What’s the secret to staying healthy? Laughter, apparently

Did you know that the secret to keeping your body healthy could be as simple as cracking a smile? Yeah, we’re sceptical too…

It sounds like nothing more than some new age hippy crap, but according to scientists at the illustrious Harvard University, optimism could decrease your chances of having a heart attack or a stroke. Seriously.

The Irish Independent reports that scientists believe having a happy outlook on life could greatly reduce your risk of developing cardiovascular disease. In fact, it could cut your risk by up to half, regardless of whether you enjoy eating Bacon Sundaes on a regular basis or if you would rather laze around on the sofa, smoking like a chimney, than exercise.

Apparently a happy-go-lucky, chirpy attitude makes people more resilient when it comes to stress. If you’re permanently seeing the bright side, you’re also able to relax more and make the most of the rest that you do get.

Researchers at Harvard have said that the findings suggest doctors should be considering mental wellbeing just as highly as physical condition when it comes to deciding if someone is likely to develop heart disease or have a stroke.

Hmm…interesting…

Previous studies have shown that stress and depression do you no favours and have the ability to actually harm your heart. If you’re more of a glass-half-empty kind of person, you could even make yourself unwell as negative thoughts can increase your chances of becoming unwell.

So basically, what this research is saying is that you should get yourself on YouTube and watch hilarious clips to simply laugh all of the bad health out of your system, or, failing that, bust out the Family Guy box sets for the foreseeable future. It sounds a lot better than forking out €60 for a doctor in fairness...