Have you ever heard that laughter is the best medicine?
If you’ve ever questioned how healthy laughter really is for you, there’s good news — scientific evidence is backing up the fact that laughing provides many health benefits. Fifteen to 20 minutes of laughter a day can help you in a variety of ways. Here are five reasons laughing more can help you feel better and improve your physical and mental well-being.
1. Laughter Can Burn Calories
Although you might not lose weight overnight doing it, laughter can burn anywhere from 10-40 calories a day. That’s because laughing increases your energy use. How long you laugh can play a role, too. If you want to focus on improving how many calories you are burning a day, it can help to make laughter part of your routine.
2. Laughing Produces Endorphins
Endorphins are known as the feel-good hormone, so it isn’t really a surprise you’d get them from laughing. While you may already know the link between endorphins and exercise, you can also get them by having a good laugh. Many people who experience a burst of endorphins find their pain tolerance increases, and they are generally happier.
3. The Immune System Gets a Boost When You Laugh
Laughing helps improve your immune system by boosting the number of natural killer cells. Other types of cells, such as T-cells and B-cells, make disease-destroying antibodies that can provide your immune system with the necessary components to help you feel better, both physically and mentally.
4. Laughing is Good for Your Heart
Laughter can reduce artery inflammation and increase HDL, commonly referred to as the “good cholesterol.” These effects have been shown to last for at least a day, meaning it can be helpful to laugh every day in order to improve overall heart health. Laughter helping the heart ties in with other benefits, such as lowering anxiety and possibly reducing inflammation in the blood vessels.
5. Laughing Can Help With Anxiety
While more research is needed on just how much laughter helps, studies show that it helps decrease cortisol, among other hormones. Laughter can help individuals calm their nerves and even see the humor in a situation.
No matter what you’re trying to improve, from mental health to physical well-being, laughter is truly a universal medicine that can improve your life. Regardless of what you’re laughing over, there are a number of benefits that you can gain by including more laughter in your life.
~Here’s to Your Healthy Pursuits! Copyright 2019, WellnessPursuits.com
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