Some people spend tens of thousands of dollars a year for Human Growth Hormone injections in the attempt to delay the effects of aging. New research today points to another method of boosting your HGH levels — as well as your endorphins — without spending a dollar.
[J]ust the anticipation of the “mirthful laughter” involved in watching your favorite funny movie has some very surprising and significant neuroendocrine/hormone effects. According to [lead researcher] Berk: “The blood drawn from experimental subjects just before they watched the video had 27% more beta-endorphins and 87% more human growth hormone, compared to blood from the control group, which didn’t anticipate the watching of a humorous video.
The videos also appeared to positively affect the immune system by rebalancing the ratio of helper T cells.
These positive effects were also long lasting — up to 24 hours in some people.
More here.
[tags]studies, immune system, T cells, laughter, HGH, growth hormone, aging, endophins [/tags]