Blood-Sugaring Laughter

We've all heard that laughter is the best medicine, but you may not know this: Negative emotions can increase blood-sugar levels, while positive emotions--expressed through laughter--can have a beneficial effect on immune function and overall hormonal environment.

In a recent study supporting this idea, researchers sought to determine the effect of laughter on blood-sugar levels in both healthy people and type 2 diabetics. Test subjects listened to a boring lecture on one day and a comedy show the next. Following the comedy routine, type 2 diabetics showed a significant decrease in their typically elevated blood-sugar levels.

Researchers suggested this could be the result of more muscle being used during laughter, which would require glucose uptake for energy, or of the positive emotional state affecting the hormonal environment such as reducing the abnormally high blood-sugar levels. So go ahead and laugh more: It may be good for your physical and emotional health.