💓 Gratitude – A Heart Health Superpower
Its popular knowledge that good mental health can influence your body and longevity, but is there really any science to back this up? Yes! The research is undeniable and incredibly compelling.
When we think about heart health, we often jump to cholesterol, exercise, or leafy greens. But one of the most powerful lifestyle habits is often overlooked:
Gratitude.
Not just a feel-good concept, but a research-backed intervention for better physical and mental health. Let’s talk about why.
🧠💥 How Gratitude Protects the Heart
Cultivating gratitude isn’t just good for your mood — it’s good for your heart.
📉 A 2021 review of 73 studies found that gratitude interventions, testing people before and after daily gratitude habits significantly reduced:
Blood pressure
Resting heart rate
Markers of inflammation like CRP (C-reactive protein)
Even after adjusting for factors like age, weight, or activity levels - the data doesn’t lie!
Sometimes it is hard to be grateful when our body is in discomfort or suffering from illness, but this might be precisely when we need it the most.
📊 A 2015 study from UC San Diego found that people with heart failure who kept a daily gratitude journal had lower levels of inflammation and improved heart rate variability (a key marker of cardiovascular resilience).
So gratitude will make you live longer but don’t forget how happy it can make you!
💤 It doesn't stop at physical effects: gratitude improves sleep quality, reduces anxiety and depression, and helps you stay consistent with heart-friendly habits like exercising or eating well.
🧘♀️ Are All Gratitude Practices Equal?
All practices are wonderful, but different methods work better for different people. In general, happiness and peace correlate strongly with heart health. Here’s what the research says about some of the most popular approaches:
✍️ Gratitude journaling
Writing down 3–5 things you’re grateful for each day or week.
✅ Highly effective – Especially when practiced consistently. It helps rewire your brain to notice the good more automatically so you get benefits even outside of your practices!💌 Gratitude letters or messages
Writing a letter (or even a message) to someone you haven’t thanked enough.
💥 Super powerful – Can boost happiness and reduce depressive symptoms for weeks, even if you never send it.🤫 Write a lie?!?!
Well not quite, more of an affirmation for the day or tomorrow. Write down something that you want to be true, like “I am healthy” or “I am kind to myself” and then WRITE BECAUSE, now you have until the end of the day to create the evidence, for example, “because I ate fruit instead of chocolate” or “I walked to work instead of driving”.
🌟 Mindfulness supporting practical improvements – This practice enhances the impact of your affirmation, helping you to achieve it through actions throughout the day.🚶 Gratitude meditations (on the go!)
Mindfulness practices focused on appreciation work brilliantly when sat down, legs crossed. But did you know the benefits are still there while walking, cooking, or commuting?
✅ Great for habit-stacking – Perfect if you’re busy and struggle to sit still. Boosts both calmness and positivity. Sometimes gentle activities even help you focus on the meditation! But hang on - we’ve also got a spectacular recommendation…
📲 Try This: Meditate on the go!
At HeartGuard, we meditate daily, but there is no way we could keep this up without Active Meditations! If this is new to you, we love the free Healthy Minds Program app — designed by neuroscientists, it is a non-profit app that offers walking meditations and on-the-go mindfulness lessons (great whilst doing the dishes 🧽). A perfect way to build gratitude into your daily routine without needing a quiet space and 20 minutes of free time.
👉 Check them out! We have no affiliation or partnership with the Healthy Minds Program - we just love their work!
💭 Engage With Us
This week, we’d love to know:
What’s your experience or perception of mindfulness and gratitude exercises?
Have you tried them? Are they part of your routine — or do they feel like something you “should” do, but don’t?
What is stopping you from engaging with more mindful practices and is there anything that troubles you that you want help with tackling?
Do you want to hear more about mindfulness? We’ve got plenty more tips to share if you want more newsletters on this topic!
Hit reply or tell us (heartguardhealth@gmail.com) — we love hearing your stories. 💌
💡 Challenge of the Week
Choose your gratitude ritual.
Try one of these:
🌿 Write 3 things you’re grateful for before bed (extra tip, pick one thing that happened by chance, one thing that you made happen and something mundane)
🚶 Do a walking gratitude meditation (with Healthy Minds)
✍️ Write a gratitude message to someone who’s helped you - bonus points if you send it or even tell them in-person (but no pressure)
🧠 Set an alarm for midday and relive one moment you appreciated from the morning.
Small and consistent is the goal. Let us know how it goes.
👀 Next Week:
We’re busting myths around SLEEP — feeling tired even after 8 hours? There’s so much more to sleep than just time on the pillow and your current habits may be harming your heart. Don’t miss it.
Louis & Toby
DISCLAIMER: we don’t make any money from the links we add to our newsletter, these are just genuine recommendations.