12 Powerful Emotions
Happiness strengthens our arteries. When we fall in love, our neurons are strengthened. Emotions are totally related to our bodies.
The power of emotion is amazing. Good emotions as well as bad ones directly affect our health and the well-being of our bodies.
12 emotions that affect our bodies
1. Happiness strengthens our arteries. The cardiologist Dr. Michael Miller conducted a study that tested this through music. In the participants in the group who listened to happy music, the arteries dilated by up to 26%, which is close to what happens during an aerobics session, while sad music reduced the diameter of the arteries by 6%.
2. Love strengthens our neurons. Italian researchers have found that we produce higher quantities of a protein that is involved in the growth and survival of some of our neurons when we are in love. Therefore, the best thing we can do is be in love sometime!
Tranquility protects our brain. A study conducted by the University of Montreal noted that habitual meditation causes certain regions of the cortex (the gray mass) to thicken; this thickening leads to reduced pain and fewer cardiovascular problems.
4. Anger slows down healing. Researchers from Ohio, USA, have shown that anger increases the amount of cytokines, which are responsible for inflammation.
5. Fear increases cardiovascular risks. Researchers from Quebec (Canada) have shown that higher stress levels increase blood pressure and cortisol levels.
6. Love lowers cholesterol levels. In an interesting study, a group of volunteers was asked to write a letter talking about the love they felt for a loved one, and the other group was asked to write a letter on any topic. They measured cholesterol levels before and after the session, and the group that wrote a letter about love showed decreased cholesterol levels.
7. Anxiety weakens our immune system. It has been proven that students have lowered levels of T lymphocytes during stressful periods – these are the defense cells that are responsible for removing diseased cells and fighting viruses.
8. Pain aggravates allergies. Although emotional problems are not responsible for allergies, they help trigger reactions and increase their strength.
9. Crying is healthy. In the 80’s, researcher William Frey discovered that tears remove large doses of norepinephrine (responsible for releasing cortisol). Today we know that tears are loaded with lysozyme, which is responsible for destroying 95% of the bacteria in just ten minutes. They also eliminate stress hormones. However, not all tears are the same. A study showed that people who cry during sad movies were loaded with stress-related substances, while those who cried from an onion were not.
10. Stress in women who have not undergone menopause causes weight gain. Swedish researchers have shown that there is an increase in stress hormones during menopause, which in turn generates an accumulation of fat on the abdomen and hips.
11. Humor repairs us. Good humor releases endorphins; the so-called happiness hormones and the growth hormone that are responsible for their healing function in the body.
12. Pain increases when you have been warned about it. It has been shown that the classic phrase “this will hurt a little” actually increases the pain; at least according to a study by Dutch University. The study included more than 100 volunteers. They were all exposed to the same substance, but those who were warned that they would experience severe itching did not itch sharply after the substance was dispensed.
