How what you watch affects your health
This week: Nature shows are good for the heart
IF YOU’RE a big fan of Blue Planet II – or even just kitten videos on the internet — your heart will thank you for it.
A study of 100 people at Queen’s University Belfast, published in the journal Stress and Health, found that heart rate and blood pressure fell faster after a stressful experience when people watched videos of animals than when they put on a soap opera.
"Watching some animals, such as fish, can be hypnotic to the viewer, perhaps creating a stress-busting effect by helping to induce a dream-like state," says study author Dr Deborah Wells. "Even watching animals that exhibit higher levels of activity, such as birds and primates, can still have a calming effect."
In other words, when you watch animals you go into a sort of soothing daydream.
"We don’t know exactly why, but we are programmed to have an emotional connection with animals, and this so-called 'biophilia' may have some role to play," Dr Wells says.
Pick your programme carefully, though, as Dr Wells isn’t sure whether more stimulating animal shows will work as well as the neutral videos used in the study.
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