Science says: the 10 things slack-jawed laughter does to you

With one friend, I can sometimes laugh so hard that we almost choke. Getting stomach pain from the giggles, while no one else understands what is so funny. We often don't know ourselves either. Wonderful.

Because having the giggles is so nice every now and then. Enjoying the moment inappropriately, while you can't explain why that is. You can't force it either. You can't get it when you feel like it. It just happens. What I find the funniest about this? That you then keep saying something extra through all the laughter, to make it even worse. ‘Yeah, but this...’, ‘Hahaha’, ‘Oh yeah and so...’, ‘Hahahaha’. And then repeating that joke a million times, to keep cracking up again and again. But what actually happens during such a spontaneous fit of laughter that you just can't hold back?

1. During a fit of giggles, your brain sends too few signals to your muscles, which is why you can't really hold back that laughter. Even if you have to be serious at that moment.
2. According to experts, laughter was originally meant to establish a social bond from evolution. You make friends with it. And it's good for you: ten minutes of choking on your own joke is equivalent to ten minutes of walking on the treadmill.
3. Having a fit of giggles also ensures that you sleep better, that your pain threshold is raised, and that your overall mood gets a boost.
4. It's also good for your lungs. Sounds a bit strange, but you literally laugh your lungs out. This is because you often gasp for air when you are laughing so hard. That's good, because it cleans out your lung capacity completely.
5. Fortunately, laughter is contagious, so especially look at that friend who can't hold it anymore. There you go too.
6. You get a dose of dopamine from it and that makes you happy. Just like a drug, but a lot better for your body.
7. It connects you with the person you are laughing with. Honestly: you suddenly appreciate that friendship so much, because come on, having such fun is priceless.
8. You can get it anywhere and anytime and at any moment. Just when you have to be quiet for a moment, you always burst into laughter, right? We all do. Just enjoy it, as softly as you can.
9. We laugh an average of six minutes a day. Not even that much. Come on, throw that good humor into your daily day.
10. A child laughs 400 times a day. Look, learn from that. Look at a little one and you can hardly do anything but walk around with a big smile. You immediately know what you need to do if you haven't racked up those six minutes yet.

Shall we quickly make a plan, my laughing friend? Those abdominal muscles of mine haven't been overworked in a long time from a bit of dry ‘only we understand this’ fun.