LOL

November 6, 2007

We’ve all heard that saying, “laughter is the best medicine,” well, it’s actually true! There are tons of health benefits to laughing out loud, not to mention it’s fun. Endless studies show that laughing can stimulate your immune system, reduce food cravings, increase a person’s pain threshold and is a major stress reducer.

Laughing, even a forced smile for that matter, have many positive health effects, like …

- A workout for your insides including your heart. Get that six pack and have a healthy ticker, bam!
- By making light of stressful events, laughing gives us perspective when we need it most.
- Laughing releases good hormones while reducing stress hormones such as cortisol. What’s more, it increases the number of T cells, the little buggers that fight the bad guys and keep us healthy.
- Probably one of the best parts about laughter is that it draws us together, in other words, it’s social glue. By being positive around others you infect them with the giggles, which endears them to you in turn. So smile and laugh more and you will find you have more friends.

 
A little factoid we found interesting, pre-schoolers laugh an average 400 times a day, and by the time we reach adulthood we only laugh 17 times per day. All is not lost though friends, fake it until you make it. Fake smiles and laughter still have plenty of health benefits and will over all improve your mood leading to the real thing eventually. Also, we all know life is frustrating, but how you approach it makes all the difference. Try and laugh about things rather than gripe or complain, it really does feel better than taking the spiral staircase of negativity. Plus, wouldn’t you rather have laugh lines than frown lines?

So, the Toad prescription for any negative stuff going on in your life is two chuckles daily and call us in the morning.