--- title: 7 Surprising Health Benefits of Gratitude description: There are lots of surprising health benefits of gratitude, including having more patience, lower cholesterol and fewer aches and pains. canonical: https://time.com/5026174/health-benefits-of-gratitude/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-11-20T15:01:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:53:57.617Z article:section: Health og:title: 7 Surprising Health Benefits of Gratitude og:description: Being thankful does your body good og:url: https://time.com/5026174/health-benefits-of-gratitude/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt574beecf8913c5d6/6988e6b5bc6cfc6b053e4082/hands.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5071 og:image:height: 2852 og:image:alt: Mixed race woman holding out cupped hands og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 7 Surprising Health Benefits of Gratitude twitter:description: Being thankful does your body good twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt574beecf8913c5d6/6988e6b5bc6cfc6b053e4082/hands.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 7 Surprising Health Benefits of Gratitude > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: Entitled People Are Often Disappointed [Watch (HLS stream): Entitled People Are Often Disappointed](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/eea0eIq1.m3u8) (0:41)  _Published 2016-09-22. The next time you’re feeling bummed out or angry at the world, ask yourself if you’ve really been dealt a poor hand—or if, just maybe, you were expecting too much._  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Nov 20, 2017 3:01 PM UTC  Mixed race woman holding out cupped hands Mixed race woman holding out cupped hands Getty Images  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Nov 20, 2017 3:01 PM UTC Now is the season to think about what makes you most thankful, but research supports making it a year-round habit. Many studies have found there are benefits of gratitude — both mental and physical — and all it takes to enjoy them is a little bit of introspection. Here are seven surprising benefits of practicing gratitude. ## Gratitude can make you more patient [Research](http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2016-15319-001) from Northeastern University has found that people who felt grateful for little, everyday things were [more patient and better able to make sensible decisions](http://time.com/4277661/gratitude-patience-self-control/), compared to those who didn’t feel very gracious on a day-to-day basis. When 105 undergraduate students were asked to choose between receiving a small amount of money immediately or a larger sum at some point in the future, for example, the students who had shown more gratitude in earlier experiments were able to hold out for more cash. ## Gratitude might improve your relationship According to a [study in the _Journal of Theoretical Social Psychology_](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1475-6811.2010.01273.x/abstract?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false), feeling grateful toward your partner — and vice versa — can improve numerous aspects of your relationship, including feelings of connectedness and overall satisfaction as a couple. “Having a partner that’s grateful for you or you being grateful for the other” can both help your love life, says Emma Seppälä, a happiness researcher at Stanford and Yale Universities and author of _The Happiness Track._ (Seppälä wasn’t involved with the research.) ## Gratitude improves self-care In a [study published in the journal _Personality and Individual Differences_](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3489271/)_,_ researchers asked people to rate their levels of gratitude, physical health and psychological health, as well as how likely they were to do wellbeing-boosting behaviors like exercise, healthy eating and going to the doctor. They found positive correlations between gratitude and each of these behaviors, suggesting that giving thanks helps people appreciate and care for their bodies. ## Gratitude can help you sleep “Count blessings, not sheep,” Seppälä says. Research in the [_Journal of Psychosomatic Research_](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022399908004224) has found that feeling grateful helps people sleep better and longer. That’s likely because “you have more positive thoughts before you go to sleep,” says Seppälä (who wasn’t involved in the study), which may soothe the nervous system. If you’re going to make a daily gratitude list, Seppälä recommends writing it before bed. ## Gratitude may stop you from overeating “Gratitude replenishes willpower,” says Susan Peirce Thompson, a cognitive scientist who specializes in the psychology of eating. The concept is similar to the Northeastern research that found a connection between gratitude and patience: Thompson says cultivating feelings of gratitude can boost your impulse control, helping you slow down and make better decisions. If you find yourself taking slice after slice of pumpkin pie, for example, Thompson recommends excusing yourself from the table to jot down a quick list of things you’re grateful for, which can help you clear your mind and reset. ## Gratitude can help ease depression Thompson, the cognitive scientist, says [experiments have shown that](https://www.viacharacter.org/www/Portals/0/Relationships/Signature%20strengths%20and%208%20other%20CS%20interventions%20-%20Gander%20Proyer%20Ruch%20Wyss.pdf) people whole partake in the “[three good things](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/05/the-most-proven-technique-for-increasing-long/)” exercise — which, as the name suggests, prompts people to think of three good moments or things that happened that day — see considerable improvements in depression and overall happiness, sometimes in as little as a couple weeks. “If there were a drug that did that, whoever patented that drug would be rich,” Thompson says. “Gratitude is very powerful.” ## Gratitude gives you happiness that lasts Lots of things, from a compliment to a sugary treat, can bring little bursts of happiness. But instant gratification also goes away quickly, Seppälä explains, which leaves you craving more. “Gratitude is something that leads to much more sustainable forms of happiness, because it’s not based in that immediate gratification; it’s a frame of mind,” she says. 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