Almost! Proverbs 4:22 says the Word of God is “life to those who find [it] and health to all their body.” But laughter is also mentioned in the Word! Proverbs 17:22 (NKJV) says, “A merry heart does good, like medicine.”
Dr. Avery Jackson, renowned neurosurgeon, shared the following benefits of laughter:
1. Laughter improves your blood flow, which in turn reduces your stress hormones, lowers your blood pressure, and activates your immune system. Poor blood flow is the root cause of many diseases. It increases inflammation, which medical science has proven to be the root cause of all major diseases.
2. Laughter reduces pain just as exercise does. Both work in the same way as a prescription or over-the-counter painkiller in the way they chemically affect the cell receptors in your brain and body. That’s God’s amazing design. An article in the New England Medical Journal found that 10 minutes of belly laughter relieved pain for up to two hours!
3. Research has found laughter can improve your health and prevent disease by:
- Lowering blood pressure
- Releasing muscle tension
- Increasing feel-good hormones (dopamine, endorphins)
- Decreasing stress hormones
- Boosting the immune system
- Burning calories, and
- Giving an overall sense of well-being.
4. While laughter is effective at preventing disease, it also reduces stress, which is a major player among the causes of disease. Research has found that emotional health is strongly connected to physical health because, as Dr. Jackson explains, “Emotional issues affect how we see the world, which will, in turn, impact our bodies and emotions.”
So, laugh and remember that “the joy of the Lord is your strength!” (Nehemiah 8:10).
Related Article:
25 Scriptures About Laughter and Joy