HAPPINESS PROMOTES LONGEVITY BUT MILD INTERMITTENT STRESSES DO THAT TOO

A long life with health and happiness is a cherished dream for all human beings. Eating right, exercising well, sleeping full, coping with stress, practising spirituality and remaining cognitively and socially active are life style mantras for health and longevity. Happiness and contentment are also the gateway to health and longevity. Even the exposure to repeated mild stresses during our life promotes longevity. Sounds paradoxical? But it is true and there is some science behind all these benefits.

Each one of us has something known as happy hormones and neurotransmitters like Dopamine, Serotonin, Endorphins, Oxytocin, Melatonin, GABA (Gamma Aminobutyric Acid) and these are individually or collectively linked to our emotions (happiness, satisfaction, resilience etc.), cognition (memory, learning, attention etc.), and social behavior (bonding, cuddling, romancing, volunteering etc.).

One can also boost the production of these happy hormones by a variety of above mentioned physical life styles like healthy foods, exercise and by spiritual life styles like meditation, yoga, music, watching Mother Nature and practicing altruism etc. Some of these substances are available in the market too. Melatonin is for insomnia and improving sleep in condition such as jet lag. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) raise the serotonin levels and are mainly prescribed to treat negative emotions like depression. GABA produces a calming effect and GABA supplements are used to lower stress, ease anxiety. All these substances should however be used only after doctor’s advice.

Let us now switch over to stress and longevity. Severe chronic stress overwhelms our body and shortens life but mild and repeated stresses promote longevity by delaying the ageing process through evolutionary and well-preserved mechanisms of anti-oxidation, immune mediated anti-inflammation, DNA repair, debris clearance etc., a process called hormesis and the mild stressors are called hormetins. Sometimes hormetins are interchangeably used with the term, Eustresses. These hormetins or eustresses keep happening during our physical, emotional, cognitive, spiritual and social life and to which our body cells respond by repairing, creating younger cells and overcompensating by removing earlier damage and thereby delay ageing throughout our life time-a kind of cellular resilience or coping at the cellular level. Based on cellular repair mechanisms, eustresses become important tools for longevity. There are umpteen examples of such stresses happening in our daily. Only few of the examples (both pleasant and unpleasant) are categorised below. Many are voluntarily practised by us while others are thrust upon us.

Physical, chemical & nutritional stresses: Exercise, Hypoxia, Consuming phytochemicals, Diet restriction and Fasting.

Psycholgical & emotional stresses: Daily hassles & efforts, Time pressures, Traffic jams, Frustration.

Cognitive stresses: Deep thinking, Online working, Playing video games, Engrossing in crossword

Spiritual stresses: Meditation, Pranayama, Focussing attention, Exposing to sunlight heat.

Social stresses: First dating, Public speaking, Volunteering, Attending a big event.