ORLANDO, Fla – Thanksgiving falls in National Gratitude Month. November is packed with opportunities to express your thanks to friends and family.
Over 90% of Americans say their gratitude made them “extremely happy” or “somewhat happy,” but did you know simply being grateful helps you a lot more than you think?
Practicing gratitude releases serotonin and dopamine — the feel-good chemicals but it goes much deeper than that. Training the brain to focus on gratitude can lead to other benefits.
“Recognizing that you have these things in your life that are so meaningful and expressing it, that meaning helps you to recognize it and enhances your life,” said M. Clark Canine, a licensed mental health counselor with The Counseling Group.
Researchers at UC Davis found that practicing gratitude can help you live longer by reducing the biomarkers of inflammation by 7%.
Science also shows it may help prevent diabetes. Practicing gratitude can lower levels of Hemoglobin A1C -- one marker of diabetes. Grateful individuals have been reported to have their Hemoglobin A1C levels decrease by 9% to 13%.
And people with hypertension who practice gratitude at least once a week experience a significant decrease in blood pressure.
And being grateful also helps your mental health. One study found that a single act of gratitude can increase happiness by 10% and reduce depressive symptoms by 35%.
“Focusing on the healthy, positive things it’s going to guide you toward feeling better, feeling stronger. So, when challenging things come along, you’re already in a better place,” explained Canine.
So whatever or whoever you’re grateful for this Thanksgiving, take some time to think about it. Your body and your mind may thank you for it.
Research also shows that practicing gratitude 15 minutes a day, five days a week for at least six weeks can enhance mental wellness.
And it also improves your resiliency. A study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that the more grateful people are the greater resiliency they have. And they are better able to cope with traumatic events.