When was the last time you had a really good laugh? If you’re having trouble remembering, close your eyes and think of something funny that happened to you recently or that you might have witnessed. Do it right now. Happy to wait for you to come back...

What happened? You might have noticed some or all of the following:

• Your face broke out into a gentle smile.
• Your eyes crinkled up as they do when you smile.
• You may have had a warm feeling in your body.
• You may have taken a deep breath at the same time.

Check how you’re feeling: you may actually be feeling happier. Perhaps you’re feeling sad because you miss what you have just remembered. The bottom line is that a smile and, hopefully, a giggle are only a memory away. But there’s also a lot more happening underneath that experience than you might have noticed. Recent research by Lee S. Berk of Loma Linda University (Berk: 2006) suggests that the mere anticipation of “mirthful laughter” boosts our feel-good hormones (endorphins) by almost 30 per cent. The good news is, even if you didn’t understand a joke you just heard, the mere anticipation that it might be funny is enough to give your spirits a boost.

Endorphins are the same feel-good hormones that are produced when you exercise, engage in sexual intercourse and, of course, eat chocolate. The added advantage of getting an endorphin hit from laughing, as opposed to eating chocolate, is laughing burns calories at the same time. Some researchers claim 10 to 15 minutes of laughter can burn 50 calories (Gottlieb: 2005). I suppose if you combined eating chocolate and laughing at the same time (assuming you didn’t choke) you could balance out the calories.

If you had managed a giggle at the thought of it, you would have also experienced a drop in your blood levels of cortisol, adrenaline and dopac, all hormones that increase when you’re under stress. Laughter functions as a great safety valve so you can release the harmful buildup of these hormones; at the same time, it gives you a fresh perspective on a situation.

But there are other therapeutic benefits from laughter. Research has accelerated in this area over the past 20 years and the evidence is building up to support how good laughter is for you.

Happy hearts

Laughter increases blood flow by more than 20 per cent, with this positive effect lasting from 30 to 45 minutes. So you could ditch the hot water bottle and just watch a funny movie to get the same effect. It has been observed that when we laugh, the endothelium — the inner lining of the artery walls — expands and keeps the artery walls fit and healthy (Eurekalert: 2005). This also has a positive effect on lowering blood pressure, meaning less strain on the heart.

Researchers at the University of Maryland Medical Centre suggest a good sense of humour and the ability to laugh at stressful situations help offset the damaging effects of distressing emotions such as anger, depression and anxiety. They found that people with heart disease were 40 per cent less likely to laugh in a variety of situations compared with people of the same age without heart disease.

Psychologist William Fry (1979) showed that when you laugh for 20 seconds, it has the same effect as three minutes of working out on a rowing machine. That’s great news if you can’t get to the gym; just laugh away and you’re giving your heart a great workout.