Girlfriends are Good for Your Health

Tomorrow is all about Valentine’s Day, but today is all about Galentine’s Day! My female friendships mean a lot to me, so I’m a big fan of this little made up holiday. Girls can be tricky, and finding ones to stick by your side through thick and thin is difficult. As we all get older, priorities change, people move (Hey NYC/CT girls! Miss you!) – but at the end of the day, there is nothing better than knowing you can call up one of your besties to celebrate, vent, gossip, or just catch up. My friend sent me the excerpt below, and while we don’t know exactly where it came from, I thought it was perfect for today’s post. It says these friendships are good for our HEALTH, guys! So, here’s to the ladies in my life – thank you thank you thank you – and Happy Galentine’s Day!

“In an evening class at Stanford University, the last lecture was on the mind-body connection — the relationship between stress and disease. The speaker (head of psychiatry at Stanford) said, among other things, that one of the best things that a man could do for his health is to be married to a woman… whereas for a woman, one of the best things that she could do for her health was to nurture her relationships with her girlfriends.
At first everyone laughed, but he was serious. Women connect with each other differently and provide support systems that help each other to deal with stress and difficult life experiences.  Physically, this quality “girlfriend time” helps us to create more serotonin — a neurotransmitter that helps combat depression and can create a general feeling of wellbeing. Women share feelings, whereas men often form relationships around activities. We share from our souls with our sisters/mothers, and evidently that is very GOOD for our health. He said that spending time with a friend is just as important to our general health as jogging or working out at a gym. There’s a tendency to think that when we are “exercising” we are doing something good for our bodies, but when we are hanging out with friends, we are wasting our time and should be more productively engaged? Not true. In fact, he said that failure to create and maintain quality personal relationships with other humans is as dangerous to our physical health as smoking.
So every time you hang out to schmooze with a gal pal, just pat yourself on the back and congratulate yourself for doing something good for your health! We are indeed very very lucky. Soooo let’s toast to our friendship with our girlfriends. Evidently it’s very good for our health.”

Science, guys 🙂 And if you’re still looking for Valentine’s Day inspiration, check out my recipes for Cinnamon Rolls, Zucchini Quiche, Irish Cream Tiramisu, Pink Beet Hummus, and Strawberry Vegan Cheesecakes.

PS. If you subscribe to my newsletter, this week’s edition will be a little late! There’s some killer sales and I want to make sure I include all the good ones. Hold tight!