When was the last time you had a good laugh? This morning, last night, can’t remember? Life can have you down on your luck, but there’s much to gain from focusing on your happiness. For one, laughter truly is the best medicine for your heart. It can spur this vital organ to better heart health and you to many more years spending time with those who matter to you. If the idea seems farfetched and you’re wondering how this could be possible, stick around as we break down the science of laughter. Let’s get cracking.
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How Does Laughter Work?
Laughter is an involuntary action triggered by our brain and in particular the hippocampus and amygdala. While you can fake one, chances are it won’t feel anywhere near as good as the real deal.
The limbic system is largely responsible for our emotional and behavioral reaction toward stimuli, and it’s in control of emotions such as:
- Pleasure
- Anger
- Fear and others
In conjunction with the frontal lobe, this system works to perceive what we see and hear, with the right side determining whether what we’re experiencing is humorous or not. If our brain finds it funny, it causes a chain reaction of muscle contractions that result in laughter and accompanying gestures or actions.
Ways How Laughter Makes Your Heart Healthy
Many scientists suggest that laughing every day could have just about the same impact as a cardio workout. But with less effort and trouble. Here are the many ways a good laugh keeps your heart beating stronger than ever:
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Boosts Your Immune System
Negative thoughts and stress cause chemical reactions that compromise the function of white blood cells. Laughter can have the opposite effect, ensuring a more well-functioning immune system.
On top of that, laughing can elevate the generation of T cells and other antibodies that come to our aid when we’re under the weather. In the long term, improved blood circulation can also bolster our body’s natural defenses.
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Decreases the Risks of Heart Attacks
It’s no joke. Laughter truly can lead to better cardiovascular health by lowering your risks of a heart attack. So take the time to laugh a couple of times daily.
A heart attack often stems from a limited flow of oxygen and blood to the organ. Laughter encourages the better circulation of blood across the entire body, ensuring your body’s engine and other support systems get the nutrients and oxygen they need to survive.
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Prevents Heart Diseases
Laughter can also lower blood pressure, which is one of the biggest factors related to an assortment of heart diseases. It boosts the secretion of the endothelium, which is an important tissue that reinforces vascular function.
As a result, your blood vessels maintain a healthy level of elasticity, and this in turn prevents atherosclerosis. Moreover, laughing can rid your body of bad cholesterol that clogs vessels and put extra strain on your heart.
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Reduces Blood Pressure
Do you have hypertension or know a loved one that does? A study by Japan’s Osaka University showed that there’s much to gain from laughter with regard to blood pressure. Researchers reviewed 79 subjects, splitting them into two groups, with one exposed to music therapy and the other to laughter therapy.
At the end of the day, blood pressure readings were lowest in the group that took part in the laughter sessions, with these subjects noticing up to a 7 mmHg drop in BP.
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Helps in Weight Loss
When we’re stressed, cortisol hormone levels shoot up. The result is that your rate of metabolism slows down and thus you burn less fat and instead accumulate more lipids.
Laughter can help you burn belly fat like a hot knife through butter. The more you laugh, the more you keep the stress hormone at bay and therefore the quicker your body’s metabolism picks up the pace. Also, you can lose up to 40 calories by laughing for 10 minutes daily, studies find.
Include Laughter Therapy in Your Daily Routine
Find time to squeeze laughter into your schedule and you’ll have a heart that’ll serve you for a really long time to come. Here are a few simple ways to get your daily dose in:
- Hang out more with those who crack you up
- Watch humorous sitcoms when winding down
- Think about embarrassingly funny moments that always make you giggle
Of course, taste in humor is varied. So find out what tickles your funny bone and do more of that. Schedule time for laughter and your heart is sure to thank you for it.
Bottomline
Laugh heartily. Laugh every day, and treasure the things that most give you reasons to burst into chuckles. It’s not just good for your mind, it’s great for your body too. Laughter leads to a stronger immunity that can stand up to just about anything, and is the key to cutting corners when it comes to weight loss. For more tips on taking better charge of your heart health, stop by the Cardiac Rhythm website to learn more about cardiac monitoring services.