Nutrition
By Nancy Adler
Gratitude…can be an incredibly powerful and invigorating experience. There is growing evidence that being grateful may not only bring good feelings. It could lead to better health.
People of all ages and nationalities who have more grateful dispositions report fewer health complaints than their less grateful counterparts. Seems grateful participants reported fewer health problems (such as headaches, gastrointestinal problems, respiratory infections, and sleep disturbances); in another, they reported fewer physical symptoms (including headaches, dizziness, stomachaches, and runny noses). Seems pretty clear-cut, right?
Not necessarily. One big question is whether gratitude causes good health or whether good health causes gratitude—or perhaps something else makes us both grateful and healthy. Indeed, while I witness first hand with clients that grateful people are healthier, I understand it seems that people in poorer health are less likely to feel grateful.
I find in my practice clients who don’t sleep properly are more likely to struggle with losing the weight. I explain to my clients that sleep is vital for good health. Inadequate sleep puts strain on the body and increases your risk of developing obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other conditions. But anyone who’s struggled with insomnia knows it’s not always so easy to get enough z’s. Perhaps surprisingly, studies suggest that boosting your gratitude might be a relatively easy way to improve your slumber.
You don’t have to be a natural gratitude guru to get good sleep. Evidence suggests that just performing gratitude exercises can help. In one study people with neuromuscular disease who kept a daily gratitude journal for three weeks reported sleeping significantly longer at night and feeling significantly more refreshed than people in the control group. And in a 2016 study women who kept a gratitude journal for two weeks reported slightly better daily sleep quality compared to women who performed other tasks.
The great news is Gratitude feels heartwarming, and a growing body of work suggests that gratitude might help keep our actual hearts healthy, too!
It’s been found that people feeling appreciation (an emotion related to gratitude) have improved heart rate variability, an indicator of good heart health. Women who kept a gratitude journal where they wrote about “previously unappreciated people and things in their lives” for two weeks ended up with lower blood pressure than those who wrote about daily events. Together, these and other results suggest that feeling gratitude can be good for healthy hearts.
The relationship between gratitude and physical health is still developing, but studies so far suggest that there may be a connection. I certainly believe there is a connection. At the very least, it appears that more grateful people report feeling healthier and sleeping better, reach their weight loss goals and they may even have some physiological markers of better health.
How is it that gratitude might make people healthier? Besides helping them sleep, gratitude may lead people to engage in other behaviors that help keep them healthy, like eating well and not smoking. Indeed, more grateful people report having healthier ,happier life
Nancy Adler is a certified nutritionist and practitioner in Linwood. Her office is located in Cornerstone Commerce Center, 1201 New Rd. Learn about her practice at ww.nancyadlernutrition.com (609)653-4900
Nancy is the Recipient of the Best of The Press 2020 Gold Award. You may listen to Nancy every Sunday at 2 pm Nancy Adler Nutrition LIVE! NewsTalk 1400 WOND
