Wearing a Smile and Being Healthy

The smile has an important function: to express emotion and create bonds between people. But also it has an important role in people’s health. I believe that if you smile often you will have a healthy life. According to research, good humor improves people’s health and people who are happier have a healthier life. Good humor is the expression which says that the body is well.

Laughing makes you feel good, and the good feeling helps you keep positive and optimistic. In my view, when you are laughing you forget the bad things around you. As reported by Dr. Antonio Carlos, a person in good mood suffers less because it produces more endorphins, also called the “happiness hormone”, which makes the body and mind relax, improves sleep, controls blood pressure, and increases the immune system. These substances are produced in situations of laughter, joy, or in any situation that gives you a certain good mood. Along in the same lines, I witnessed an event that proves the action of humor in health. Some days ago, my mother had a terrible migraine. I called her and we started to talk about funny things that happened to me the day before, and about twenty minutes after talking she told me that she was getting better. The good feelings promote sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.

While good mood improves health, bad mood causes sickness. In my opinion our bodies react to the state of our minds. When we are sad, worried, or angry, we have more chances of getting sick and also making the people around us feel the same way. Happiness is contagious, and so is sadness. Our mental health depends on the state of mind. Negative emotions affect the body. In keeping with Dr. Antonio Carlos, a grumpy person gets upset constantly, which triggers the release of a hormone called adrenalin. The adrenalin induces cardiac arrhythmia, headache, stress, difficulty digesting, and irritability.

As people always say, “Laughter is the best medicine.” It is a cliché, but it is getting the attention of the doctors and scientists. Laughter has a potential in people’s lives, such as the physical health, mental health, and social benefits. Cardiologist Michael Miller, University of Maryland, United States, led a research about the benefits of laughter to heart health. He got excellent results. Comparing the life attitudes of 150 people with history of stroke to the same number of healthy people, Miller found that those who had never suffered from heart problems were those that showed constant good mood. Laughter improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which can help protect you against heart diseases.

In addition to helping our health, I believe that laughter is important to our social life. It has big impact in our relationships because good mood is an expression that the body is well. It also strengthens relationships by triggering good feelings which promotes an emotional connection. People want to be closer to happy people and laughter attracts others to us and unites people. It means that the way that we feel affects our entire life, for better or for worse. 

Camila Duarte