Having a pet is not only a noble thing to do, but also a healthy choice. Certain pets can help with mental problems and illnesses, and they can also keep you fit and healthy. Below you will find eight health benefits of owning a pet.
- Mental health
There are numbers of ways owning a pet can help your overall mental health, from the fact that they force you outside, which is good for you, to scientifically-proven fact that they can actually reduce stress levels. When you’re relaxing with your pet, you release oxytocin, a hormone related to stress and anxiety relief.
- Exercise
Most pets are extremely active creatures, especially dogs. They force you outside, force you to walk, to play with them, to be physically engaged. That can, and in many cases will, be tiring to you. It will force you to exercise, which we all know has many health benefits. For those with a backyard, fearing your dog might flee if you don’t keep it leashed, you could invest in an in-ground wireless fence. These Petsafe stubborn dog fence reviews can give you more insight.
- Weight loss
One of the main benefits of being active with your pet is weight loss. Scientists say that being overweight can be linked to various diseases such as diabetes, cancer, heart diseases and many, many more. By being active with your pet (taking it outside for walks, for example), you will burn more calories than you would normally do, thus helping you get rid of excess fat and get back into shape.
- Diabetes scanners
According to Diabetes.com, the disease is directly to blame for almost 70,000 deaths in the US, this year alone. What’s more, a total of 234,051 death certificates have listed diabetes as an ‘underlying or contributing cause of death’. Dogs can be trained to literally sniff out diabetes, making them a vital part of your health monitoring.
- Cancer detectors
Similar to what they can do with diabetes, certain animals can even be trained to sniff out cancer. Knowing how important early cancer detection is (8.5 percent of all adults in the US have been diagnosed with cancer, according to National Center for Health Statistics, having a pet can literally save your life.
- Lower allergies in children
Allergies are a huge nuisance, and can even turn dangerous, if not held in check. According to a study by James E. Gern from the University of Wisconisn-Madion, having a pet can reduce the chance of children catching certain allergies by 33 percent. Besides allergies, they’re also being mentioned as a good prevention to asthma.
- Helping during seizures
This is a perfect example of how a pet can help a person in distress, during a seizure. In some cases, even medications can’t help, and if a person is left alone and suffers a seizure, it can have dire consequences. Animals are of great assistance in such situations, and with proper training, they will become inseparable.
- Lowers cholesterol
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says that people who own pets, especially men, have lower cholesterol levels than those that don’t. Triglyceride levels were also down. It’s not yet scientifically explained how, or why exactly this is happening, but it definitely is.
