How Happiness Improves The Aging Process

Being happy or unhappy may not as clear-cut as one would like to think. However, we can all agree one thing; being happy helps us lead better, healthier lives. Happiness is relative and subjective. What makes you happy may not be the same that does so for someone else.
In addition, when we feel healthy, our self-confidence grows and, along with it, we reach higher levels of happiness.
Science is now taking this cycle of health and happiness a step further. Studies have proven that there is, in fact, a direct relationship between positive emotions and better physical, emotional, and spiritual health. This has a great impact on the quality of your life, with some believing it has the ability to make you live longer and age more gracefully.
A great example of such a study was the one done at the University College London with the help of over 3800 participants aged 52 – 79. Researchers divided them into three groups according to a questionnaire, which measured their overall levels of happiness and positivity.
Over the course of the study, which lasted 5 years, each participant was asked to record his or her emotional levels (happy, anxious, gloomy, tired, etc.) at 4 specific times during the day. After 5 years, 7% of those in the “least happy” group had died, compared with 5% in the middle group and 4% in the group with the happiest people.
The study goes on to prove that going from day to day, our emotions and thoughts vary which is normal. However, when looked at collectively, all the emotions grouped together created a window for the researchers to look into the participants’ dispositions.
Your disposition is what ultimately shapes how you see yourself, your life goals, and your overall health. This is because our thoughts and emotions affect the way our endocrine and immune systems work and function. They also influence our stress hormone (cortisol) levels, which snap our brains into focus and force our muscles to act swiftly in times of emergencies.
This ‘fight-or-flight’ response is inherent in all of humans and humans. However, the difference is that the stress animals experience is short-lived, and they promptly return to their normal state of balanced homeostasis.
Humans, on the other hand, hold on to their stress for much longer until it becomes chronic and debilitating. It weakens our ability to focus, concentrate, and remember things. It makes us depressed and less able to connect with others. It’s also been scientifically proven to shorten our telomeres.
DNA strands have telomeres at each end which help them from unraveling or getting tangled each time a cell divides. Yet even though they safeguard DNA strands, there’s nothing protecting them from getting shorter with every cell division.
Over time, a cell’s telomeres are so short that cells are unable to divide anymore. What happens next is that DNA strands start unraveling; cells become inactive and eventually die off – a prominent sign of aging.
This is why scientists are so keen on keeping our telomeres long because the longer the telomeres, the healthier the cell, which means a longer, healthier life.
Here are a few lifestyle changes that can protect telomeres for a longer period of time:

  • Regular exercise
  • Eat foods high in vitamins and antioxidants, such as vitamin B12, D, E and C, Zinc and Omega – 3
  • Do yoga and meditation
  • Reducing stress and maintaining a positive outlook on life
    So in short, aging is inevitable, but we can make sure that we remain healthier and happier longer.
    To maintain happiness in your life, try these habits and integrate into your daily lifestyle:
  • Be optimistic so you can develop healthy coping strategies (releases endorphins)
  • Have goals in life; embrace your weaknesses and strengths, but focus more on the latter (secretes dopamine)
  • Help other people and practice gratitude (secretes serotonin)
  • Connect with others, build a strong social fabric and surround yourself with other happy, goal-oriented people (secretes oxytocin)
  • Focus on living a healthy lifestyle by eating right and exercising regularly (secretes endorphins)
  • Know how to look at a problem from all angles
  • Don’t be dependent on others or materialistic gains for happiness
  • Meditate

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