Love Wins – For Your Health

It’s being proven true that the happier you are, the healthier you are – and that’s good news for your heart. I’m Wendy Corr, and this Valentine’s Day, I’m going to give you some good news about the relationship between love and longer life.

Love wins – and that’s not just a Carrie Underwood song. For years, scientists have thought that happiness might have a physical effect on our bodies – and new research is backing that up. A study published in a leading psychology journal has found that happiness really does influence health.

The study shows that not only do happy people take better care of themselves and choose healthy behaviors, happiness can benefit your cardiovascular and immune systems, influence hormones and inflammation levels and speed up healing.

And in this month where we focus on heart health, that’s even more reason to find ways to increase your happiness. When you put your attention on the positives in your life and on bettering your relationships, your quality of life improves overall, including your heart health.

According to the Wyoming Department of Health, heart disease is America’s leading cause of death. Dr. Alexia Harrist, state health officer and epidemiologist, says that high obesity rates, high cholesterol and high blood pressure among younger people ages 35-64 are putting them at risk for heart disease earlier in life than we might expect.

But when we take care of our personal lives and nurture our relationships, our chances of lowering inflammation, which contributes to high blood pressure and obesity, increases. Make time to be with the people who lift you up. A hug from a loved one can help balance blood pressure – and holding hands with your partner has been proven to reduce stress.

Be close to your partner – romantic love is one of the best health-boosters of all. Physical intimacy has been proven to improve cardiovascular health, reduce stress and increase levels of oxytocin, which stimulates feelings of happiness.

This Valentine’s Day, do something good for your heart – by nurturing relationships and spending time with those you love.

Thanks for tuning in to Wellness with Wendy! I’m a certified holistic nutritionist, a mom, an entertainer and a radio personality – so finding balance is the key to my life. I love sharing tips and tricks to help you live your best life – so for more health and wellness news and advice, follow my blog on mybighornbasin.com. See you again next time for Wellness with Wendy!