DailyGood

For the last 27 years, DailyGood newsletters have offered a daily email that inspires you to respond to life with creativity and kindness. To join a community of 152,448 subscribers, subscribe here.

Nov 24, 2015

"Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: it must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all." --William Faulkener

Gratitude: Good for the Soul -- and Heart

As we launch into Thanksgiving week, consider this: Research shows that feeling grateful doesn't just make you feel good. It also helps -- literally helps -- the heart. A positive mental attitude is good for your heart. It fends off depression, stress and anxiety, which can increase the risk of heart disease, says Paul Mills, a professor of family medicine and public health at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine. Mills specializes in disease processes and has been researching behavior and heart health for decades. He wondered if the very specific feeling of gratitude made a difference, too. So he did a study...