Why humor (and jokes) are good for your health

The husband lies down on the bed and whispers in his wife’s ear: “I’m without underpants…”. The woman replies: “Tomorrow we wash some.”

Okay, I admit it, it’s not the best joke ever. But if I have at least made him smile halfway, he must know that I have changed his day today for the better.

And it is that, after two somewhat atypical years (let’s leave it there), The best pill that health professionals can prescribe is laughter and recommend taking life with humor. And now I explain why.

Humor not only has psychological benefits but also physical and social.

Although laughter initially causes an increase in heart rate and blood pressure, its long-term effects result in a significant reduction in these.

What do these effects remind us of? Indeed, those derived from physical activity, another of the best pills that doctors can prescribe, and whose positive cardiovascular effects could be similar to those caused by laughter.

Laughter mobilizes the diaphragm, the main inspiratory muscle, increasing lung capacity and improving breathing. With a laugh we can get to contract hundreds of muscles, including facial, chest, abdomen…

If there is still some unconvinced reader, of those who go to the gym to burn calories, here is another interesting fact: laughter causes a 10-20% increase in energy expenditure above resting values, which means that 10-15 minutes of laughter a day could make us lose about 10 kcal.

Therapy against stress and depression

However, over the years anxiety and stress take over our lives and it becomes increasingly difficult for us to smile. While children laugh on average between 300 and 400 times a day, an adult only laughs 10 to 15 times a day.

Bad figures considering that laughter decreases serum levels of cortisol (the main stress hormone), adrenaline and 3,4-dihydrophenylacetic acid (an important catabolite of the so-called well-being hormone, dopamine). Moreover, in depression these neurotransmitters are decreased, so Laughter therapy could be used as an effective treatment.

Even in the face of physical illnesses, humor could be a good remedy to combat pain. Laughing also releases endorphins and serotonin, two hormones that have a certain analgesic component that mitigates pain.

In fact, a recent meta-analysis concluded that clown therapy in children appears to be effective in reducing pain associated with diagnostic or therapeutic procedures.

better than soda

Those who drink orange soda to prevent colds might try starting the day with a laugh. In the end, laughing increases immunoglobulin A levels and NK (natural killer) lymphocytes, reinforcing our immune system.

Insomnia problems can also be confronted with humor, since laughter improves our quality of sleep.

As if that’s not enough reason to join the comedy club, it turns out that a sense of humor and laughter are not only the best way to break the ice in situations that could be uncomfortable, but also improve interpersonal relationships and the power of attraction.

A study found that both men and women consider a sense of humor to be a desirable attribute in a partner, above intelligence, education, profession or sexual instinct.

laughter is contagious

It is true that laughter and humor are great weapons of seduction, improving self-esteem in turn. But, in addition, laughter is contagious. When we look at a smiling face, a group of nerve cells called mirror neurons are activated, prompting us to smile. A similar mechanism is activated when we see someone yawn and that yawn “infects” us.

With these arguments on the table it’s easy to understand why the people who appear laughing in the photos They are much more assured of that “match” on Tinder than those who do not.

And if laughter doesn’t come easily, nothing happens. The mere fact of smiling (even if it is a forced smile) already sends a message of positivity and well-being to our brain, which the body interprets as such.

Seen this way, those viral videos and funny memes that they send us to WhatsApp groups may seem like momentary pleasures, but they help us cope with anxiety, fear, and sadness. And by spreading them we activate a series of benefits, not only for our health but also for that of others.

*María Isabel Iguacel Azorín is a doctor in health sciences and professor of cultural psychosocial sciences and communication skills at the University of Zaragoza, in Spain.

*This note was published in The Conversation magazine. Click here to read the original article.

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