Monday, September 24, 2007

tickled pink

Laughter is the best kind of energy there is - it's cheap, environmentally (and people) friendly and totally renewable. The fact that a hearty guffaw is a good thing may seem obvious, but do you know exactly how good? Here are few reasons why it will do you good to give a giggle.

. The perks precede the laugh. Just the anticipation of laughter is enough to flood your body with endorphins - feel-good hormones that reduce stress while boosting your mood - according to research from Loma University in California.

. It can help you lighten up. There's a reason your face and stomach muscles begin to ache - they're working hard. In fact, a 10- to 15-minute giggle session can burn up to 40 calories (about one square of chocolate). Some even say that laughter engages most of your body's 400 muscles.

.You can fake it and still enjoy it. While your brain knows it's forcing a chuckle, your body won't care, which means that you'll still enjoy all the stress relieving, joy-boosting benefits of a laugh, according to a study from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, N.J. Once your brain signals your body to laugh, fake or not, the body will release those bliss-making endorphins. (Lauren Ferranti-Ballem))

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