Making time to laugh and play can boost your health. Experts say that laughter increases endorphins, strengthens your immune system, and sends extra oxygen coursing through your veins. Find out why some researchers believe laughing is as good as a mild workout.

Burns Calories

Laughing for 10 to 15 minutes raises energy expenditure, increases heart rate, and can burn up to 40 calories. However, it’s not a weight-loss method. “People can’t eat at McDonald’s and then expect to laugh away their lunch,” says Dr. Maciej Buchowski, a professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University. Even so, a few calories every day translates to a few pounds a year—so keep those laughs coming!

Causes “Runner’s High”

Laughing increases positive endorphins, reduces stress and strengthens the immune system. Even just anticipating something funny increases anti-viral, anti-tumour defences, reports Dr. Lee Berk of the School of Medicine at Loma Linda University. The benefits of humour can last up to 24 hours—this may be why we say “laughter is the best medicine.”

Increases Job Satisfaction

Humour improves communication, creativity and overall performance in the workplace, says Dr. Chris Robert. He’s a psychology professor and researcher at the University of Missouri-Columbia who studied how laughter affects employees. He says, “The ability to appreciate humour, the ability to laugh and make other people laugh, actually has physiological effects on the body that cause people to become more bonded.”

Increases Hope and Self-Worth

Watching just 15 minutes of a comedy show can alleviate worries about health or career. Texas A&M psychiatrist David H. Rosen found that a chuckle can replace negative thoughts with positive ones and help formulate a “plan of attack” for problems. This in turn increases feelings of self-worth, which makes overcoming obstacles even easier. 、

Protects Against Heart Disease

“Research suggests that a good sense of humour wards off heart attacks,” says psychologist Steve Wilson. “Laughter dilates blood vessels so blood flows more freely. Humour was a significant positive addition to standard cardiac rehabilitation.” Dr. Michael Miller, director of the Centre for Preventative Cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Centre reports that laughing reduces the fat and cholesterol build-up in the coronary arteries. He says, “The old saying that ‘laughter is the best medicine’ definitely appears to be true when it comes to protecting your heart.”

Eliminates “Us Versus Them” Thinking

Comedy makes us more inclusive of others and helps us see the big picture. Happiness and humour reduces narrow-minded perspectives, says University of Michigan psychology researcher Kareem Johnson. Laughing can slash bias and bring people together, which strengthens our work, home, and school relationships.

Improves Counseling Sessions

Therapists who laugh with their clients increase feelings of connection and bonding, reports Dr. Carl Marci, the director of Social Neuroscience at Massachusetts General Hospital. Psychologist Steve Wilson adds, “Laughter is thought to be one of the earliest ways that humans signalled support and ‘it is safe to relax here.’ Good-natured shared laughter between counsellor and client can foster trust, rapport and reduced defensiveness.”

Helps Kids Tolerate Pain

Cartoons can help children cope with painful procedures, such as needles or visits to the dentist. In October 2007, Dr. Margaret Stuber from the University of California’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Centre found humour helped kids tolerate pain longer. In her study, the young patients who watched funny movies still felt the pain of a standardized pain test (in this case, dipping their hands into icy cold water), but they could endure it better because they were distracted.

Improves Classroom Interactions

Research shows that humour facilitates student discussions and increases course enjoyment. Mark Shatz, a psychology professor at Ohio University, found that top ten lists, jokes, and cartoons—all related to the course material—increased academic performance and students’ level of participation. “They expect us [teachers] to be boring and dull. We don’t have to be funny, but the attempt tells students that we’re trying to make the course more interesting.”

Strengthens the Immune System

“Stress hormones are reduced during laughter, allowing the immune cells to function better,” says psychologist Steve Wilson. “Laughing also promotes an oxygen/carbon dioxide exchange and clears airways. Muscles and joints are flexed and stretched, promoting muscle tone.” He says that by some estimates, laughter is a human ability that is about four million years old. “We need to be using it, not stifling it.”

