We all know that listening to music can (sometimes drastically) affect our moods and feelings. Classical music has been scientifically proven to help reduce stress and increase concentration. But the affects of music don’t end at our moods–they have the power to affect our health, cognitive function, athletic performance, and yes, even eating habits. Thanks to our friends at Greatist.com, here’s some of the surprising ways that music affects your everyday life–whether you realize it or not!
- Ease pain. Music has been found to be able to meaningfully reduce the perceived intensity of pain and discomfort.
- Improve exercise motivation and endurance and even speed up recovery time–a better workout means more calories burned!
- Improve sleep. Because really, deeper sleep is never a bad thing.
- Improve blood flow. Turns out that the emotions that the happiness people feel when listening to music has a positive affect on vascular health. Your heart will thank you!
- Reducing stress and the affects of depression. Music also lowers stress in patients both pre and post surgery which helps the body to heal.
- Causes you to perform better on cognitive tests and in high-pressure situations.
- And yes, music even helps people eat less! According to a study from Cornell University, playing soft music during a meal causes people to consume less calories than they would without the music. The belief is that the people eating slow down and are more receptive to cues about how full they are and stop eating earlier. Cutting back on calories just got a little easier!
