The Health Benefits of Crying
Often when we cry, people around us may ask us to stop crying as it’s seen as a great sign of weakness. Some may see crying as a bad thing for our health. We may cry for so many reasons be it sadness, sickness, frustration or fear. Whatever the reason, crying may actually be very good for our health.
According to research from the University of Minnesota, it was found that crying can actually improve moods by as much as 88.8%. Besides that, crying also increases the body’s immune system, reduces stress anger. In other words, crying helps us to release tension and stress from our body.
When you cry, tears that come out actually carry substances that are not required for the body. This is why a sense of relief is felt after crying. Crying also provides an opportunity for us to draw deep breaths. During times of stress, we tend to be short of breath and this can increase the hormone of cortisol, which then causes feelings of anxiety. Crying and taking deep breaths actually helps us suppress the hormone of cortisol so that we feel more relieved.
Apart from the emotional benefits that we get from crying, there are still many other benefits of crying for our health, which include:
- Helping the eyes to see more clearly
Eyes sometimes need to lubricated with tears so that it can keep seeing. Tears can also prevent eyes from dryness that can impair the vision.
- Kills bacteria in the eyes
Tears contains lysozyme which is an antimicrobial agent that is proven to kill bacteria in the eye by 90-95% in just 5-10 minutes.
- Helps dispose of toxins from the body
Research carried out by William Fray a biochemist, discovered that tears caused from sadness contains more toxins than tears caused from irritation or dust. Tears of sadness contain toxic substances that are released by the body due to high stress. So if you feel like to cry during times of stress, then crying is very good for your health. You’re actually releasing toxins from your body. How about that!
- Improves your mood
Negative feelings such as anxiety, restlessness, irritability, fatigue, depression usually results in an excessive amount of manganese substances in the body. By crying, the substance of manganese is removed from your body through your tears. Tears resulting from sadness contains 24% more protein so it can lift manganese molecules that are toxic to the human body.
