The benefits of putting on a happy face will give you plenty of reasons to smile. Maintaining a positive attitude about your efforts - weight loss related or not -- helps you stay motivated, but it goes far beyond that. By turning that frown upside, you'll reap actual physical benefits. A study done by the British Dental Health Foundation found that by simply smiling, you can improve your mood, even if things aren't going your way. They also discovered that a smile gives the same amount of stimulation as eating 2,000 chocolate bars, and that's says plenty. Smiling can also reduce anxiety. According to Dr. Mark Stibich, it's the Duchenne smile, the smile that's found around both the mouth and the eyes, that has the most therapeutic and health benefits. Dr. Stibich maintains that smiling boosts the immune system, reduces stress, lowers blood pressure and gives other people a positive opinion of you.
And you can actually spread the benefits to others while also benefitting from others. So there's an element of truth to the adage, "Smile and the whole world smiles with you." Known as emotional contagion, it's been proven that if you mimic the facial expression of others, it can actually raise serotonin, dopamine and other "feel-good" indicators. Another professor at the University of Michigan, Christopher Peterson Ph.D., maintains that those who wear their smiles well have a payoff in overall wellness. Dr. Peterson says there is an undeniable link between optimism and a better immune system. A separate study shows that people who were optimistic were less likely to die than those who were pessimistic.