Did you know that gratitude is a powerful remedy that can actually make real changes in your brain chemistry that support your nervous system, immune system, and more? Some health professionals call it “vitamin G,” and we couldn’t agree more. Here’s why.
Mental Health Benefits
A meta-analysis of 62 separate studies shows that gratitude reduces depression. Another analysis showed that those who participated in gratitude interventions and practices, showed better mental health, reduced anxiety, experienced even more gratitude over time, and had increased positive moods and emotions.
Gratitude Changes Your Brain Chemistry
Gratitude stimulates the brain’s limbic system and hypothalmus, resulting in increased levels of dopamine and serotonin. Dopamine induces feelings of contentment, which in turn encourages repeated expressions of gratitude, which leads to a more consistently positive attitude about life. Serotonin helps regulate mood, digestion, and sleep. It helps with bone health and even wound repair.
Feeling grateful also increases neurotransmitters that increase activity in the brain’s medial frontal cortex, the ventral striatum, the anterior singulate cortex, and insula. These are regions associated with higher-order thinking, motivation, decision-making, and emotional awareness.
Gratitude also helps switch on the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps manage stress and turns down feelings of fear, and moves us out of the “flight or fight” response into “rest and repair “mode.
Because it reduces stress by switching on our parasympathetic nervous system, gratitude can help improve digestion, relaxation, and sleep. It also calms and balances our immune system response.
Gratitude and Skin Health
Since it lowers the stress hormone cortisol, a gratitude practice may actually benefit your skin. Cortisol takes a toll on skin as it breaks down collagen, accelerates aging, and makes symptoms of conditions like acne, eczema, psoriasis and TSW worse.
When we are overstressed, our body relies on the sympathetic nervous system, or “fight or flight” response. This type of strain can increase inflammation and reduce our ability to fight infection. It also interferes with good sleep, which is critical to healthy skin.
Depression and anxiety are also common for those who struggle with a skin condition. Practices that help sustain a positive outlook, and support “feel good” responses in the brain like increased dopamine and serotonin production, can support people through challenges on their skin healing journey.
Start a Simple Gratitude Practice
Making gratitude a habit is simpler than you think. Here are small steps you can choose from that, when done consistently over time, can change your brain, your health and your outlook on life:
- Before bed, think of three things that you can be grateful for that day. Bonus if you keep a notebook and write them down each evening.
- Think of someone you are grateful for, or something somebody did for you recently that you really appreciate. Reach out and call them, or send them a message of gratitude, explaining the specific reason why you are grateful for them.
- Whenever you find yourself feeling negative, pessimistic, or anxious. See if you can stop and consider something you are grateful for in whatever situation you are in. Often this simple change in focus can stop your negative train of thinking in its tracks.
A gratitude habit can actually train your brain to look for positive things more consistently, delivering more and more benefits over time.
Conclusion
Gratitude is an incredible life-changing practice you can turn to every single day to make changes in your health, relationships, and outlook on life. Its free, it has zero negative side-effects and it’s available to everyone at any time. Why not add Vitamin G to your health regimen?
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About the Author
Olivia Hsu Friedman, LAc, Dipl.OM, DACM, Cert. TCMDerm, is the owner of Amethyst Holistic Skin Solutions and treats Acne, Eczema, Psoriasis, and TSW. Dr. Olivia treats patients via video conferencing using only herbal medicine. Dr. Olivia is the past chair of the board of directors of the American Society of Acupuncturists, serves on the Advisory Board of LearnSkin, and is a faculty member of the Chicago Integrative Eczema Group sponsored by the National Eczema Association.