ExcerptExperts Take the Benefits of Laughter SeriouslyNowadays, not only is it common knowledge that laughter has all sorts of physical and mental health benefits, there’s even an organization called the American Association for Therapeutic Humor, which is made up of more than 600 doctors and health care professionals who study the effects of humor on humans. Here’s what they’re discovering: • Laughter decreases the amount of stress hormones in the body and increases the activity of natural killer cells that go after tumor cells. • It has also been shown to activate the cells that boost the immune system and to increase levels of immune system hormones that fight viruses. •Three minutes of deep belly laughing is the equivalent of three minutes on a fitness rowing machine.
|