Today’s Friday Fun Pic is called ‘Contagious Laughter’. If you’ve ever heard of the phrase ‘Laughter is the Best Medicine’ or seen the inspiring movie entitled Patch Adams, you’ll know a little about the benefits of humor on your health and well being.

Here are some of the health benefits that have been clinically proven:

– Laughter relaxed the whole body from head to toe, reliving you of physical tension in the body and overall reducing stress levels. Reduction of stress levels means less chances of getting a stroke or heart attack, which are very common in Australia.

– Laughter also released endorphins. These are what people call ‘natural feel good chemicals’. It helps promote a better sense of well being and therefore good for your mental health.

– Humor is known to boost your immune system by decreasing stress hormones and increasing immune cells. These immune cells help fight off infection through the infection-fighting antibodies that are released. As a result, it improves your overall resistance to disease.

– Laughter improves function of your blood vessels and increases the level of blood flow throughout your whole body. This is good for your heart and can prevent a heart attack and other cardiovascular diseases. Over 48 percent of hospitalizations in Australia are due to cardiovascular cases.

We hope everyone enjoys their weekend with a bit or a lot of laughter in between.