Five Reasons Laughter is a Lifesaver

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Some statistics make you wonder, some of them really make you laugh, and then there are some that really get you thinking.  Like this one…

Did you know that children laugh on average 300-400 times a day*, but by the time we become adults that rate apparently plummets to a pathetic 8-15 times per diem. Doesn’t that rip the fork out of your nightie?

What a sad indictment of today’s society that we can find so little to laugh about.  I mean come on chucklers, if babies can laugh before they can manage to say Mum-mum or goo-goo, how is that a fully-grown adult can’t even summon up a giggle at least once an hour?

Seems we all need to get up to more funny business.  Works for me, especially when you consider the side effects.

1. Laughter’s good medicine, that’s no joke. So says the Mayo Clinic if you don’t believe me. A good belly laugh stimulates your organs, lowers blood pressure and builds energy levels.  All that lovely chubbly bubbly stuff going on inside helps you de-stress and it strengthens your body’s ability to fight disease. How? By boosting its ability to produce and release a bacteria- and virus-fighter called salivary immunoglobin A.

2. A heart-y laugh is just that when it come to heart health. Seems a regular titter can do the ticker a whole bunch of good by reducing your risk of cardiovascular disease. Back in 2009, scientists at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore determined that laughter is linked to healthy function of blood vessels by causing the inner lining to expand, increasing blood flow.

3. Weight problems? Laugh it off! Here’s a choice for you … would you rather spend 10-15 minutes sharing seat sweat on a rowing machine or stationery bike at the gym, or spend 15 minutes of your day laughing?  It’s a no-brainer really. A little levity can be a substitute for ‘light’ (no pun intended) exercise, with a 15-minute session burning up to 40 calories. Okay realistically that’s about one mouthful of pizza, but it still beats the bike. Seriously though, researchers at Nashville’s Vanderbilt University found that a daily dose of happy hour (the laughing non-alcoholic kind) can burn up to 2.3 kilos (5 pounds) of fat over a year. Say goodbye to those “As Seen On TV” exercise machines.

4. A brain, face and body lift. I once read that for every minute of laughter you produce around $10,000 worth of healthy body chemistry. When you really enjoy a good laugh, your facial and body muscles stretch, heart rate rises, and more oxygen is sucked in to feed the tissues. It promotes relaxation and a sense of well being by releasing endorphins into our system – which are 2000 times more powerful than morphine and other pain relievers. You couldn’t afford to pay for that kind of treatment on a regular basis.

5. Laughter changes your outlook.  It makes you feel good, ignites your playful side and can give you a healthier, happier perspective on life’s downers. ‘Nuff said.

The wonderful thing about laughter is that it has no bias, it sounds the same in any language and has the exceptional power to bond people.

Best of all there’s now actual scientific proof that laughter is contagious. A team at University College London claims that hearing laughter and other positive sounds triggers a response in the area of the brain that’s activated when we smile. So smile, it not only makes people wonder what you’ve been up to, but it can lead to all sorts of wonderful things.

What cracks you up? If you’ve been suffering from laughter deprivation or a case of the snarks lately, drop everything right now and do the happy dance.  And if that doesn’t work, head straight for your nearest DVD store, Comedy section only.

Above all,  remember this … according to that happy chappy Confucious, the man who can laugh at himself will never cease to be amused.

Keep laughing, that’s LIVING!

* About once every 4-5 minutes if you were trying to do the math!

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