‘Happy’ Cells for Better Health

Dr Steven Cole of the University of California has found proof that our emotions affect the function of our immune cells, and the strength of our DNA. When you are stressed and unhappy your immune cells feel those emotions causing damage and disease in your body. Cole says, “Mind-body practices like meditation help to keep you healthy by cultivating “happy” immune cells.” In addition, his latest studies have shown that reducing stress not only makes your cells “happy”, but it also makes them act younger! It does this by supporting the ends of your DNA known as the telomeres.
Telomeres act as protective caps for your genes, and the longer they are the better your cells will replicate. They tend to get shorter over time, and this is one of the main reasons why our cells and our bodies age. However, this new research has shown that telomeres, like immune cells, respond to emotional cues. Negative feelings and stress shorten the telomeres, thus making our cells age faster. According to Dr Cole, “Once again it is stress-reducing activities like meditation that can slow down or even reverse the loss of telomere length, thus making cells function as though they were younger.”