Who wouldn't want a life filled with laughter and joy? A good sense of humor is not only fun and healthy, but it can acutally help you live longer.
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How Laughter Affects Your Body
First, it keeps your health in optimal shape by boosting your immune system. Laughter increases the number of antibodies and immune cells, giving you more soldiers to fight against harmful germs and diseases. Additionally, when you laugh, your brain releases feel-good chemicals like endorphins and dopamine that relieve stress and make you feel happy. More laughter means less cortisol, the stress hormone in the body. Chronic activation of cortisol suppresses immune function.And that's not all: laughing also provides cardiovascular benefits similar to light exercise. It helps you breathe in more oxygen and gets your heart rate up, which is followed by a period of relaxation. Considering how laughter affects the body, a laugh a day might keep heart disease away. Research in Japan, a country with a large population of super-agers, found that people who do not laugh daily have higher rates of heart disease and death from any cause than those who do laugh every day.The benefits of laughter seem especially powerful among women. Women with a strong sense of humor were associated with a longer lifespan. The benefits of humor on cognitive health were still present in women up to age 85."Health is not just determined by the number of diseases on your medical record," Dr. Pandya explains. "It's a combination of your physical, cognitive, social interactions and your mental well-being, as well as your chronic conditions."Not in the mood to laugh or lacking in funny friends? Fake it. Research on laughter yoga, an exercise where people alternate between 35 to 45 seconds of forced laughter before deep breathing, helps relax the muscles, increase oxygen to the heart and reduce stress and anxiety. Plus, it helps you sleep better and feel better overall.
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Sources
Naushira Pandya, MD, a geriatrics department chair and associate professor at Nova Southeastern UniversityBlue Zones: Lessons From the World’s Longest Lived. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine.Stress relief from laughter? It's no joke. Mayo Clinic.Immunology of Stress: A Review Article. Journal of Clinical Medicine.Laughter Is No Joke | Hidden Health Benefits of Laughter. UnityPoint Health.Associations of Frequency of Laughter With Risk of All-Cause Mortality and Cardiovascular Disease Incidence in a General Population: Findings From the Yamagata Study. Journal of Epidemiology.A 15-Year Follow-Up Study of Sense of Humor and Causes of Mortality The Nord-Trøndelag Health Study. Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine.The effect of laughter yoga on perceived stress, burnout, and life satisfaction in nurses during the pandemic: A randomized controlled trial. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice. Read More Details
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