12 Powerful Emotions
Happiness strengthens our blood vessels. When we fall in love, it strengthens our nerve cells and gives us powerful emotions. Emotions are fully and completely related and connected to our body.
The power of emotion is incredible. Both good and bad emotions have a direct impact on the health and well-being of our body.
12 powerful emotions that affect our body
- Happiness strengthens our blood vessels. Cardiologist Dr. Michael Miller did a study in which he tested this point through music. In the group that sat through a session of happy music, the arteries dilated up to as much as 26%, something close to what happens in an aerobics class, while sad music reduced the diameter of the arteries to 6%.
- Love strengthens our neurons. Italian researchers have found that when we are in love, we produce more proteins that contribute to the growth and survival of some of our neurons. The best thing to do, therefore, is to fall in love sometimes!
- Tranquility protects our brain. A study conducted at the University of Montreal showed that regular practice of meditation leads to thickening of some of the areas of the cerebral cortex (the gray matter); this thickening leads to reduced pain and heart accidents.
- Anger slows down healing. Researchers from Ohio (USA) have shown that anger increases the cytokines, which are responsible for inflammation.
- Fear increases cardiovascular risk. Researchers from Quebec (Canada) have shown that a higher level of stress increases blood pressure and cortisol levels.
Love and anxiety are powerful emotions
- Love lowers cholesterol levels. An interesting study asked a group of volunteers to write a letter about the love they felt for someone close to them, while they asked another group to write a letter on any topic. They measured cholesterol levels before and after the session, and the group that had written the letter about love showed a decrease in cholesterol levels.
- Anxiety weakens the immune system. It has been proven that students under stress have reduced levels of T lymphocytes, the defense cells that are responsible for removing diseased cells and fighting viruses.
- Pain triggers allergy symptoms. Although emotional distress is not solely responsible for allergies, they do help trigger reactions and increase allergy virulence.
- To weep is healthy. In the 1980s, researcher William Frey discovered that tears removed large doses of norepinephrine (responsible for releasing cortisol). Today we know that tears are full of lysozyme, responsible for destroying 95% of bacteria in just 10 minutes. They also eliminate stress hormones. But not all tears are the same. A study showed that people who cried during a sad movie were relieved of stress-related substances, while those who cried from an onion did not achieve the same effect.
Stress, humor and pain are powerful emotions
- Stress in premenopausal women causes them to gain weight. Swedish researchers have shown that during menopause there is an increase in stress hormones, which thus generates a accumulation of fat around the abdomen and hips.
- Humor repairs us. Good humor releases endorphins, the so-called happiness hormones and growth hormones that are each responsible for their own functions in repairing the body.
- Pain increases when you are notified about it in advance. It has been shown that the common term “this is going to hurt” increases the pain that comes afterwards. It has at least been shown in a study by the Dutch Radboud University. The study gathered more than 100 volunteers, all of whom were exposed to the same substance. For those who were warned that they would experience a severe itching, did not itch sharply on the area when the drug had been administered.
