Positive thinking may increase your lifespan




A lot of us blindly accept that we are not the healthiest among our peers, or that we are not currently in our best physical form. But new research warns this mindset could be dangerous. In fact, according to Stanford University, people who view themselves as less healthy than others are at risk of suffering a premature death -no matter how active they actually are. The study is the latest of many to show how our thoughts, feelings and beliefs have a direct impact on our health. Experts say this shows we should equally prioritise feeling positive and working out. Co-author of the study Dr Alia Crum said, “Our findings fall in line with a growing body of research suggesting that our mindsets -in this case, beliefs about how much exercise we are getting relative to others -can play a crucial role in our health.“ Dr Crum and her team analysed surveys from more than 60,000 American adults from three national data sets. The surveys documented participants levels of physical activity, health and personal background, among other meas ures. In one of the samples, participants wore an accelerometer to measure their activity over a week. They were all asked the same question, “Would you say that you are physically more active, less active, or about as active as other persons your age?“ The researchers then viewed death records from 2011, which was 21 years after the first survey was conducted. They found that people who saw themselves as less active than others were up to 71 per cent more likely to die in the follow-up period than people who thought they were more active than their peers. This was even true after they controlled for physical activity, age, body mass index, chronic illnesses and other factors.
Those who are made aware of their healthy activity levels -like the hotel room atten dants in Dr Crum's 2007 study can build on them and exercise more.

Those who deem them selves unfit are more like ly to remain inactive, fuelling feelings of fear, stress or depression that negatively affect their health. Being mindful of and feeling good about activities you do every day -like taking the stairs, walking or biking to work, or clean ing the house could be an easy first step for everyone to benefit their health, they say.

“It's time that we start taking the role of mindsets in health more seriously,' Dr Crum said. 'In the pursuit of health and longevity, it is important to adopt not only healthy behaviours, but also healthy thoughts,“ Concludes the research.