Most of us know what we should do for our health: eat well, stay active, sleep enough and manage stress. Doing it is the hard part. New research suggests gratitude may help.
In a study published this year in the British Journal of Health Psychology, data was pooled from 24 samples, nearly 7,000 people in all. The participants included community members, university students and people living with chronic illnesses.
Across the samples, the people who were more grateful practiced healthy habits more often, including healthy eating, physical activity, sleep and stress management. The link held whether gratitude was a lasting trait or a passing feeling, and it was similar across ages, genders and types of groups.
The researchers also looked at why. Grateful people tend to have more positive emotions, fewer negative ones and a stronger focus on the future. These are the inner resources that help us follow through on our goals, like choosing a walk or an earlier bedtime. Each of these helped account for part of gratitude’s link to healthy habits.
The study was correlational, so it can’t prove that gratitude causes healthier behavior, and most of the samples came from Western countries. Still, the authors suggest simple practices like gratitude journals or list as a low-cost, strengths-based way to support healthy habits.
Try it this week
The Greater Good Science Center’s “Happiness Break” podcast has a guided practice on appreciating your friends that takes less than 10 minutes. Author and breathwork coach Alex Elle guides you to call a friend to mind, remember a small moment you shared, feel thankful for being known and supported and choose one way to nurture that friendship.
Any gratitude practice counts, and this one also builds social connection, another pillar of well-being.
Listen here: Happiness Break: A Practice in Appreciating Your Friends
Afterward, think about texting that friend to tell them they matter. You’ll both feel the benefit.
Source: Sirois, F. M., Hirsch, J. K., & Wood, A. M. (2026). Gratitude and health behaviours: A temporal affective self-regulation resource analysis across 24 samples. British Journal of Health Psychology, 31(3), e70103. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.70103