Everyone knows about the benefits of proper nutrition, but how to resist aromatic baking or an appetizing burger from a local diner? We would be happy to observe a diet, but there is not enough willpower. Psychologist Sonya Lyubomirski discovered a new way to help improve food habits - gratitude.

Many people from time to time make a promise to start eating right, but only a few fulfill it. In March 2019, the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology published the results of a study conducted by a group of scientists under the leadership of the psychologist Sonya Lubomirski. Researchers have discovered a resource that helps to switch to a healthy diet and has nothing to do with diets. This resource is an emotion of gratitude.

To conduct a study, scientists attracted 1017 volunteers: students in grades 9 and 10 of four schools. All participants were divided into four groups. Within a month, each group dedicated 5 minutes to write a letter on a specific topic. The topics were as follows:

• expression of gratitude to a person who helped strengthen health;
• expression of gratitude to a person who helped in study;
• expression of gratitude to a person who has committed a good deed for you;
• Drawing up a list of cases made in a week.

Thus, the three groups in the experiment worked on the cultivation of gratitude in various areas of life. The fourth group, whose participants wrote about everyday affairs, was a control. In addition to writing letters, the participants should have devoted 30 minutes a week to improve the sphere of life about which they wrote: health, study, kindness or self -organization.

At the end of the experimental month and three months after its completion

, the research participants filled the questionnaires about their food behavior. In particular, they noted how many fruits, vegetables, sweets and fast food were eaten. At the end of each week of the experiment, the participants also reported their feelings. They noted what positive or negative emotions they experienced at the moment and how strong they were.

This is what the results of the study showed. Participants who wrote letters of gratitude practiced a healthier nutrition compared to those who simply wrote about daily affairs. Moreover, their food habits remained a little better even three months after the end of the study. It is noteworthy that all three groups have achieved such results that wrote about gratitude in various areas of life.

It turns out that gratitude helps to choose a healthier food. Scientists believe that the mechanism works as follows: the practice of gratitude leads to a decrease in the frequency and intensity of the negative emotions that people experience. This, in turn, leads to an improvement in food behavior. Many of us know by ourselves that negative emotions such as stress, boredom and sadness often push to consumption of sweet or fast food.

Perhaps only gratitude will not be able to radically change food habits, but the accumulated effect will have a significant impact on your life in the long term. The development of regular habit of practicing gratitude leads to small positive changes in food behavior, which accumulate over time and strengthen health for future decades.

Gratitude gives a powerful impetus not only for the mind, but also for the body. It helps to strengthen the immune system, reduce blood pressure, improve the quality of sleep - and this is not all the positive consequences. Now we know that gratitude also helps to eat better and right.

Most of the popular recommendations for healthy eating are focused on individual behavior: eat it, and not, do this, support motivation. But sometimes you need to shift the focus of attention from yourself to other people with the help of gratitude. This habit will become an effective addition to the proper nutrition regime.