Stress ruins your health. So feeling good should make you healthier then. - Not so fast!
Your cells can tell if you're just indulging, or if you are enjoying a true sense of happiness. Only true happiness makes them healthier, says study.
So go and hug your pet, or engage in an activity that is meaningful to you (drinking beer won't do.)
Cells respond positively to true happiness, defined as that derived from a sense of purpose and connection to others.
Caring for your pet or your garden , for example, makes your cells happy and healthier, whereas enjoying a great pizza and a glass of beer while watching an exciting game does not do the job.
Stress kills. Scientists who have studied the negative response of cells to stress found that it facilitates the onset of serious diseases.
But not all good times are beneficial for your cells. The well being derived from true happiness makes them healthier, but a temporary self-indulging activity does not. Cells respond positively to the first, and negatively to the latter.
"We can make ourselves happy through simple pleasures, but those 'empty calories' don't benefit us physically," said research team leader Stephen W. Cole of the University of California. "At the cellular level, our bodies appear to respond better to a different kind of well-being, one based on a sense of connectedness and purpose."
Past work by Cole and colleagues discovered the connection between chronic stress and a change in gene expression that resulted in a variety of illnesses including inflammation, arthritis, heart disease and a weakened immune system.
But if all happiness is created equal, and equally opposite to ill-being, then patterns of gene expression at the cellular level.
Not so, found the researchers.
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