Being Grateful is Good For You!
GRATITUDE & HEALTH Feeling thankful can improve your health in both direct and indirect ways. Some research shows that the experience of gratitude can induce a sense of relaxation, improve the immune system, and decrease blood pressure. But grateful people also tend to cultivate better health habits, l ike eating more nutritious food, exercising, and avoiding risky behaviors. In addition, the optimism that stems from gratitude can create a heal ing attitude: research shows that people with optimistic attitudes have better outcomes after medical procedures. GRATITUDE & JOY Rober t Emmons, an international ly renowned scientific expert on gratitude, has found that acknowledging the good in l ife has a tendency to ampl ify positive emotions, such as joy and contentment, because it helps us slow down. “I think gratitude al lows us to par ticipate more in l ife,” he says. “We notice the positives more, and that magnifies the pleasures you get from l ife.” Consider the last time you had a good cup of coffee—did you pay attention to
the warmth of the cup on your hands, or the feel ing of pleasure as you took the first sip? It’s easy to ignore these smal l moments of positivity in our day as we rush from one activity to another, but stopping to appreciate them
makes them more powerful . GRATITUDE & RESILIENCE
Practicing gratitude can also make you better equipped to handle the difficulties of l ife that inevitably arise. In fact, according to Emmons, it’s an essential part of the process of heal ing from trauma. Even despair can be mitigated by the experience of appreciation for the good, however slight it might be. Thankfulness for the smal l blessings help you maintain your humanity despite experiencing a tragedy or loss. Many people with l ife-threatening i l lnesses also report decreased distress and increased positive emotions when they practice gratitude. Recent MRI studies have mapped the gratitude circuitry in the brain, which activates a sense of reward, fairness, and decision-making—al l aspects that help faci l itate survival and post-traumatic growth.
3 TIPS TO IMPROVE NUTRITION IN THE FALL
1. Harvest Your Herbs. Herbs tend to have higher levels of antioxidants and other phytonutrients than other types of vegetables. So even though we tend to eat them in relatively smal l quantities, herbs can add a lot of nutrition to foods. 2. Become A Soup chef. Getting into the habit of making a big pot of soup every weekend is a great way to improve your nutrition al l week long. If you’re using a pressure cooker or slow cooker, they also need very l ittle supervision whi le they are cooking.
3. Make a New Fermented Friend. Probiotic foods help to promote the growth of helpful bacter ia in your gut. Good gut bacteria can aid in digestion, nutrient absorption, and help you maintain a healthy weight.
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