Why Humor Is Therapeutic

Why Humor Is Therapeutic (Plus 10 Clean Jokes To Heal Everyone At The Thanksgiving Table)


Want an easy and genuinely fun way to feel great and gain real health benefits? Laugh. Laugh until your belly shakes. Laugh until it hurts. Have a good laugh as often as you can.

We all know that stress, anger, sadness, guilt and other negative emotions can take a toll on our health. Laughter, as it turns out, has the opposite effect, and it seems the old proverb "a merry heart doeth good like a medicine," was right all along.

"We believe laughing is good for your health," said Michael Miller of the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. "And we think we have evidence to show why that's the case."

A "Ha-Ha-Ha" = A Happy Heart

Miller and colleagues examined the connection between blood vessels' ability to expand (vasodilation) and laughter. If vasodilation is poor, it can increase your risk of heart attack and stroke. The study involved 20 adults who watched clips of a violent movie and a humorous movie and had their vasodilation tested. They found that:

Blood flow was significantly reduced (by about 35 percent) in 14 of the 20 volunteers who saw the stressful film.

Blood flow significantly increased (by 22 percent) in 19 of the 20 volunteers after watching the funny movie.

What's more, researchers said the improvement in blood flow experienced by most all participants after laughter was equal to the improvements seen after a 15- or 30-minute workout!

"Laughter is not dissimilar from exercise," said Lee Berk, an associate professor of health promotion and education who studies laughter at Loma Linda University in California. "It's not going to cure someone from stage three cancer, but in terms of prevention it does make sense. In a sense, we have our own apothecary on our shoulders. Positive emotions such as laughter affect your biology."