Dose of Daily Optimism Leads to Healthier Hearts

There’s a saying that it takes just as much energy to be negative as it does to be positive. And it just so happens that being positive and having an upbeat outlook on life has now been proven to increase cardiovascular health, according to a new study. The findings, published by researchers at the University of Illinois, found that optimistic people had twice the odds of being in ideal cardiovascular condition as their counterparts. Optimists had significantly better blood sugar and total cholesterol levels than those who had a negative or pessimistic outlook on life. Optimists were also noted as being more physically active, having healthier body mass indexes, and were less likely to smoke. “This evidence suggests that prevention strategies that target modification of psychological well-being (i.e. trying to be more optimistic) may be a potential avenue for the American Heart Association to reach its goal of improving Americans' cardiovascular health by 20 percent before 2020," said Rosalba Hernandez, lead researcher of the study. http://bit.ly/1A5LIwD