A chuckle may help the body process blood sugar, according to research from Japan. A study of type 2 diabetes – the most common form of the disease – found that laughter was linked to lower blood sugar levels after a meal.
Over two days, participants were given identical meals. On one day, they watched a humourless lecture, and the next they watched a Japanese comedy show. The group of 19 people with diabetes and five without had their blood sugar monitored during the study.
Afterward both diabetics and non-diabetics alike had lower blood glucose (sugar) levels after laughing through the comedy show than they did when they listened to the monotonous lecture. The study was published in Diabetes Care.
The researchers, led by Dr Keiko Hayashi of the University of Tsukuba in Japan, also found the same results in people without diabetes. Dr Hayashi says that he cannot yet explain the laughter-glucose connection. It could be that laughter affects the neuroendocrine system, which monitors the body´s glucose levels. Or it may be an effect of energy used by the stomach muscles.
"If positive emotion such as laughter reduced blood glucose, both patients and medical providers would recognise the importance of it, and it would improve their mental health and quality of life,” Dr Hayashi said. "We should laugh more," he added.
Plenty of studies have shown that laughter can combat many common ills. For instance, research suggests that humour may lower blood pressure and release endorphins. Laughter is also thought to improve circulation, stimulate the nervous system, heighten the immune system and make the heart stronger.
