Top Five Health Benefits of Laughter

I don’t know about you, but one of the things I look for in a person I want to befriend or establish a long term relationship with is a person I can laugh with. Imagine, being with someone who stresses you to no end or brings nothing but drama? For me, laughter makes things easier. While problems will continue to hound our human lives for the rest of our existence, dealing with challenges can be easier if we unload some of the weight with a good laugh.

The saying goes: laughter is the best medicine. And according to medical professionals and researchers (https://selecthealth.org/blog/2021/03/7-surprising-benefits-of-laughing and https://www.gaiam.com/blogs/discover/7-health-benefits-of-laughter), there’s reason to believe that this is true. Here are the Top Five Benefits of Laughter:

1. Relieves pain

Do you know that laughter releases endorphins, which are the body’s natural pain killers? One effect of the release of this hormone is that it increases pain tolerance. One study had participants watch 15 minutes of a comedy show in a group. Their pain tolerance increased 10% more than before the laughter.

2. Helps your heart

A good laugh is a great cardio workout for your heart. This is specially true for those who are not able to do much physical activity due to factors like an ailment or an injury- or simply ageing. That’s because a good laugh helps in increasing the amount of oxygen in your blood and kicking up your heart rate. It also decreases arterial wall stiffness–a link to cardiovascular disease. It gets your heart pumping and burns a similar amount of calories per hour as walking at a slow to moderate pace.

3. Boosts your immune system

Laughing improves your immune system and can help you stay safe from viruses. When you laugh, you activate T-cells (these are specialized immune system cells) that immediately begin to help you fight off sickness. Laughing releases more anti-infection antibodies to help protect your body from infection. This piece of info is vital as we are all not in the clear yet in the battle vs. COVID-19.

4. Reduces stress

Laughter decreases cortisol levels. While it’s known as the stress hormone, cortisol helps manage blood sugar levels, reduces inflammation, manages metabolism, and triggers the fight or flight response in your body at critical times. One way to regulate cortisol is through laughter. Laughing increases your oxygen intake, which stimulates body circulation and reduces cortisol.

5. Tones your abdomen

One of the great things about laughter you should know about is that it can help you tone your abs. When you laugh, the muscles in your stomach expand and contract. And this can be likened to when you exercise your abs intentionally.