We all have heard that laughter is the best medicine, but studies are increasingly bearing out that conclusion. “Dr. Lee Berk, an associate professor at Loma Linda University in California, has spent nearly three decades studying the ways the aftershocks of a good laugh ripple through your brain and body,” says a 19 November article on TIME.com by Markham Heid.

Buzzle on health benefits of laughing

While stress affects your immune system, mind, and hormones in a negative way, laughing apparently does the opposite. “Laughter shuts down the release of stress hormones like cortisol. It also triggers the production of feel-good neurochemicals like dopamine, which have all kinds of calming, anti-anxiety benefits. Think of laughter as the yin to stress’s yang,” says the article.

HelpGuide, WebMD, Gaiam, the Mayo Clinic, and a host of other organizations tend to concur.

While it might not quite be the cure-all that we would like it to be, proof is in the pudding that laughing does absolutely no harm. And what better way to stay healthy than to enjoy a good laugh!