When we think about our emotions (weather we are happy, sad, stressed, etc…) we tend to think about them as residing in our brains. Even when we talk about “heartbreak” or “gut feelings”, we still think of emotions as coming from our brains, and we see our bodies as mostly separate. This is the way science looked at the brain and body for many years. But over the last decade, this picture has been stood on its head. Today we know that the same chemicals that regulate our brain chemistry also act within our bodies.

Have you ever heard of endorphins? Endorphins are one of a class of chemicals called “neurotransmitters”. A neurotransmitter is a chemical that acts within your nervous system and is involved in emotion. The levels of neurotransmitters in your brain have a powerful effect on your mood, your energy level, and your general sense of well being. Serotonin is probably the best-known neurotransmitter, and is thought to be involved in confidence and happiness, which is why low serotonin levels are often fingered as a cause of depression.

Endorphins are your so called “pleasure chemicals”. When released in your brain, endorphins give you a warm, safe, pleasurable feeling. Endorphins are released in response to exercise (they cause the “runner’s high”), sex, and certain indulgence foods like chocolate. But, interestingly, the effects of endorphins aren’t limited to the brain. A few decades ago scientists noted that cells in the body respond to the same endorphins that are released in the brain. This marked the beginning of the modern science of mind-body interaction (and it is a science!). Ultimately, scientists have found that the exact same chemicals serve similar functions throughout both the brain and body. Neurotransmitters like serotonin and endorphins, once thought to be involved solely in emotional responses in the brain, have been found to affect the heart, the intestines, and even white blood cells in the immune system.

At the same time, research has proven that our emotions can have powerful effects on our physical health. For instance, depression vastly increases the likelihood that you will develop heart disease. On the flip side the health of our bodies also influences our emotions. A number of diseases including heart disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and even many types of cancer, show up as depression before any physical signs are present! Even if we’re not thinking about disease, poor physical health habits like a diet full of junk food invariably tear down emotional health as surely as they do physical health. Not surprising, given that brain and body are constantly communicating with one another using the same chemicals!

The take home message is that our emotions and the health of our bodies are powerfully tied together. Physical health affects emotional health, and emotional health affects physical health.  So how do we put this knowledge to use to help us live the happiest, healthiest lives possible?