Why is Smiling Healthy? Simply put, smiling instructs our brain to release certain natural chemicals. While the initial response is a slightly elevated mood, there are other serious effects on our health. Smiling could add years to your life. Why do some people seem to know this while others grump their way through life trying hard not to smile?
Understanding the Mechanics of a Smile
Everyone tells the sad-sack moping through life to smile. We see someone that looks grumpy and we tell them to smile. Co-workers constantly tell each other to smile. Do these people know something we don’t? Is there some secret about smiling that isn’t being mentioned? They probably don’t know the mechanics behind smiling, but they do understand that smiling makes us feel better.
Why is Smiling Healthy? The act of smiling, which begins with the zygomaticus major muscle, triggers the release of chemicals in your brain. These chemicals are neurotransmitters known more commonly as endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin. These tiny messengers work to improve your mood and your health.
The zygomaticus major muscle, or the “smiling muscle,” runs from the hinge area of the jaw to the corners of the mouth on both sides of your face. If this muscle has a split, it creates dimples, but that’s a discussion for a different day. When this muscle contracts, the corners of the mouth are raised into a smile.
Our brains react to this movement by releasing endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine into our bodies. This creates a chemical chain reaction.
Creating a Cascading Chain Reaction
Neuropeptides, or neurotransmitters, control messaging throughout our bodies. They create a chemical reaction that can make us happy, sad, angry, or even depressed. When we smile, the “feel good” messengers, serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins, are released.
Many things happen when these messengers hit the scene. Your body relaxes, blood pressure and heart rate may get lower. These natural reactions occur because these neurotransmitters are part of your body’s natural defense against all things bad.
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Endorphins help the body relax and act as a natural pain reliever. Have you ever taken a fall on an ice-covered walk? It hurts, but you know you looked like Charlie Brown missing the infamous football snatched away by Lucy. The momentary vision makes you smile, or even laugh out loud, and the pain seems to improve a bit. That is the endorphins at work.
Smiling also releases serotonin and dopamine. These two little messengers act as anti-depressants. They are the body’s natural mood lifters. That is why you can get a tiny boost to your day even with a fake smile.
Try an experiment. Force yourself to smile right now. Hold the smile for a few seconds, it doesn’t take much. Think about how that made you feel. Did you get a slight mood boost? Not only does smiling provide a slight mental health boost, but it can affect your overall health in many ways.
How Does Smiling Improve Health?
As unbelievable as it may seem, smiling can play a role in almost every aspect of our whole-body health. When we smile, the release of chemicals in our brains travels through the entire body to create a variety of natural reactions.
Why is Smiling Healthy — Improve Mood
Improving our mood might not seem like much in the way of physical health, but our mental health state plays a bigger role than we imagine. Attitude and the ability to “smile through the pain” actually boosts the entire body. The natural pain relief of endorphins relaxes the body and allows faster healing.
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Why is Smiling Healthy — Lower Blood Pressure and Heart Rate
The chemicals released in our brains assist in lowering blood pressure and heart rate. This can be very helpful when we are under stress. The slowing of blood pressure and heart has a calming effect, reducing stress and anxiety. Even in the middle of a panic attack, a brief smile can release enough serotonin and dopamine to regain control.
Why is Smiling Healthy — Improve Immune Response
Although many people may not think their immune system needs help, anything that we can do to stay healthy is a good thing. Smiling can help your body respond better to increase the response to viruses and other illnesses.
Why is Smiling Healthy — Reduce Stress and Tension
Who doesn’t need reduced stress and tension in their life? There is documented evidence that smiling acts as a natural stress reliever. Sometimes we do it unconsciously. When we meet new people, we smile. When we’re in a meeting and we have to make a presentation, we smile.
The physical act of smiling, even a fake or forced smile, cause the chain reaction release of stress-relieving neurotransmitters. When you find yourself faced with a tense situation, try smiling. It really does work.
Why is Smiling Healthy — Improve Relationships
Happy people naturally enjoy better relationships. Part of the reason is the contagion of happiness and smiling. If we’re grumpy and project negativity, people around us absorb that and reflect it. Our attitudes can create an endless loop of positivity or negativity — the choice is ours. People generally enjoy positive people more than negative people.
Humans are emotional. We do need to experience more than one general emotion to survive. However, there is no rule that you have to wallow in negative emotions. Feel them. Allow them to run their course. Then replace them with a smile. Your relationships will improve.
Why is Smiling Healthy — Youthful Appearance
Believe it or not, smiling can also make you appear younger. In a study, subjects were shown images of smiling faces and asked to guess the age of the person in the image. When shown images of the same people with frowns or neutral expressions, the subject thought the images with smiling people depicted a younger person or the same person at a younger age.
Amplifying the Benefits with Laughter
Laughing is beneficial to your overall health. Doctors are even prescribing laughter therapy and laugh yoga to help people find their smiles. You don’t need to have suffered a life-shattering event. Laugh yoga is often locally available and practiced in open groups.
Improve Your Smile to Improve Your Health
If you don’t smile because you are dissatisfied with the appearance of your smile, you can fix that. Centralia Orthodontics offers braces and Invisalign. Dr. F. Andrew Lasley is a Diamond-level Invisalign provider and is highly regarded by peers within the dental and orthodontic field.
Whether you need a full alignment or just a touch-up, Dr. Lasley can help. Contact Centralia Orthodontics to begin your Complimentary Consultation. Find your dream smile!
