Having A Pet Could Boost Your Health, Science Says

INTRODUCTION

Having a pet could actually boost your health, science says. Or, rather, the NIH says. The NIH (National Institutes of Health) is a health and medicine institution, that funds and makes researches on many different aspects of health and life.

The NIH has researched the subjects of pets effects on human health. With the help of other institutions, they found interesting answers that we might look at.

Having a pet is not only healthy, it’s also fun and it adds someone to the family. Nothing is better to come back home and being met by a very happy dog, jumping around and barking at you in happiness. I think it’s something that is unique, as most people doesn’t really experience this at work, or in any other areas of life, for that matter.

In this article, we’ll see how having a pet could boost your health, and how it could also benefit it in more indirect ways.

So, what are we waiting for? Let’s start.

What science says…

A pet has an immense source of unconditional love. Really, dogs doesn’t have conditions to love their owners. This is maybe because they’re fundamentally unconscious, yet dogs are truly conscious when you see how they react to sad owners for example. But wait, I keep speaking about dogs, and what about cats? Well, it’s mostly the same thing I suppose, even tho cats tend to be more independent than dogs.

Dogs, cats, fishes, whatever can represent a source of unconditional love is a good choice for most people. For some people or even children, therefore, dogs or cats or fishes or pets in general, who represents a source of unconditional love, can help them feel better and decrease stress.

It has been scientifically proven that pets does decrease stress, by decreasing the hormone cortisol, which is the hormone of stress. Pets also reduces blood pressure, and therefore it can help with high blood pressure.

Not only that, pets can reduce loneliness, and act like a « social support » for quite lonely people. Now sure, it’s not because you’re lonely that you have to close on yourself even more and just be friend with your dog, but it’s a nice way to start, it’s better than nothing. It can help you feel less lonely and generally it can help you reintegrate the social world better.

Think about a lonely kid for example, who has a hard time finding friends at school because the other kids at school offer him conditional love (if you don’t have the latest Pokemon card, you’re not friends with us type of stuff). Well, in this case, having a dog could not only add another person to the family, reduce stress and blood pressure, but it could also reduce loneliness and add social support to this kid. It could be a source of happiness and joy and social connections for this child, like a friend.

In other words, pets do not have super powers in term of your health. It’s not the magic secret that we haven’t told you to lose 5kg in 3 weeks or to completely suppress depression. Pets can be a tool in the arsenal, and a soul to take care of. Remember, dogs are not toys, they are not objects. Sure, they’re sold on the market like a TV would, but they have a heart pumping, they have needs, desires, emotions, a consciousness too, and they feel pain as well as joy, just as much as you feel pain and joy. What I’m trying to say here is that dogs are of course less important than humans, but they still represent a life to be taken care of.

And, when I say dogs, I speak of every pets. Goldfishes, cats, turtles, and even wolves! All these animals who were once savage can now be civilized, which means they have emotions and needs and desires and everything that comes with living and being conscious. They might not have the same level of consciousness as us (differentiating good and bad, and even some pet can do this but anyway), but they still have a consciousness.

Don’t choose a pet because it can decrease stress, that’s stupid, you should rather meditate for example. It’s just a tool in the arsenal that I wanted you to know about.

What logic says…

Logic says that pets could also help you become healthier physically. Now sure, reducing stress is mainly seen on the mental health side of things, but think about your body too!

Stress is one of the main cancer builders, it’s also the cause of most of people’s problems in life. Stress and anxiety can also reduce essential hormones to the body, such as hurting the production of testosterone, which is a very important hormone for both man and woman (helps with muscle-mass, happiness, etc).

Also, pets require regular maintenance. This can boost your overall health, especially if you have a pet that needs to be walked. For example, dogs can help you increase your exercise ratio in the week, as you need to walk them in the street or park regularly and preferably everyday for their health.

In other words, it can help you get moving, and it’s a great reason outside of your own health benefits to get some calories burning, as your dog mental health or physical health can seem quite important to your eyes too. On top of that, we often take more care about other people that we do with ourselves. For example, it’s highly possible that you’re much more picky about your children health than you are with yours. In this way, by caring about your dog health and bringing him or her to a walk, you also boost your health in the way.

Also, pairing an habit to feeding your pet for example could help you make more progress in life. Researches looked at kids with type 1 diabetes who had to give food to their fish a few times a week. In these studies, the kids had to check their blood sugar levels right after feeding their pets. They found that the group who had the responsibility of feeding their pet and doing the habit right after, checked their blood sugar levels more than the other group of kids who didn’t have a pet.

In other words, you can pair a necessary responsibility for your animal with a good habit you want to get into your routine. Need to meditate more? Meditate for one minute each time you put water into your dog water bowl. Wants to exercise more? Maximum of push-ups until your dog has finished eating his food. In this way, not only you serve your animal, but you also serve yourself.

Should you buy a pet?

Before buying a pet, there are a tons of things to consider. Where you’re going to store them, how you’re going to take care of them everyday and when, how many times per week can you bring them for a walk if they need to (dogs, maybe cats, etc), if you have the necessary time or energy for this matter, if you’re doing this for real reasons (wanting to add someone to the family, taking care of a dog because you love animals) or simply for stupid reasons (everyone has dogs so why not me, my 7 years old daughter like cats so I’ll buy her a cat without thinking twice), etc.

I suggest reading this article to really get a hand on the things you need to know before having a pet. Click here to access this article.

Conclusion

As always, I hope this article was of help to you, and I’ll see you next you next time, bye.

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