Happiness: live happily to live longer
Repeated like a mantra, happiness would be within everyone’s reach. To be happy everyone would have his recipe. These will also be the subject of a new program “Les secrets du bonheur” broadcast this Tuesday evening on France 2. Being happy would therefore be easy… but what is the point? What are the benefits? Researchers have found several.
>> To discover also: 4 reasons to be nicer
The best way to convince yourself that being happy is good for you would be to tell yourself that happiness represents a guarantee of longevity… And this would be the case, if we follow the conclusion of researchers from University College London. They found that happy people reduced their risk of premature death by more than 35%. The study looked at 4,000 participants, aged 5 to 79, followed for five years. Amount of time scientists recorded the number of deaths. During these 5 years, the subjects had to evaluate their state of anxiety or well-being at four times of the day. After five years, it appeared that the people who considered themselves the happiest were less likely to die than those who felt unhappy: 3.6% of the “happy” had died compared to 7.3% of the people ” unfortunate”.
>> To read also: 10 recipes to live a quiet happiness
Happiness: live happily to be less sick
There is a connection between happiness and health. In other words, the more you would be happy, the less likely you are to catch certain diseases. A bit easy? Either way, it would work for colds and flu. Researchers from the American Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania have highlighted the positive impact of positive thoughts against these two pathologies. 193 patients aged 21 to 55 were given a complete medical check-up. Their emotional state was also reviewed, with the researchers distinguishing between the patients’ positive (calm, happy, energetic) and negative (depressed, sad, anxious, aggressive) traits. Participants consented to being exposed to viruses that cause colds or the flu. They were then placed in quarantine for six days to see who contracted either of these pathologies. As a result, the most emotionally “strong” patients tended to catch colds or the flu less. If they were sick, they had fewer symptoms and were more resistant than patients with a more “negative” personality.
>> To discover also: 4 tips to see life in pink
