Laughter affects appetite, just like exercise

Studies have shown that happy laughter stems from real joy, helps reduce stress, relieves mood and provides health benefits. Not only that, but recently, laughter has also been found to promote appetite and be applied as a treatment for anorexia.

Laughter is an expression of joy, when one really feels happy. Most of us know that laughter brings many benefits to human health in general. The benefits that laughter gives us include:

Some studies have shown that laughter has the same effect on appetite as exercise. Because in these studies, scientists have confirmed that laughing can help the body release the same amount of hormones as during exercise and these hormones stimulate appetite.
In the study, the researcher selected 14 people. These people were randomly shown a 20-minute stress-inducing video and one group a comedy film. After about a week of watching, the 2 groups were exchanged to watch the movie in reverse to the first week to compare the results.
To evaluate, people measure levels of two hormones related to appetite, leptin and ghrelin. The results showed that people who watched movies with stress factors did not have a significant change in the study of these two hormones. In the group of people who watched comedy videos, leptin levels decreased and ghrelin levels increased. The hormone leptin suppresses appetite, while ghrelin does the opposite. The change in the assessment of the above study also found the same change in people after exercise.
However, because the study sample was small, researchers have not made any assertions that laughing a lot actually promotes food cravings. These studies open up a new direction of treatment for people with anorexia, especially the elderly.
One thing to keep in mind is that while the benefits of laughing increase appetite for people with anorexia are similar to exercise, it does not mean that sitting and watching comedies should be encouraged instead of exercise. Laughing is great, but exercise also has very high benefits. So, let's go together with both methods to help you live a happier and healthier life.

Laughing helps the cardiovascular system work better, helps increase blood flow to the target organs and helps control blood pressure better, preventing the risk of hypertension.
Dr. Michael Miller, director of the Center for Preventive Cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center, recommends laughter as part of a heart health program for patients. According to Miller's studies, he found that when we laugh for 15 minutes, there is an increase in the diameter of blood vessels similar to when jogging or performing other physical activities such as aerobics. In addition, Miller also discovered that the benefit of laughter also helps to expand the endothelium, allowing blood to flow more easily, preventing the clotting of platelets, thereby protecting the cardiovascular system and reducing the risk of stroke. .
Thus, through these studies, we know more about the great benefits of laughter on the cardiovascular system.

Cheerful laughter helps reduce stress hormones called cortisol and catecholamines, just like moderate exercise does.
When we are happy, laughing and joking can feel more relaxed, stress and anxiety in work as well as in life are reduced.
Laughter not only affects mood, improves cardiovascular disease, increases appetite, but it also helps reduce cholesterol in the blood, strengthens the immune system. If accompanied by regular exercise every day, the body will be significantly healthier.
Laughter affects appetite, increasing appetite like when we exercise. This, can be applied to treat people with anorexia due to depression, the elderly.

Reference sources: webmd.com, edition.cnn.com, theguardian.com