YOU PROBABLY NEVER imagined that enjoying a good joke, watching a comedian, or taking time to frolic in the park with your children or grandchildren can help build your immune system and leave you less susceptible to colds and flu. Laughter, close familial relationships, and friends are part of the principles of healthful living that can strengthen your immune system. Social interaction and strong friendships keep emerging in research as important predictors of longer, happier, and healthier lives.
According to medical research, joy and laughter actually stimulate the immune system.
Loma Linda University Medical Center’s Dr. Lee Berk reports that laughter helps the immune system in specific ways. For one, it increases IgA, which helps protect against respiratory infections, and gamma interferons, the immune system’s frontline defense against viruses. It also increases B-cells, which produce antibodies directly against harmful bacteria. Laughter also boosts helper T-cells, which help organize the immune system’s response. Finally, it raises the number and activity of natural killer cells, which attack tumor cells and viruses.1
Medical expert Dr. Don Colbert often prescribes ten belly laughs a day for his patients. Laughter stimulates the immune system better than most medicines and supplements and doesn’t have any side effects. So, to strengthen your system, take Dr. Colbert’s advice and build up your heart with laughter, joy, and frivolity. Life is too short to wear a frown all the time.
However, a well-rounded life includes more than enjoying some good laughs. While the image of rugged individualism has fueled countless movie heroes and the idea that “real men” (or women) go it alone, the truth is: life is tough. Everyone needs supportive coworkers, friends, family members, and a healthy balance of work and play. As we have reviewed in earlier chapters, you also need to make wise lifestyle choices. Among them include stopping smoking, starting an exercise program, using massage therapy, getting early morning sunlight every day, and practicing deep breathing.
When it comes to emotional health, remember that those who fill their lives with laughter and maintain an optimistic outlook live longer and healthier lives. Not only is taking time to play and laugh important for long life, but also it will help defeat stress along the way. A sense of humor and hearty laughter release tension. Look for what’s funny in everyday life. Find classic comedies on television, in the library’s video section, or via Netflix or other on-demand video services.
A WELL-ROUNDED LIFE
Here are some suggestions for achieving a rewarding life that will make you happier as well as healthier when cold and flu season arrives.
Build and maintain a working support network, which we mentioned in chapter 14 on stress.
This is the system that supports you in times of need and particularly in times of stress. One problem stress causes is tunnel vision, which is an inability to look at alternatives and options. Stress also makes you feel paranoid, as if people are out to “get you” or are purposely being difficult just to aggravate you. Share your perceptions with the important people in your life to see if you are seeing things clearly. Ask if they have any ideas about what you can do about it.
Spend time with your loved ones.
One of the healthiest things a family can do is to purposely spend some time together, go for a walk, or simply get out of the house and away from the TV or computer in order to do something fun outdoors.
Make time for your friends.
Time with friends can make life seem more pleasant, less stressful, and more fulfilling. A word here: if you constantly associate with people who put you down or constantly express cynical, critical, or negative views (and don’t want to change), then find some new friends. Associating with positive people can propel you toward the successful person you want to become. “Guilt by association” is true. You will take on the positive or negative attributes of those you spend time with. When you hang around with angry people, you tend to be angrier than before.
Balance your commitment to your children, job, loved ones, and yourself.
Either too much or too little emphasis on self is unhealthy. Everyone needs to constantly search for that happy middle ground for self and family. In our previous discussion of stress, we pointed out that only you can determine the amount of stress that is healthy for you. One of the reasons stress can be such a killer is it often prevents you from having a good laugh and escaping life’s daily pressures. Whatever is weighing you down isn’t worth making yourself sick over.
Get adequate rest.
Even though we mentioned sleep in chapter 3, it is worth reminding you of the principle of getting adequate rest, which includes more than sleep. If you work nonstop seven days a week, you will burn out. You need to take a day to completely cut off contact with work, cell phones, computers, and other stress inducers. Originating with the Hebrew language, the word Shabbat means a once-a-week sabbatical. Seeing the benefits of sabbaticals have prompted some companies and other organizations to offer several weeks or even months off to long-term employees. While you may not have the opportunity for such an extended break, you can still spend one day a week resting, spending time outdoors, reading, or meditating as you listen to music. That day of rest will cause your other six days to be twice as productive.
A POSITIVE OUTLOOK
One reason for taking time to laugh is the way laughter can make problems and circumstances seem less daunting. A good belly laugh can counteract the negative impact of anger, rejection, fear, and bitterness, which all produce negative physical effects and release dangerous toxins into your body. Negative thoughts start to spiral you downward. You devote so much energy to these thoughts that you feel worn out and depleted. When you often dwell on negative thoughts, people can pick up on that and sense something negative. When your presence drains those around you, they tend to distance themselves from you.
If you live in a constant state of fear and anxiety, you are primarily hurting yourself by depleting your immune system. You will get sick much faster than those who don’t live and think this way. Start to think on things that are helpful, exciting, positive, and energizing!
If you laugh and take a positive outlook on life, envision yourself achieving things, think the best of others, and dwell on positive thoughts, it helps rejuvenate your cells and improves your health. Your mind will send positive signals to your body.
Maintaining a positive outlook extends beyond yourself. People respond to external stimuli, so when others can visualize optimistic outcomes in present circumstances, it inspires them to push forward in their own lives. “Winners” are those who see possibilities, offer others hope, and help push people beyond their ordinary limits. They have overcome the innate human condition, which is to grumble, complain, and reason that things will never get better.
A FINAL WORD
In chapter 11 we addressed the value of foods in strengthening your immune system. Besides choosing healthy foods, do your best to make mealtimes a joyous, pleasant social encounter. Celebrate family time by making menu planning, setting the table, and cooking together family activities. Make family and other meals about more than food too. Find purpose and fill your life with activities that are more meaningful than food. Volunteer at church, participate in an outreach program, call your family or your best friend, get involved with a passion or cause that you believe in—and dive in!