We were reading about the health benefits of laughter on the Care2 site, and got the best idea: Hold a Laugh-In! Ask some favorite friends to dinner (have everyone bring their favorite pot luck dish), gather round for a great meal and laugh your heads off!

Here’s the research to validate why this is such a brilliant idea:

Laughter works so wonderfully well in the moment, but it has some surprising long-term health benefits as well. In the book A Better Brain at Any Age: The Holistic Way to Improve Your Memory, Reduce Stress, and Sharpen Your Wits (Conari Press, 2009), author Sondra Kornblatt explores how laughter can truly make you feel better.

She writes that the new field of gelotology is exploring the benefits of laughter. It was brought to the public’s awareness in Norman Cousins’ memoir Anatomy of an Illness. Cousins found that comedies, like those of the Marx Brothers, helped him feel better and get some pain-free sleep. That’s because laughter helps the pituitary gland release its own pain-suppressing opiates.



What can laughter do?:

1. Lower blood pressure
2. Increase vascular blood flow and oxygenation of the blood
3. Give a workout to the diaphragm and abdominal, respiratory, facial, leg, and back muscles
4. Reduce certain stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline
5. Increase the response of tumor- and disease-killing cells such as Gamma-interferon and T-cells
6. Defend against respiratory infections–even reducing the frequency of colds–by immunoglobulon in saliva.
7. Increase memory and learning; in a study at Johns Hopkins University Medical School, humor during instruction led to increased test scores
8. Improve alertness, creativity, and memory

Humor and creativity work in similar ways, says humor guru William Fry, M.D., of Stanford University–by creating relationships between two disconnected items, you engage the whole brain.

Humor works quickly. Less than a half-second after exposure to something funny, and electrical wave moves through the higher brain functions of the cerebral cortex. The left hemisphere analyzes the words and structures of the joke; the right hemisphere “gets” the joke; the visual sensory area of the occipital lobe creates images; the limbic (emotional) system makes you happier; and the motor sections make you smile or laugh.

So let’s laugh. What makes you laugh? Tell us your favorite funny movie, or how about a good joke? And in the meantime, here are a few tried-and-true potluck recipes to get you started on your Laugh-In:

Beefy Tomato Potato Casserole
Serves 4-6

1 pound stew beef
vegetable oil
1 teaspoon dried leaf basil
1 teaspoon ground paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon salt
1 can condensed tomato-rice soup
1/2 soup can water
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 cups frozen small white onions, thawed
3 medium potatoes, sliced
1 bay leaf

Brown beef in oil. Drain off fat and add basil, paprika, pepper, and salt. Mix soup, water, and Worcestershire sauce in 2-quart casserole dish. Add onions, sliced potatoes, bay leaf, and beef and mix well. Cover casserole and bake at 325° about 2 hours or until tomato sauce has thickened and potatoes are tender. Serve with a tossed salad or spoon over hot cooked rice, if desired.