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Laughing is good for you! Not only is laughing fun and contagious, it has actual health benefits. Good, hearty laughter can relieve tension and stress, boost the immune system by reducing stress hormones and increasing activity among immune cells and antibodies, and help reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke by improving blood flow and blood vessel function, according to sources including the Mayo Clinic and Wellness Council of America (WELCOA).
What Happens When You Laugh?
Think of the last time you had a good, long laugh. How did you feel after? Happier? More relaxed? According to the Mayo Clinic, these feelings may result from the beneficial physiological changes that occur when you laugh.
- Laughter increases your intake of oxygen-rich air, stimulates your heart, lungs and muscles, and increases endorphins (natural feel-good chemicals released by your brain).
- A hearty laugh stimulates and then cools down your stress response, and it can increase and then decrease your heart rate and blood pressure. Laughter also decreases stress hormones, such as cortisol and epinephrine, while increasing endorphins, according to WELCOA. The result? A good, relaxed feeling.
- Laughter can also stimulate circulation and aid muscle relaxation, both of which can help reduce some of the physical symptoms of stress.
Can Laughter Have Long-term Effects?
In addition to the short-term benefits of laughter, there is some evidence that laughter may have long-term positive effects, too:
- Improve your immune system. Negative thoughts manifest into chemical reactions that can affect your body by bringing more stress into your system and decreasing your immunity. By contrast, positive thoughts can release neuropeptides that help fight stress and may help you fight off infection.
- Reduce the effects of stress on cardiovascular health. Researchers from the University of Tokyo asked people age 65-plus how often they laughed. The result: people who never laughed had a higher risk for heart disease and stroke than people who laughed daily.
- Relieve pain. Laughter may ease pain by causing the body to produce its own natural painkillers. A 2024 study examining the effects of laughter therapy (using a laughter yoga routine) and spontaneous laughter on cancer patients found participant’s pain levels were cut in half.
- Help you lose weight. Well, you’ll have to laugh for several hours to burn off the calories of a candy bar, but a study on the energy expenditure of genuine laughter by Vanderbilt University found 10 to 15 minutes of laughing can help you burn 10 to 40 calories. In addition, it provides good cardiac, abdominal, and facial muscle conditioning.
- Increase personal satisfaction. Laughter can make it easier to cope with difficult situations and help you connect and bond with others, according to the Mayo Clinic.
- Improve your mood. Laughter may help lessen depression and anxiety, possibly making you feel happier.
- Improve your memory. Cortisol, the stress hormone, can damage hippocampus neurons and impair learning and memory. But a single session of laughter (studies looked at a range of 9 to 60 minutes) may reduce your cortisol level by 37%.
Tips for Laughing More
Try to add a little more laughter into each day! Here are a few ideas to bring laughter into your life.
- Watch a funny movie, your favorite sitcom, or a silly TikTok video.
- Surround yourself with things that make you laugh – such as funny photos, comics, or artwork.
- Try a laughter yoga class, which combines intentional laughter with breathing exercises to promote well-being.
- Spend time with people who make you smile and laugh.
- Make time for fun activities.
- Spend more time with children and pets.
- Learn a good joke and share it with friends and family.
Remember, even when times are tough, laughter can help relieve stress and provide a positive outlet. Go ahead…laugh out loud! You may discover there’s some truth to the adage, “laughter is the best medicine.”
Did You Know?
- Children laugh about 400 times a day, but adults on average laugh only about 15 times. (Journal of Hospital Medicine)
- People laugh 30 times more in the company of others than they do alone. (Scientific American)
- Frowning causes more wrinkles than smiling. (Nature Journal of Science)
Kerry Horne is the Well-Being Manager at HealthTrust.