It pays to be optimistic

Optimistic people seem to have healthy hearts.

Even after adjusting for all sorts of socioeconomic issues, “people who are the most optimistic do have higher odds of being in ideal cardiovascular health,” says Rosalba Hernandez, lead author of a research study and an assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

She’s not sure how optimism might make your heart healthier, Hernandez told Health Day News in January 2015.

“There is the idea that at least one of the mechanisms that explains this could be that people who are more optimistic are engaging in healthier behavior. But it also might be that people who are more optimistic might be able to cope a little better with stressful events.”