By Kate Nateras
Most breakups are painful affairs; so much so that, after facing one, you might have no energy to do anything but lie in bed crying all day. In time, you realize crying does help—it helps you cope, it releases tension, and it’s an all-round good way to feel better. It is also your body’s natural reaction when intense emotions have a powerful impact over you.
As it turns out, that’s not all there is to crying, according to a recent study. Scientists now claim that crying helps with something else you might never have thought: losing weight. The research was done by St. Paul Ramsay Medical Center, and it revealed a peculiar link between the two phenomena. You see, when you cry, your tears release prolactin, aminopeptidase, and adrenocorticotropic hormone, which in turn help you burn calories.
The study explains that when you secrete the aforementioned hormones, your cortisone levels are reduced. This substance is associated with fat retention in your system, which roughly means that the higher your cortisone levels, the more fat you store, whereas lower levels entail less accumulated fat. Also, cortisone levels are higher around 7-10 pm, so crying during this time lapse controls and reduce those high peaks of cortisone. The relationship here is far from simple, but the link is there nonetheless.
All this means that when you cry, that sensation of relief and levity is accompanied by an actual weight-gain prevention system. Feeling lighter after shedding a few tears now takes on a whole new meaning.
So next time you feel like keeping the tears in, don’t. Just let go. It’s a good way of reacting to adversity—it doesn’t make you weak or pathetic; it just makes you healthier altogether, both emotionally and physiologically.
Regardless of whether crying helps you lose weight or stress, it does help you cope. Also, don’t take this as your go-to method to get rid of fat: not just any tears will do. As far as we know, there’s not reliable means to get this to work every time if the sentiment is not sincere, and the effect is not so noticeable in everyone. It’s still an interesting fact, at any rate.
So, if you’ve recently been through a breakup and you feel like crying, and also trying to lose weight, do find comfort in the fact that you can do the latter with the help of the former. Who knew healthy coping could do that!
Translated by Oliver G. Alvar
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