I’m a doctor – this is how LAUGHING can keep your blood sugar in check

Checking out some stand-up, watching a comedy show or just having a giggle with your friends could be the healthiest thing you can do this weekend.

That’s because laughter has been shown to lower your blood glucose levels – which may well be sky high over the chocolate-fest of Easter.

For many people, gorging on chocolate will result in a burst of energy, even a jittery feeling or sense of lightheadedness.

This is the result of the sugar shooting into our bloodstream, giving us that spike in blood glucose, which is usually followed by an energy crash.

As well as making us feel tired and hungry, having repeated sugar spikes and crashes has been linked to a range of health problems including obesity, diabetes and heart disease and can lead to pre-diabetes and eventually type 2 diabetes.

‘When we eat something, especially something like an Easter egg containing lots of sugar, this causes a rapid rise in blood glucose,’ says Dr Nicky Keay, a hormone expert and honorary clinical lecturer in medicine at University College London.

Insulin is released to bring blood glucose levels down by helping the sugar leave the bloodstream and enter the body’s cells so it can be used for energy. It also signals to the liver to store the glucose for later use.

‘However, you can make the job of insulin easier by doing things that will help restore glucose levels to the healthy range quickly,’ she says.

‘Exercise is known to be one of these actions, as active muscles demand glucose for energy. We use muscles to laugh, hence laughing has a blood glucose-lowering effect.’

A Japanese study confirms that laughter can be the best medicine when you’ve overdone it on the sweet stuff.

In 2003 Dr Keiko Hayashi at the University of Tsukuba gave two groups of volunteers, some with diabetes and some who were non-diabetic, the same meal and then made them watch a 40-minute lecture. They then repeated the process but this time watching a 40-minute comedy.

Their blood glucose levels were tested after both activities and they found that both groups had significantly lowered blood glucose levels after the comedy show in comparison to after the lecture.

Why is that? ‘Laughter may demand more energy for muscles,’ says Dr Keay, who is the author of Hormones, Health and Human Potential: A Guide to Understanding Your Hormones to Optimise Your Health and Performance.

‘Our mood can also affect blood glucose control – we know that being stressed raises blood glucose, so the converse could apply.’

And, as if we needed any more excuses to laugh – splitting your sides could also be good for your heart.

‘Laughter lowers the stress hormones. Stress raises cortisol, which increases blood glucose, boosts heart rate, constricts blood vessels and raises blood pressure as part of the ‘fight or flight’ response.

‘All these responses increase the risk of cardiovascular disease in the long term. But being happy and laughing has the exact opposite physiological effects.

‘Therefore laughter could be instrumental in reducing risk of heart disease, angina and stroke. Laughter may also aid circulation and could be helpful for patients with diabetic neuropathy [when the nerves become damaged], one of the complications of diabetes. 

‘According to research by the Institute of Psychiatry in London, being sad restricts the flow of blood, whilst laughter encourages blood vessels to perform normally,’ she adds.

So if you have type 2 diabetes, what should you do? 

‘To begin with, it is best to treat type 2 with healthy eating and regular exercise to encourage weight loss in those who are obese or overweight,’ says Dr Anand Velusamy, consultant endocrinologist at London Bridge Hospital, part of HCA Healthcare UK.

‘It is also advised to monitor blood sugar levels especially with a three-month average blood glucose test called HbA1c.

‘The drug metformin is commonly used to treat type 2 diabetes, as it helps the body maintain healthy blood sugar levels and by improving native insulin sensitivity.

‘Insulin treatment is used if blood sugar levels become difficult to control despite tablets or temporarily to achieve quick blood sugar control.

‘If you are experiencing symptoms of type 2 diabetes including increased urination, thirst, exhaustion and irritability, then you should speak to your doctor to have your blood glucose levels tested.’