Laughing is an instinctive act, natural and even beneficial to health. Various studies have confirmed that laughter is good in various aspects: from improving blood circulation to as a therapy against diabetes or cholesterol. Such is its importance that dozens of investigations have analyzed its importance not only at the medical level, but also in other scientific aspects.Why do we show our teeth when we do? Is the way of laughing inherited or is it conditioned by cultural factors? Why do humans smile to express satisfaction?
In 2011, a curious study was carried out on the influence of laughter on the circulatory system. After studying 300 people, the professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland, Michael Miller found that with stressful films, blood vessels constrict, reducing flow. On the contrary, visualizing comedies increased the diameter of the vessels and more blood and oxygen reached the organs and tissues. This is just an experimental example of how good humor and a smile affect the human body. Other research has shown that laughter therapy treatments, even for less than an hour a day, were positive for people with high cholesterol or with diabetes. And it is that as affirms the psychologist of the University Wisconsin-Madison, Robert McGrath, “After laughing, there is a brief period during which the blood pressure drops and the heart slows down.“, which affects the whole body in general.
But the study of laughter overcomes the barriers of medicine and has entered other scientific fields. Recently an English study has investigated the reason why we show our teeth when we laugh. According to the researchersthe gorillas smile when they play as a sign of friendship, explaining to the rest of their teammates, with the simple gesture of showing their teeth, that they have no intention of attacking them. This type of behavior would explain the origin of our current smile and the fact that we show our teeth when we laugh.
Today, the smile is one of the most important distinguishing features of humans. In fact, the most widespread canons of beauty have, in many cases, a white smile with perfectly aligned teeth as the protagonist. Around this idea, toothpaste brands have developed various product lines, not only based on their cleaning capabilities, but also on their whitening power. So much so that even marketing campaigns like the one Colgate is currently running, in which they raffle a trip to New York, are focused on the smile and the beauty of the teeth.