笑一笑，十年少。專家聲稱，大笑可以提高內啡肽水平、強化免疫系統、增加血管中的氧氣含量。有些研究者相信大笑和適量運動有同樣的功效，讓我們來一探究竟。

燃燒卡路里

大笑10-15分鐘可以增加能量消耗、提高心跳、還可以燃燒高達40卡路里的能量。不過，這并不是種減肥的捷徑。“你不能吃了麥當勞，期待著笑一笑就能消耗掉他們的午飯。”Vanderbilt大學醫學教授Maciej Buchowski博士如是說。既便如此，每天幾個卡路里，積少成多，一年就是幾磅的體重——所以，盡情大笑吧！

造成“運動興奮”

大笑可以提高內啡肽水平、減少壓力、強化免疫系統。Loma Linda大學醫學院的Lee Berk博士報道說，即使只是想想有趣的事情，也會人體增強抗病毒、抗腫瘤的防御機能。幽默的好處可以持續作用24個小時——這可能就是為什么我們說“大笑是最好的良藥”。

提高工作滿意度

Chris Robert博士說，在工作場合，幽默可以促進溝通、創造力以及總體的工作表現。Chris Robert博士是Missouri-Columbia大學的教授，研究笑如何影響員工。他說：“人們欣賞幽默、開懷大笑、讓別人笑的能力對于人體的生理影響，實際能夠促使人們更加團結。”

增加希望和自我價值

只是看15分鐘的喜劇就能減輕對健康和工作的擔心。Texas A&M 的精神病學家David H. Rosen發現，笑可以把負面想法轉換正正面想法，同時幫助組織一套“迎難而上”的方案。進而促進了自我價值感，這讓克服難關更加容易。

預防心臟病

“研究發現良好的幽默感可以擊退心臟病突發。”心理學家Steve Wilson說，“大笑使得血管擴張，讓血液流動更加順暢。幽默對于常規的心血管復健，是一種明顯有益的補充。

減少“我們vs.他們”的想法

喜劇可以讓我們對他人更有包容性，幫助我們看到全面的情況。密歇根大學的心理研究者Kareem Johnson說，愉快和幽默會淡化狹隘的觀念。笑聲可以消弭誤解，把人們團結在一起，這能夠強化我們在工作、家庭和學校中的人際關系。

提高咨詢過程

馬薩諸塞州綜合醫院社會神經科學主任Carl Marci博士說，那些和來訪者一起笑的咨詢師會讓來訪者感覺更親密。心理學家Steve Wilson補充道：“笑聲被認為是人們表示支持、表達“在這里放松很安全”最容易的一種方式。咨詢師和來訪者之間友好的一起笑，可以促進信任、更加融洽，還能減少阻抗。”

幫助孩子忍受疼痛

卡通可以幫助孩子克服那些疼痛的事情，比如打針或者去看牙醫。2007年10月，加州大學Jonsson 綜合癌癥中心的Margaret Stuber博士發現，幽默可以幫孩子更長時間地忍受疼痛。在她的研究中，雖然那些看搞笑電影的小患者還是能感覺到標準化的疼痛測試中的疼痛刺激（在實驗中，孩子們要把手放進冰水里），但是他們能堅持得更久，因為他們分心了。

促進課堂互動

研究表明，幽默可以促進學生討論還能提高對課程的興趣。俄亥俄大學的心理學教授Mark Shatz發現，十大排名、玩笑和卡通——與課程有關的——可以提高學業表現以及學生的參與度。“他們認為我們（老師）就該無聊、木訥。我們不必很搞笑，但是這樣的嘗試讓學生覺得我們在試著讓課程更有趣。”

增強免疫系統

“笑的時候壓力荷爾蒙會降低，這讓免疫細胞能更好工作，”心理學家Steve Wilson說，“大笑還能促進氧氣/二氧化碳交換，并且清潔呼吸道。肌肉和關節可以得到放松和伸展，強化肌肉結構。”他說，根據估計，大笑作為人類的一種能力，已經有四百萬年的歷史了。“我們需要使用它，而不是扼殺它。”