Emotionally Induced Tears Can Help Shed A Few Kilos

It has long been known that a good cry after a stressful day can do a world of good for your mental wellbeing. But according to new reports, having a cry can also aid weight loss, and science is backing it. Leading stress expert Dr PeteSulack, from Tennessee, said that an emotionally charged crying session can help you drop those few extra kilos.

Stress expert Dr Pete Sulack told “In addition to being a good emotional and psychological release and a way to deal with intense emotion, crying is also good for reducing stress levels in the body.” He explained that stress tears contain a combination of two protein-based hormones (prolactin and adrenocorticotropic) and one natural painkiller (leucine enkephalin), all of which the body produces when it’s under a lot of stress.

Cortisol, the hormone responsible for regulating stress levels, can make you feel panicked and cause your body to cling onto belly fat. Many of us face chronic stress in our daily lives, meaning we have constantly high levels of cortisol. So the body thinks it needs extra fuel and stores it round the tummy, as a spare tyre. So having reduced cortisol levels, through crying, should make you happier and weight loss easier.

“Getting rid of adrenocorticotropic hormone actually reduces the body's cortisol levels.” Dr Sulack said. So a good crying session will not only make you feel calmer and happier, but help get you lose weight as well.

The study by St. Paul-Ramsey Medical centre and led by biochemist Dr William H. Frey, found that crying, much like other exocrine processes such as sweating and urinating, helps rid the body of potentially harmful toxins and stress-induced hormones. Dr Frey's study also found only emotionally induced tears have stress hormones compared to tears from eye irritation or cutting an onion, so you can't cheat your way out of it. He added that the best time to cry was between 7 and 10pm when people are mostly likely to be with their significant others and to watch TV or a movie.

Source-Medindia