Proverbs put it: a kind person does good for their own soul. Science is starting to back that up.

According to a few studies on what kindness does to the body, the results are strong. Kindness has been linked to lower cortisol — that’s the stress hormone — and to healthier inflammation levels. Basically, being kind doesn’t just feel good; it calms our bodies down.

Two studies:

“In one study, people who did three kind acts a week ended up less anxious and more confident than those who didn’t. Three small things a week”

In the other, researchers put people through a stressful situation — but first, some of them gave a gift to someone else. The gift-givers’ heart rate and blood pressure bounced back faster afterward. Giving something away, before things got hard, made their bodies handle the hard part better.

There’s no five-step plan here. Just a reminder that kindness isn’t extra — it might be as essential to our health as sleep or exercise.

Inspired by Dr. Neil Skolnik’s piece on Medscape, “The Science Behind Being Kind.”