Crying is the Human Body’s Superpower

Mya Mendola

Crying is an action that is often looked down upon because it is inherently associated with sadness, breaking down, and weakness. While all of this can be true, there is a lot more to crying than most people think. After looking at the facts, data, and science, crying seems to be the human body’s superpower. Shedding a tear or two has so many benefits that it only seems necessary to schedule a time in your Google Calendar to cry. Don’t let your superpower go to waste.

To understand the benefits of crying, it is important to note the three types of tears: reflex tears, basal tears, and emotional tears. Reflex tears are the tears triggered when you cut an onion or get dust in your eye. Basal tears are regulatory tears to lubricate your eyes. Emotional tears are what we understand most commonly. These are the tears resulting from sadness or joy. Basal and reflex tears work just fine at their individual jobs, but emotional tears are the human body’s superpower and where the majority of the health benefits come from.

Detoxifying Stress

The most impressive benefit of crying is the detoxification that comes with it. According to Insider, reflex tears are 98% water, but emotional tears contain another component: cortisol, a stress hormone. Thus, when crying emotionally, the human body rids itself of those stressors. This is essentially detoxifying your body of stress.

Lower cortisol levels are associated with lower stress, so naturally, a long cry of cortisol-dense tears leads to the detoxification of stress.

Improving Mood

Crying also, contradicting what is expected, can improve your mood. The act of crying stimulates the production of endorphins, which are the same chemicals released while exercising. Endorphins trigger a positive feeling in the body and reduce pain. These chemicals are responsible for things like “the runner’s high” or happiness when eating. According to Psychology Today, they also are triggered while crying. This can lead to an elevated mood post cry, which is kind of the perfect reward after an event emotional enough to stimulate tears.

Losing Weight

There are contradicting views on this benefit of crying, but a variety of studies have suggested that crying can actually promote a small amount of weight loss. The reasoning of these studies, specifically from The Science Times, is that crying removes stress hormones, making your body less able to store fat cells. This is most effective between 7 and 10 p.m. Additionally, as indicated by Healthline, you burn approximately an additional 30 calories for every 20 minutes of crying. Clearly, crying won’t majorly affect your weight, but it is a small additional component to be aware of.

Acting on Emotions

The health benefits of crying are evident, but it is important to note that crying also has the less measurable benefit of allowing you to act on your emotions. Mentally and physically, this is a noteworthy act of self-care. Especially in the second full semester of a pandemic-altered school year, acknowledging your

emotions and acting on them has benefits on its own. Being in touch with your own extreme feelings is accompanied by feeling grounded and in control. In such an uncontrollable time, this may be exceptionally rewarding. Your body enjoys getting to act on extreme sadness or joy when it feels those ways, which crying allows.

Schedule it in your Life

Right now, life is unhinged and pretty much a bummer all around. This can lead to some inevitable cry sessions, which you may see as just another bummer. However, these cry sessions are not only expected but also beneficial. Evidently, there are health benefits associated with crying. This shouldn’t be a surprise, considering every function the human body exists to serve a purpose, but too often, crying is shamed and not embraced. Knowing full well that crying detoxifies your body of stress hormones is a noteworthy flex to consider every time you cry. On top of that, it improves your mood, may contribute to weight loss, and allows you to act on your emotions. All things considered, we should be crying regularly to reap the benefits of the human body’s superpower.

Crying works better spontaneously, but if you must, schedule a time to cry in your life. (Specifically between 7 and 10 p.m. if weight loss is a benefit you are interested in.) Your physical body and mental health will thank you.