Awe-Inspiring Advice

Complement your hard training and proper diet with grand experiences to optimize your health and quality of life.

Written By Jim Stoppani, PhD

Updated February 28, 2019

There’s no doubt that taking in sights like the Grand Canyon, visiting the Taj Mahal in India or looking at a famous painting (say, the Mona Lisa) can make you feel good. But did you ever imagine that such pleasures could actually benefit your overall health? According to researchers at the University of California-Berkeley, experiencing emotions like amusement, awe and joy can have a positive impact on your health.

The Berkeley team asked 200 young adults to what extent, on a given day, they experienced, amusement, awe, compassion, contentment, joy, love and pride. In a 2015 issue of the journal Emotions, the team reported that those who experienced more of these positive emotions – especially awe (aka, “wonder and amazement”) – had lower levels of the inflammatory cytokine IL-6. Having elevated levels of IL-6 (and therefore greater inflammation) can increase the risk for numerous diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and obesity, so keeping it in check is critical for maintaining optimal health.

Jim’s Take-Home Points:

While staying active with exercise and maintaining a healthy diet will help you fight off disease, having positive experiences that induce pleasure (awe, joy, amusement, etc.) can also help. Do your best to live a well-rounded life. Enjoy travel, arts, music, nature and the companionship of others who make you laugh. Love a lot and do your best to live a fulfilling life. If you can do that, it will likely be a longer, healthier life.

Reference:

Steallar, J. E. et al. Positive Affect and Markers of Inflammation: Discrete Positive Emotions Predict Lower Levels of Inflammatory Cytokines.. Emotion, 2015.

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