Natural Health Remedies

In my quest for a healthy lifestyle you may wonder why I’ve just ordered several comedy DVDs from sitcoms such as One Foot in the Grave, Rab C. Nesbitt and Black Adder. Well, it’s because I truly believe laughter is the best medicine.

I’ve been finding that TV has been pretty depressing lately, the news is full of reports of shootings, stabbings, beatings and people having limbs blown off. Rarely are there any news items to make us laugh, smile or generally feel good about society.

There’s loads of health benefits associated with laughter, here’s a list of just 5.

1. Stress-busting Tears

When’s the last time you laughed so hard you cried? If it’s been a while, now’s the time to start. When we cry, whether it’s through sorrow or joy, it helps us reduce stress.

2. Immune Fighting Saliva

Dr Lee Berk of California’s Loma Linda University tested the saliva of people after a laughing fit. It was found that after laughing, people had higher levels of immunoglobulins which help us fight off disease.

3. Oxygenate the Blood

When you laugh so hard your belly hurts, you’ll be interested to know that your lungs are having to work harder than normal, meaning your blood become enriched with oxygen.

4. Reduce Stress and Heart Disease

Michael Miller, cardiologist at University of Maryland had subjects watch a stressful scene from Saving Private Ryan one day and a funny scene from There’s Something About Mary the next.

Using an ultrasound machine to monitor blood vessel linings it was found that they narrowed after people watched Saving Private Ryan but expanded after There’s Something About Mary.

When the blood vessels narrow stress hormones like cortisol are released causing blood clots and potentially heart disease. When the vessels expand the opposite happens, healthy chemicals such as nitric oxide are released and blood clots reduce.

5. Increased Tolerance to Pain

Are you a bit of a woose? A study carried out in 1987 by Rosemary Cogan at Texas Tech found that people who watched 20 minutes of comedy could tolerate more pain than those who watched an informational tape or no tape at all.

Question: What makes you laugh?

• Natural Cures for Diabetes - Diabetes has been on the rise for several years now, especially in children. There is an increased need for information concerning this disease along with understanding and treatment options. Understanding Diabetes There are two types of diabetes and they are easily named. Type I Diabetes, and type II. Diabetes is when the body’s insulin is either not
• What Are the Health Benefits of Garlic? - So you think garlic gives you nothing but bad breath? Well, OK, it does, but it’s also one of the healthiest foods you can eat. For centuries, garlic has been considered a “cure-all” and is said to be able to treat just about every ailment from the cold to the Plague! I
• Laughing Policemen: Laughing to Increase Fitness - Last year I wrote a blog post 5 Reasons You Need to Laugh More. Well it seems that the Government in Thailand also believe that laughter is a great medicine because they’ve treated their police force to 2 x 3-hour laughing sessions as you can see in this video. (If you’re viewing this in an
• Improve your Immune System with Exercise - If you followed every faddy diet going you’d be running around in circles so much you’d fall over! One moment you’re reading that oats are good for you, then you read it’s not. Same goes for protein and fat. But the one thing that everyone agrees on is that exercise is essential
• Can Tea Really Help You Lose Weight? - You may already have read about tea’s ability to decrease your chance of heart disease and reduce your stress but will it help shift a few pounds? Well, there have been studies, and yes, it seems that tea can help you lose weight. Increase Your Energy Many people these days suffer from a lack of energy

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.