Attending a stand-up, watching a comedy show, or just having a little giggle with your friends could be the healthiest thing you can do this weekend.
That’s because laughter has been shown to lower your blood glucose levels — which may be sky-high during Easter’s chocolate feast.
For many people, swallowing chocolate will result in a burst of energy, even a jittery feeling or a feeling of dizziness.
This is the result of the sugar shooting into our bloodstream, giving us that spike in blood glucose, which is usually followed by an energy crash.
In addition to making us feel tired and hungry, having repeated sugar spikes and crashes has been linked to a range of health problems, including obesity, diabetes and heart disease, and can lead to pre-diabetes and eventually type 2 diabetes.
Laughter has been shown to lower your blood glucose levels – which may be skyrocketing during Easter’s chocolate feast
“If we eat something, especially something like an Easter egg with a lot of sugar, it causes a rapid rise in blood glucose,” says Doctor Nicky Keya hormone expert and honorary clinical lecturer in medicine at University College London.
Insulin is released to lower blood sugar by helping the sugar leave the bloodstream and enter the body’s cells so it can be used for energy. It also signals the liver to store the glucose for later use.
“However, you can make insulin’s job easier by doing things that help get glucose levels back to healthy levels quickly,” she says.
‘Exercise is known as one of these actions, because active muscles need glucose for energy. We use muscles to laugh, so laughter has a blood glucose lowering effect.’
A Japanese study confirms that laughter can be the best medicine if you overdo it with sweet things.
In 2003, Dr. Keiko Hayashi of Tsukuba University fed two groups of volunteers, some with diabetes and some without diabetes, the same meal and then had them watch a 40-minute lecture. Then they repeated the process, but this time they watched a 40-minute comedy.
Their blood glucose levels were tested after both activities and they found that both groups had significantly lowered blood glucose levels after the comedy show compared to after the lecture.
Why is that? “Laughter can take more energy for muscles,” says Dr. Keay, author of Hormones, Health and Human Potential: A Guide to Understanding Your Hormones to Optimize Your Health and Performance.
“Our mood can also affect blood glucose control — we know that stress raises blood glucose, so the reverse may apply.”
And as if we needed any more excuses for a laugh — splitting your sides can also be good for your heart.
‘Laughter lowers the stress hormones. Stress increases cortisol, which raises blood glucose, increases heart rate, constricts blood vessels and raises blood pressure as part of the “fight or flight” response.
‘All of these reactions increase the risk of cardiovascular disease in the long term. But being happy and laughing has exactly the opposite physiological effects.
‘Therefore, laughter could play an important role in reducing the risk of heart disease, angina pectoris and stroke. Laughter can also promote circulation and may be helpful for patients with diabetic neuropathy [when the nerves become damaged]one of the complications of diabetes.
“According to research from the Institute of Psychiatry in London, being sad restricts blood flow, while laughter stimulates blood vessels to function normally,” she adds.
So if you have type 2 diabetes, what should you do?
‘To start with, it is best to treat type 2 with healthy eating and regular exercise to encourage weight loss in obese or overweight people,’ says Dr Anand Velusamy, consultant endocrinologist at London Bridge Hospital, part of HCA Healthcare UK .
It is also recommended to monitor blood sugar levels, especially with a quarterly average blood glucose test called HbA1c.
The drug metformin is commonly used to treat type 2 diabetes because it helps the body maintain healthy blood sugar levels and improve natural insulin sensitivity.
‘Insulin treatment is used if blood sugar is difficult to control despite tablets or temporarily to control blood sugar quickly.
“If you experience symptoms of type 2 diabetes, including increased urination, thirst, exhaustion and irritability, you should see your doctor to have your blood glucose levels tested.”