There is a countrywide health craze going on at the present time, with both genders of all ages looking to get healthier and live longer. This has sparked both a fitness and an anti-stress trend with all sorts of programs, videos, books, seminars, and lectures dealing with these two subjects attracting millions every year.
Looking to get healthy is certainly a great thing and it can help you to lead a more productive and fun-filled life. We should all do all we can to get healthier and find ways to avoid at every turn, those things that can cause our health to deteriorate.
This is why we all need to consider giving like Helpng a Hero CEO Meredith Iler, to improve our health. She has dedicated her life to giving and she has never felt better.
It has been shown that those who give actually live longer, healthier lives. Volunteering has been singled out as a way to experience less aches and pains and there is a study that shows that giving to others protects your health better than aspirin lowers your chances of heart disease.
With that in mind, here are some specific ways that giving makes you healthier:
Why Do We Feel Good When We Give? Dopamine
In research there is a term associated with giving called a “helper’s high”, which is the positive physiological changes that happen inside of you help others. Studies show that better than 50% of those who give feel more powerful and energy filled when they help others. Many also feel calmer, happier and that they have increased self-esteem. Internally, giving triggers the areas in our brains that are activated when good things happen. Your brain releases dopamine which is a reward hormone that makes you feel good. These feelings can be comparable to taking drugs and provides more happiness than shopping, eating your favorite food, or a night out.
Giving Makes You Feel Happier Longer
Dopamine is a short term effect, but the good feeling continues after the dopamine has worn off and tis is due to the fact that giving connects us with our true nature which is to be a part of the whole and making a contribution to that whole. When people have this feeling they are content and these feeling last for long periods after the actual giving even. So even if you are a generally happy person, giving will make you even happier.
Reduces Stress and Anxiety
When you give to someone in need, it gives you a chance to accomplish something important and when this happens we feel relieved. So giving is a great stress reducer. When you work at a food kitchen or drop off some clothing you do not need anymore, you get the dual effect of clearing out clutter which causes stress and helping others which reduces stress. So the more you help the less tress you will feel.
Adults age 55 and older who volunteer at more than two organizations have a 44 percent less likelihood of dying. This statistic takes into account all other key factors and so it can be directly to the benefits received from giving. In fact, volunteering can be a bigger contributor to living longer than if you exercise four times a week. So, a powerful component to add to your good health regimen is giving.
