Laugh Everyday

In the last post, I discussed the role of sleep in appetite control and metabolism-- specifically the release of the hormones leptin and ghrelin. There are two other activities that have a positive affect on these hormones. The first is an obvious one-- Exercise. Getting regular exercise helps to balance blood sugar and insulin levels, and help to maintain a healthy weight. The second activity is Laughing. A recent study shows that laughing may reduce cholesterol, blood pressure and improve immune activity.

Laughter affects the body like exercise

ANI, Jul 13, 2010, 12.00am IST
Results of the study, from Loma Linda University's Schools of Allied Health (SAHP) and Medicine, showed that laughing not only enhances a positive mood, but lowers stress hormones, increases immune activity, and lowers cholesterol and blood pressure, similar to moderate exercise.

In the study, 14 healthy volunteers were recruited to a three-week study to examine the effects that eustress (mirthful laughter) and distress have on modulating the key hormones that control appetite.

During the study, each subject was required to watch one 20-minute video at random that was either upsetting (distress) or humorous (eustress) in nature.

During the study, the researchers measured each subject's blood pressure and took blood samples immediately before and after watching the respective videos.

Each blood sample was separated out into its components and the liquid serum was examined for the levels of two hormones involved in appetite, leptin and ghrelin, for each time point used in the study.

When the researchers compared the hormone levels pre- and post-viewing, they found that the volunteers who watched the distressing video showed no statistically significant change in their appetite hormone levels during the 20-minutes they spent watching the video.

In contrast, the subjects who watched the humorous video had changes in blood pressure and also changes in the leptin and ghrelin levels.

Specifically, the level of leptin decreased as the level of ghrelin increased, much like the acute effect of moderate physical exercise that is often associated with increased appetite.

Dr. Lee S. Berk, a preventive care specialist and psychoneuroimmunology researcher at Loma Linda University's Schools of Allied Health (SAHP) and Medicine, said that this research does not conclude that humour increases appetite.

"The ultimate reality of this research is that laughter causes a wide variety of modulation and that the body's response to repetitive laughter is similar to the effect of repetitive exercise,” he said.

“The value of the research is that it may provide for those who are health care providers with new insights and understandings, and thus further potential options for patients who cannot use physical activity to normalize or enhance their appetite," he added.

The study is being presented at the 2010 Experimental Biology conference.

Easy Weight Loss? -- Sleep to support your weight loss efforts

Sleep your way skinny?

Ok, so it may not replace good diet and exercise, but based on recent studies, getting adequate and good quality sleep can improve your metabolism and curb your appetite. In fact, the study showed that getting less than 8 hours of sleep and/or poor quality sleep (disturbed sleep) can disrupt your metabolism and increase your appetite by affecting the release of leptin and ghrelin in the body-- two hormones that are involved in appetite regulation. On top of that, the energy deficit that results from lack of sleep then causes the person to be less active, expend fewer calories, and consume more calories. The study showed that "shorter sleep times were associated with increased circulating ghrelin and decreased leptin, a hormonal pattern that is consistent with decreased energy expenditure and increased appetite and obesity"(PLos Med. 2004 December; 1(3): e61).

Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine offer an effective, drug-free approach to addressing sleep issues and enhancing sleep quality. A healthy diet and regular sleep schedule is also important in maintaining optimal sleep and for general well-being.

link to the study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC535424/

also see article below:

Sleep - A Good Way to Manage Your Appetite and Weight?

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April 27, 2010

Did you know that losing sleep may increase your appetite and as a result your weight? Several studies have been published in recent years have looked at the relationship between sleep loss, weight and appetite and should serve as a guide for how we value sleep.

According to one study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition this year, one night of reduced sleep subsequently increased food intake and, to a lesser extent, estimated physical activity-related energy expenditure in healthy men. These experimental results, if confirmed by long-term energy balance measurements, suggest that sleep restriction could be a factor that promotes obesity. The study observed two groups of men - half of which slept for 8 hours, while the other half got 4 hours of sleep, and found that the men who got less sleep consumed 22 percent more calories than those who slept for 8 hours. A University of Chicago study last year also arrived at similar conclusions when they included women in the study. Such sleep restriction may have been a bit extreme, but it is also not altogether uncommon in our society and is a pattern deemed the "royal route to obesity" by Eve Van Cauter, PhD, who conducted the Chicago study.

Some researchers have found that hormone function is to be blamed for how short sleep duration affects our appetite and weight. Another study published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information found that feelings of hunger as well as plasma ghrelin levels are already elevated after one night of sleep deprivation, whereas morning serum leptin concentrations remain unaffected. The researchers explained that their results provide further evidence for a disturbing influence of sleep loss on endocrine regulation of energy homeostasis, which on the long run may result in weight gain and obesity.