How Smiling Affects Health

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You must have heard that “it takes more muscles and energy to frown than to smile.” But you still choose the former. While we all understand lifting weights, eating healthy food, and doing yoga help you remain fit and healthy, we often forget that smiling and staying happy does the same for you. 

Yes, you heard it right!

Smiling can help you stay healthy. So, why aren’t you smiling? 

While some people often consider smiling as an involuntary gesture, it is more powerful than you can think. It improves your overall health. To help you understand this better, let’s dive a little deeper into this. 

Gives You a Long Life

You have found the magic potion you were looking for. If you want to live long, start smiling! If smiling may help you feel less stressed, and lower stress levels are linked to a longer lifetime, shouldn’t smiling help you live longer? Yes! It turns out that turning the frown upside down compensates for the time wasted. People who grin are perceived as more beautiful, trustworthy, calm, and even truthful by others, according to studies. The orbit frontal cortex, which handles sensory rewards, is activated when you see a smiling face. This shows that when you see a grin, your brain feels gratified. 

Brightens Up Your Day and Health

We all have days when our mood is all over the place. Don’t we all need a smile to elevate our mood? Try cracking a smile the next time you’re feeling gloomy. There’s a strong probability your disposition will improve. So, what does smiling actually do? 

This physical act actually affects the circuits in your brain that deal with your emotional being. In other words, even faking a smile can brighten your day. Your mind is very fragile. You can trick it into feeling happy and all giddied up with a plastic smile. 

When you smile, your body releases happy hormones such as dopamine and serotonin. They are popularly known as happy hormones as they improve the mood and make you feel joyful and happy. No need to take any anti-depressants now. All you need to do is wear a beautiful smile. Isn’t that amazing? 

Alleviates Pain

A lot of people don’t know that when we laugh or smile, our body releases a hormone called endorphins. It is also commonly known as a natural painkiller as the hormone shows mild-pain relieving properties. That said, we are not building castles on the cloud. This is actually backed up by research and studies. One such research published in the Journal of Emotion looked at various emotions that may cause pain and discomfort. 

The study looked at pain levels associated with the injection using a needle that was no larger than the one used in a routine flu vaccine. It discovered that people who smiled during the injection said it hurt roughly half as much as people who didn’t smile. 

Putting everything into perspective, what does all of this mean? There might be a link between your facial expression and your pain level. Put a smile on your face the next time you go in for a shot, and smile through the agony! It might actually be beneficial.

Boosts Confidence

We all want to feel good about ourselves, and a smile can give you just that. Believe it or not but when you smile, you feel confident, comfortable, and joyous. This not only helps you physiologically but also cognitively. You feel good and confident. That is why you need to care about your teeth and smile

Furthermore, it has the potential to make you appear younger. A smile conveys happiness and friendliness, and you may brighten someone else’s day by flashing them one. Plus, people are attracted to people who grin, making you appear more appealing right away. This self-assurance may benefit you in your personal relationships, establishing new acquaintances, and even in your work life.  

Improves Immunity and Relieves Stress

Whether you are really smiling or simply faking it, it actually helps you feel better and provides a sense of comfort. We are not faking it, this is backed up by Science. According to other studies, smiling makes our bodies more resistant to the flu or the common cold. Participants in these trials report feeling more upbeat and happy, as well as having a decreased chance of falling ill. As we have already discussed, smiling can even help us live longer.

We’ve all been in a stressful situations. However, it’s possible that we’re unaware that smiling might assist reduce tension by promoting serotonin production. Smiling boosts serotonin levels reduces anxiety and slows the heart rate. So, the next time you feel stressed, try smiling or viewing a brief funny video. It’s possible that you’ll be astonished at how much of a difference this makes.

Lowers Blood Pressure

This is something we could all have guessed, right? Smiling does lower blood pressure and it is even used in various therapies as well. Ever taken a morning walk and seen a group of aged people laughing together? If you have not, laughter therapy is real! 

Smiling has been shown to lower blood pressure. After creating an initial rise in heart rate and respiration, laughter appears to drop blood pressure. While smiling has been demonstrated to lower your heart rate when you’re stressed, more study is needed to figure out how it lowers blood pressure. If you have a blood pressure monitor at home, you may put this theory to the test. Take a reading after you’ve sat for a few minutes. After that, grin for a minute and repeat the process while still smiling. Do you think you’ve seen a difference? Share your test results in the comments below. We would love to talk about it with you

Summing Up

There are many benefits of showing your pearly whites as you must have read in this blog. So, what is holding you back? In case you need help to improve your teeth, Tara Hills Dental clinic can help. 

Remember: Do not shy away from smiling. You already know your overall health depends on it.