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When we were born, we all cried, but for some reason, as we grow older, we consider crying a sign of weakness in both men and women. However, the natural need to cry is in many ways good for our brain, body and soul. This is what happens to your body when you cry.
1. The body detoxifies
Don’t cry only when you’re sad. Crying is also a physical impulse associated with excessive stress.
When we cry, our body gets rid of cortisol, a hormone related to stress that can potentially harm your health when its level is not balanced.
Chronically high cortisol levels can cause many problems, such as insomnia, immune system issues and accumulation of fat around the waist.
2. Destroys bacteria in the body
Your tears remove all bacteria in the eyes. This is because tears contain lysozyme (also known as the “antibiotic in the body”), a hormone that is found in breast milk and saliva.
When you cry, lysozyme is released and kills up to 90% of bacteria.
This means that crying not only releases toxins from the body, but also destroys other toxins found on the body’s surface.
3. Improves vision
It happens that our eyes get tired after a whole day spent at work.
During the day the eye membrane dries out, which strains the eyes.
Tears then hydrate these membranes, revitalize the eyes and your vision becomes clear again.
4. Improves mood
A good cry relieves stress because some hormones in the body are released, and all of this has a positive effect on your mood.
Research conducted in 2008 at the University of South Florida showed that 90% of people who cried in stressful situations felt great relief and an improvement in mood.
People who didn’t cry lack this “outlet” when facing difficult life situations.
5. Crying is a powerful form of communication
When someone close to you starts to cry, you instinctively know something is wrong. In that situation you don’t need words to feel someone else’s sadness or frustration.
Crying can sometimes “speak” — we may pretend that everything is fine, but tears show that we are hurt and sad.
Tears can provide insight into the true thoughts of some people and can start a deep and much-needed discussion among friends, lovers and spouses.
6. Improves the health of the whole body
We have already found that crying can be beneficial for our health in many ways – it improves mood, lowers stress levels and protects the eyes from bacteria.
Did you know that tears from emotional crying contain 24% more of the protein albumin than any other tears?
This helps regulate metabolism. Crying can help in the fight against some other conditions, such as high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes.
