Forgiveness is good for the heart!

Just found this on Charles Poliquin's website.  Worth considering this holiday and new year period...

Tip 206: Being in the regular habit of forgiving is one of the best thing you can do for you heart.

Dr. Minick, one of the World’s foremost experts on nutrition, pointed those papers to me on last Saturday.

by Charles Poliquin

“...persons high in forgiveness displayed more rapid diastolic and mean arterial blood pressure recovery than persons low in forgiveness.

In response to the apology, participants displayed greater high frequency heart rate variability recoverycompared to those who did not receive an apology.”

Whited et al., J Behav Med. 2010 Apr 3. [Epub ahead of print]

“Higher levels of forgiveness were associated with lower levels of anxiety (p < 0.05), depression (p < 0.01), and perceived stress (p < 0.005) as well as lower total cholesterol to HDL and LDL to HDL ratios (both at p < 0.05) after controlling for age and gender.”

Int J Behav Med. 2009;16(3):205-11. Epub 2009 Feb 20.