Increase Your Natural Immunities by Being Happy

We know we can increase our immunities by the foods we eat (and avoid), and the way we exercise. But it is also possible to build our immune system by changing our lifestyle; that is, by being upbeat and positive. Traditional medicine has generally said talked down this whole idea, and for the cynic in us we may think that they would endorse this idea if it could be sold in the pharmacy. But unless you spend money on therapy, you can get it all for free if you put your mind to it.

The first I had heard of this concept was from the experience of Norman Cousins. In 1976 he wrote of the way he beat a painful, life-threatening form of arthritis after doctors gave him little chance of recovery. After leaving the hospital he checked into a hotel, took huge doses of vitamin C and watched endless Marx Brothers movies, all the while roaring out loud with laughter. He has gone on to write about how people can heal themselves through laughter.

Though many immunologists are reluctant to recognize that a positive emotional state will have any impact on overall health, everyone seems to be in agreement that depression or stress will have negative health consequences. Studies as far back as the 1980s showed a connection between the brain and the immune system. So if stress or any other negative feelings can negatively affect health, why is it so hard to accept that positive emotions can positively affect health?

It is also interesting to note that not all pleasurable experiences give the same immunity benefits. Happiness derived from short-term emotional experiences does not provide the same benefits as those derived from activities that give life a greater sense of meaning and purpose. In other words, it's good to take care of ourselves and our individual needs, but even better to gain happiness from helping others and have a greater community involvement. Yet more evidence that our emotional state is tied to our immune system.

Unfortunately most people will find happiness to be quite elusive, as it is pretty much a mind-set most everyone searches for. As Abraham Lincoln once said, "Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." But for most people a lot of different things go into being happy. Certainly reducing stress will play a part, and there are tricks we can play on ourselves to keep it to a minimum. People that were put into stressful situations and then were given exercises to take their mind off that stress had significantly lower stress markers in blood samples than those that ruminated on the stressful situation. To put it another way, put your stress behind you.

A whole lifestyle reboot may be needed more than just changing a person's way of thinking. Besides managing stress and getting ample sleep regularly, keeping your insulin levels under control with a healthy diet is vital. Making water your beverage that you consume almost all the time and exercise on a regular business all plays a vital part. Everything contributes to changing your lifestyle habits.