Health Gem

If you do one thing this week... Do something selfless for another person

Sometimes it’s better to give than to receive: and it appears that wisdom could be extended to your health.

Altruism, the selfless act of helping another, looks on the surface like a costly behaviour, but studies are finding that as well as imparting the “feelgood” factor – brain studies show that helping others lights up reward-associated regions in the brain – it could more generally leave us feeling good too.

"Various investigations illustrate how human altruism can have beneficial effects on health and wellbeing," points out a recent paper in the Journal of Theoretical Biology.

Meanwhile, a 2005 paper in the International Journal of Behavioural Medicineconcludes: "A strong correlation exists between the wellbeing, happiness, health and longevity of people who are emotionally and behaviourally compassionate, so long as they are not overwhelmed by helping tasks."