Original Article
International Journal of Obesity (2007) 31, 131–137. doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0803353; published online 2 May 2006
Energy expenditure of genuine laughter
M S Buchowski1,4, K M Majchrzak1, K Blomquist2, K Y Chen1, D W Byrne1,3 and J-A Bachorowski2
- 1Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- 2Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- 3Department of Statistics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- 4Department of Family and Community Medicine, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN, USA
Correspondence: Professor MS Buchowski, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Center for Nutrition, Meharry Medical College, 1005 D.B. Todd Blvd., Nashville, TN 37208, USA. E-mail: maciej.buchowski@vanderbilt.edu
Received 12 April 2005; Revised 6 February 2006; Accepted 19 March 2006; Published online 2 May 2006.
Abstract
Objective:
To measure energy expenditure (EE) and heart rate (HR) during genuine laughter.
Design:
Experimental trial of viewing film clips in four cycles either intended to evoke laughter (humorous -10 min) or unlikely to elicit laughter (not humorous -5 min) under strictly controlled conditions of a whole-room indirect calorimeter equipped with audio recording system.
Participants:
Forty five adult friend dyads in either same-sex male (n=7), same-sex female (n=21) and mix-sex male-female (n=17); age 18–34 years; body mass index 24.7
4.9 (range 17.9–41.1).
Measurements:
Energy expenditure in a whole-room indirect calorimeter, HR using Polar HR monitor. Laugh rate, duration and type from digitized audio data using a computerized system and synchronized with HR and EE results.
Results:
Laughter EE was 0.791.30 kJ/min (0.190.31 kcal/min) higher than resting EE (P<0.001, 95% confidence interval=0.75–0.88 kJ/min), ranging from –2.52 to 9.67 kJ/min (-0.60–2.31 kcal/min). Heart rate during laughter segments increased above resting by 2.13.8 beats/min, ranging from -7.6 to 26.8 beats/min. Laughter EE was correlated with HR (r
s=0.250, P<0.01). Both laughter EE and HR were positively correlated with laughter duration (r
s=0.282 and 0.337, both P<0.001) and rate (rs=0.256 and 0.298, both P<0.001).
Conclusion:
Genuine voiced laughter causes a 10–20% increase in EE and HR above resting values, which means that 10–15 min of laughter per day could increase total EE by 40–170 kJ (10–40 kcal).
Keywords:
energy expenditure, heart rate, laughter, laugh rate and duration, adults, indirect calorimetry
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