US researchers are reporting that 10 to 15 minutes of hearty chuckling can burn off the same number of calories contained in a medium square of chocolate, according to the Associated Press.
Scientists from Vanderbilt University recruited 45 pairs of friends, ushered them into a room and then played them comedy clips on a TV screen. The room was designed so the researchers could measure the amount of oxygen the volunteers inhaled and how much carbon dioxide they exhaled - a proven method of gauging energy consumption. The volunteers wore heart monitors as well, the AP said.
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"They burned 20 percent more calories when laughing, compared to not laughing," said lead researcher Maciej Buchowski, director of bionutrition at Vanderbilt. "Then we calculated what would happen if somebody laughed for 10 or 15 minutes a day and we found that it was up to 50 calories, depending on your body size and the intensity of the laughter."
That means that if you laugh for up to 15 minutes a day, you'll burn enough calories to lose 2 kg in a year, Buchowski said.
The findings were presented Saturday in Athens, Greece, at the annual European Congress on Obesity. – (HealthDayNews)
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