CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — For the second year in a row, Random Act of Kindness Day comes during a pandemic. The foundation behind the day wants you to consider being kind every day during these tough times.
In fact, spreading kindness not only helps others feel better about themselves, but it can also boost the giver's health and happiness.
Dr. Salim Surani joined First Edition to discuss the health benefits of giving.
"We all know it, we all feel it, anytime we give something we feel good about it," Surani said. "But there are a lot of studies that have shown that this random act of kindness does something to your body, does something to your brain, which is not only good but beneficial."
There is a term for those good feelings.
"We call it helper's high. Anytime we do something good, there is a reward center in our brains that gets stimulated and we feel happy about it," Surani said.
Not only can giving help us feel better, but one study shows that it can actually be beneficial for our blood pressure.
One study gave one group of people money to spend on themselves and another group money to spend on someone else.
"They found that the group which spent the money on someone else, they had much lower blood pressure than the group that spent on themselves," Surani said.
Surani said anytime you give something to someone, you often forget about your own worries, even temporarily.
"You feel happy. The pain center, when there is a stimulation coming on, it gets deactivated," Surani said. "So you feel less pain, you feel happy, your blood pressure is low."
You can watch the interview with Surani in full above.
And don't forget to share some love on this Random Act of Kindness Day.
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