Get Happy It's Good For Your Health

A recent study shows that being happy makes you healthy! Julia Boehm, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health and co-author of the new report, published online Tuesday.

"We looked at the positive side of things how optimism and happiness might protect against cardiovascular disease." says Boehm.

To do so, Boehm and her colleagues reviewed more than 200 studies from the last several decades looking at positive psychological well-being and heart health. Similar reviews have focused on the role that "ill-being," or conditions like depression and anxiety, can have on the heart. But the authors say their study is the first to focus specifically on the role that happiness and optimism might play.

One goal of the new review is to begin to unpack how well-being and heart health are related.

The evidence suggests that people who are happy and optimistic are more likely to engage in healthy behaviors, like doing physical activity, eating healthy foods and getting enough sleep. It also shows an association between positivity and measurable biological factors, like lower blood pressure and healthier lipid profiles.