Love Your Pet Day is today, Saturday, February 20!
This special day is set aside to give extra attention to and pamper your pet. Plan a special day with your pet, take an extra-long walk, or give them a special treat.
Here are 7 ways owning a pet can benefit your health and help keep you young:
1. Makes you less of a couch potato
Nothing makes you spring into action faster than your pooch’s I’m-about-to-pee-on-the-new-rug-unless-you-take-me-out-NOW warning whine, and a new study shows owning a pet keeps you in motion. Pregnant women who own dogs are more likely to be active than those who don’t, according to the University of Liverpool. Researchers say dog walking, a low-risk, low-intensity exercise, is perfect for women who want to up their activity level and prevent excessive weight gain during pregnancy. Pregnant or not, walking your pet is a fantastic way to sneak in a little extra, super-fun exercise.
2. Keeps you from being a hermit
Having a pet you can take for walks outdoors is great for your relationships, and can help foster your interpersonal skills, too, says Alan Entin, a psychologist and past president of the American Psychological Association’s Division of Family Psychology. “Being outside with a dog helps you meet people,” he says. “You meet other dog owners and that helps improve your social life.”
3. Lets you laugh at yourself
Many owners like to talk about their pet’s antics (sometimes to the dismay of coworkers, family members, and total strangers), which is one way that furry friends bring levity into everyday life. “They bring laughter and humor into our stressful lives and encourage us in playful ways,” says Froma Walsh, co-director of the Chicago Center for Family Health and a Professor Emerita at the University of Chicago. Walsh, the owner of a Lab mix named Shasta, says that Shasta keeps her from becoming too absorbed in her work. “She always comes up to me wanting a treat or a walk,” she says. That distraction is often not only welcome, but healthy, she says.
4. Prevents your blood from boiling
You might not notice it, but when you pet your dog or cat, your body releases oxytocin, a stress-reducing hormone associated with emotional bonding. The really cool thing, Walsh says, is that your pet releases oxytocin, too, fostering a sense of connection, calmness, and release of stress.
5. Takes away the loneliness
Pets provide companionship, which means that they can help their owners—particularly those who live by themselves—feel less lonely, according to a study from Miami University and Saint Louis University. “People with pets probably feel less lonely because the pet provides a sense of social support,” said Allen R. McConnell, a professor at Miami University and an author of the study. In a similar study, after participants were induced with a sense of loneliness, the “lonely” person found just as much solace and help in thinking about her dog or cat as she did their closest human friend, McConnell said.
6. Adds candles to your birthday cake
In a study that looked at patients who were discharged from a Coronary Care Unit, researchers found that those who had companion animals to come home to had a better survival rate during the next year than those who didn’t. The psychological comfort of pets may be linked to living longer, suggests the study.
7. Helps you love yourself
Pets can instill a greater sense of self-worth and self-esteem in their owners, and can even help people who suffer from mild depression, Entin says. “The most important thing about a dog is that they give you unconditional love,” he says. “They don’t ever judge you, and that’s pretty powerful.”
Article source: http://www.prevention.com/mind-body/emotional-health/health-benefits-owning-pet