A new study looking at the effects of gratitude or being grateful on mortality risk showed that independent of classic mortality indicators of cardiovascular health, smoking, and chronic disease burden, grateful people showed lower rates of early death than less grateful peers.
The study examined over 49,000 older women in the nursing profession, and is claimed to be one of the first studies to investigate the effects of gratitude on mortality.
This is notable because gratitude is already associated with better biomarkers for cholesterol, immune system function, inflammation levels, and cardiovascular disease risk, as well as lower risks for depression, and better adherence to healthy hygiene like exercise and good sleep.
The authors noted however that a surprising dearth exists in the amount of insight on gratitude’s effects on mortality.
Gratitude was assessed with the 6-item ‘Gratitude Questionnaire,’ a respected, validated, and widely used measure of one’s tendency to experience grateful affect. It’s made up of 6 questions answerable by marking between 1 and 7.
The questions included “if I had to list everything I’m thankful for, it would be a long list,” and “I have so much in life to be thankful for”.
Study leader Ying Chen and her team found that, in comparison to women with lower gratitude scores, the most grateful tended to be younger, have a husband or partner, and be involved in social and religious organizations.
The average age of nurses who answered the gratitude questions was 79, and by the end of 2019, 4,068 of them had died.
Looking at those who died, higher gratitude scores were associated with a 29% reduced risk for death overall. When controlling for a history of heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes, gratitude was still associated with a 27% reduced risk of death, and a 21% reduced risk after controling for lifestyle habits like smoking, exercise, drinking, and eating a healthy diet.
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Benjamin Levine, MD, a substantial force in the field of exercise physiology and cardiovascular health, has argued for physical activity to be tracked in hospitals as a vital sign—equivalent to temperature and blood pressure. He also advocates for people to look at exercise as personal hygiene, rather than something that makes up a ‘healthy lifestyle.’
Even out of shape, overweight, and sedentary people take showers, brush their teeth, and trim their nails, and Levine suggests exercise should be in the same bracket of consideration.
This new study suggests that permitting yourself time in the day to feel grateful should be something similar—personal hygiene, like brushing your soul in the same way you brush your teeth.
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To that end, keeping a gratitude journal, making time for prayer, and inviting family members to announce what they’re grateful for at the start of a meal together, are all good ways to open your mind to grateful feelings.
Put reminders out where you can see them—tie a ribbon around a door handle so everytime you leave your house you’re reminded that you have one, or put a wallpaper on your smartphone that reminds you to be grateful for the things you have everytime you turn the screen on.
Aside for helping one feel better during the day, according to Dr. Chen’s study, it could save your life.
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