Laugh Your Way To Better Health

Laugh Your Way To Better Health

We have all heard that “Laughter is the best medicine” but we all think that’s probably just a cliche. Well, it could be partially true. Laughter could be good medicine. A recent study performed by the University of Maryland had two sets of people watching movies. One set watched serious programming while the second set of people watched funny movies.

The set of people who watched the funny movies showed that their arteries dilated and their blood pressure went down.

Can you remember the last time you heard a joke, or something made you laugh so hard your sides ached or you teared up? Well, if you can, I’m sure you can remember that event actually gave you a little more energy and a good memory for a long time. Doesn’t that make sense that laughter is healthier than anger?

It is found that when we laugh, there are 15 different muscles in our face that participate in our joy. Our respiratory system gets involved as well, which is why we can sometimes find ourselves having a tiny breathing difficulty. We can also get the hiccups while laughing because the epiglottis is vibrating and half-closing over the larynx. This can make it more difficult to breathe. As our air intake ebbs and flows, so will our laughter. If our struggle for oxygen is strong enough, this will activate our tear ducts and cause us to tear up. The force of laughter causes us to have muscle contractions throughout our body. Our limbs, back, and diaphragm are involved in these contractions.

It sounds like laughter could be hard on the body but we are such amazing machines which God created! I think all of us will agree, it’s much more fun to laugh than cry.

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