Fun and interesting facts about laughter
We all like to laugh. It’s very satisfying, but did you know that laughter can be very beneficial?
Laughter and its health effects have been studied by scientists for a very long time. You have probably heard the common belief that 15 seconds of laughter extends life by 5 minutes, and that one minute is about the same as a kilo of carrots. Although there is no very precise data available, there are quite a few interesting facts about this phenomenon today.
• People who laugh a lot have been shown to be healthier than those who don’t. Laughter reduces stress hormones and strengthens the immune system. Six-year-olds laugh the most – 300 times a day. Adults laugh only 15-100 times.
• Some countries are happy to practise laughter therapy: in Japan, for example, it is used to treat tuberculosis patients, and in Malaysia, students practise it before their exams, which helps them to pass without worrying about them.
• If the laughter is very strong (i.e., the person is laughing so hard that the whole body is moving), the body burns so many calories that it can lose about half a kilo in one hour. Of course, nobody laughs for that long, but 10-15 minutes is enough to ‘counteract’ the effects of a medium-sized chocolate bar. Laughing for 15 minutes a day can result in a loss of 2 kg per year. Crazy! Though of course exercising is still the best way to lose weight. By simply doing some aerobic exercises and having some sort of liquid caffeine boost afterwards can help you lose a lot of weight in a short time without feeling too tired.
• Laughter helps treat asthma and bronchitis – the air in the lungs is expelled at 100 km/h during laughter, helping to remove mucus built up by inflammation.
• Laughter has also been shown to help fight cancer. Patients who laughed regularly had a higher survival rate and better medical outcomes compared to the control group.
• According to researchers at Harvard University, a good mood reduces the likelihood of various ailments by 50%. Laughter improves lung ventilation, oxygenation, blood pressure and blood sugar levels in both healthy and diabetic people.
• Laughter helps you solve problems and find a way out of awkward situations. It activates the brain’s limbic system.
• Laughter has a whole separate branch of science. The study of laughter has always been of interest to scientists, if only because of the strangeness of the phenomenon. The branch of science devoted to it is called gelotology, and it studies laughter from both a psychological and a physiological perspective.
• It’s not just people who laugh. Monkeys also laugh out loud – it’s probably the animal you thought of first. But did you know that rats can also laugh? They don’t understand jokes, but when tickled they start laughing.
• Laughter and a sense of humour can help you find your other half. Several studies have even shown that people looking for partners value a sense of humour more than appearance, profession, and intelligence. What’s more, people are attracted to those who laugh at their jokes.
