for someone who helped us. It can be for someone who motivated us. It can even be for someone who hurt us if that hurt caused us to grow or make a change for the better. It can be something that we have. It can be for something that somebody did for us. It can be for something we did to help someone else. It can be for something we did for ourselves. It can be for our health. It can be for the weather, the sunshine, our surroundings, or a whole host of other things. I think you get the picture.

And there are several good reasons to express our gratitude much more frequently than once a year because of the many ways that gratitude benefits our health. Thinking of things that we are grateful for makes us feel good and is linked to optimism, a characteristic that boosts our immune system. Lisa Aspinwall, PhD, a psychology professor at the University of Utah noted one study which found that first-year law students under stress that were optimistic had more immune-protective blood cells by midterm than their more pessimistic classmates.

Gratitude helps keep our hearts healthy. Results of a study reported in the American Journal of Cardiology suggest that positive emotions lead to alterations in heart rate variability, naturally occurring beat-to-beat changes in heart rate, which may be beneficial in the treatment of hypertension and in reducing the likelihood of sudden death in patients with congestive heart failure and coronary artery disease.

Spending a few minutes at the end of the day thinking about things we’re grateful for quiets our mind before sleeping and helps us get a better night’s sleep. Better sleep, along with feeling good and being optimistic, also help us manage stress better.

When we feel good we’re more likely to help others or lend emotional support to others, which helps strengthen relationships. And finding things we’re grateful for about loved ones gets us to focus on the positive, which helps us appreciate each other even more.

Interestingly, according to a study mentioned in the Huffington Post, high-schoolers who are grateful have higher GPAs, better social integration, and were less depressed or envious than their non-grateful counterparts.

Your assignment: every day, before you go to sleep, write down three to five things you are grateful for. They could be some of the bigger things in your life of some of the small things that happened throughout the day. Then notice how you feel and how you sleep. Notice how you interact with others and how they respond to you. I think you will be happy with the results!
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Terri Quenzer, PhD

    Terri has a passion for good health and for helping others find happiness in themselves through better health! Through her scientific and life experiences, her goal is to help you reach your healthy goals!

    ​Be The Healthy U!: nominated for San Diego's Best Nutrition/Cooking Classes of 2016!

    Picture
    Catch Terri's interview about plant-based nutrition on KCQB 1170 AM - click here.

    How Not to Die: Terri interviews New York Times Bestselling Author Michael Greger, MD. Listen below.
    Terri speaks with Jordan Hoffman of Jordan Hoffman Acupuncture about what to eat and East vs West.
    Picture

    Click Here To Sign Up For Your Free Newsletter

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    September 2017
    May 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012

    Categories

    All