More and more people are opting to purchase pets over the years, such as dogs and cats. These pets offer a calming effect on their owners, but these new furry members of the family also promote good health benefits.
The rapid growth of pets over the years, specifically dogs and cats, has led to more research regarding how these animals can influence human health. Pets are considered a part of the family in many cultures. While some may be uncertain about including their pet in daily activities with their children or other members of the household, including your pets in family life can be beneficial in more ways than one.
Pets not only offer companionship but also promote exercise and positive mental stimulation. Along with these benefits, they can also aid in reducing stress levels, blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, loneliness, depression, and anxiety.
Why Pets make people happy?
Pets make people happy and find the positive aspects of life because they provide an unconditional love and trust to their owners. These unconditional positive feelings often transfer themselves to their owners, making them feel better about themselves and the world.
Human beings need social support from each other through companionship, intimacy, or a sense of belonging. Pets not only satisfy those needs, but also tend to improve relationships by providing social support.
Pets are known as catalyst of happiness because they provide their owners with friendship and enjoyment. They give people something positive to think about when times are hard or they feel low, which is one reason why pets help to ease stress.
According to a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, people who had pets were assessed as more outgoing than those who did not have pets.
Even if they are just watching television with their owners or giving them a big kiss, pets help people feel loved and comforted. Pets can provide support to people who may feel isolated due to the loss of human companionship and connection.
Pets also enrich lives because they give emotional support. They encourage their owners to take care of them and thus increase self-esteem and personal responsibility.
They increase physical activity by encouraging owners to take them on walks or play with them.
Number of ways in which pets can aid in promoting healthy lifestyles.
Pets help reduce blood pressure, stroke, heart attacks and lower cholesterol levels. Dogs can even signal health problems like seizures or irregular heartbeat ahead of time.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have outlined a number of ways in which pets can aid in promoting healthy lifestyles. Some of these include:
1. Physical Activity
Pets that go on walks, play fetch with you, and other fun activities contribute to your daily exercise goal.
2. Improved Cholesterol Levels
Pet owners have shown lower cholesterol levels because walking the dog is a form of moderate exercise. The CDC also states that pets can improve triglyceride levels and reduce obesity in their owners.
3. Reduced Blood Pressure
Pet ownership has been linked to a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, which can lead to high blood pressure. Pets provide both emotional support and added physical activity when it comes to tackling health problems such as high blood pressure.
4. Decreased Loneliness
Pets not only offer a sense of companionship but also unconditional love from an animal. Dogs have been shown to benefit those with certain mental health problems such as anxiety and depression by increasing social interactions between people.
5. Better Mental Health
When asked about their pets, pet owners reported increased self-esteem and happiness.
6. Better Overall Health
Pets can inspire you to make simple changes in order to improve your overall health such as adding more physical activity into your daily routine.
From a study by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and published in "JAMA Internal Medicine," researchers found that pet owners were less likely to die in the next seven years when compared to non-pet owners. The people who participated in this study were followed for that time period; results showed that pet owners lived 23% longer than non-pet owners.
The NIH also said that pets can be beneficial in reducing loneliness and depression, stress, and blood pressure, especially for older adults.
"Physical activity doesn't just help your heart health. It may also improve cognitive function in older adults. A study of adults aged 60-69 found that those with dogs walked an average of 300 minutes a week, compared to just 50 minutes a week for non-dog owners. In addition to getting more exercise, dog walkers also tended to have higher levels of psychological well being.”
Pets lead to healthier overall lifestyles by encouraging people to get outside, walk or play with them. Pets also increase physical activity by encouraging owners to take them on walks or play with them. Pets bring out the best in us and in return we should do everything in our power to make sure they live their best lives possible.
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