By compilation
Jan 27: Many people look upon tears as a sign of emotional weakness. But, what they fail to realise is that crying is a form of stress buster for the body. Crying helps you to get rid of all your pent up emotions, be it frustration or joy. Not only this, crying has many other health benefits as well. So, let’s take a look at different types of tears and some health benefits of crying.
Types of tears:
Dr. William Frey, a biochemist at St. Paul-Ramsey Medical Centre in Minnesota has divided crying into three categories. During his research, Dr. Frey realised that there are chemical differences between different types of tears.
Emotional tears: Any time you feel emotionally sensitive, you shed tears. These can be tears of sadness, frustration, stress or even happiness.
Basal tears: This is the fluid released bylachrymal glands, which are essential to protect the eyes from bacterial attacks.
Eye watering: It is a reflex action by the eye to protect itself from foreign particles and irritants.
Now, that you are clear about the different types of tears, have a look at the health benefits of shedding them.
Improves eyesight
Tears can help to improve your eyesight. Many a times, due to dehydrated membranes of your eyes, you may find your eyesight to be a little blurry. When you cry, your tears hydrate your membrane and helps to improve your overall vision.
Cleans your eyes
Like other parts of the body, bacteria can be found in your eyes, too. But, your tears have natural antibacterial properties. Tears contain a fluid called lisozom, which can kill around 90 to 95 per cent bacteria in the eyes, within five minutes.
Stress relief
Dr. Abigael San, a clinical psychologist says, “When you are upset and stressed, you have an imbalance and build-up of chemicals in the body and crying helps to reduce that.” It is said that a person who cries during stressful situations, has lower levels of depression. Emotional tears also release hormones likes adrenocorticotropic and leucine encephalin, which relieve your body of its stress.
Get rid of toxins
In his research, Dr. Frey has found out that normal tears contain 98 per cent water, but emotional tears contain stress hormones, which are released by your body to relax you. He also discovered that these tears contain a number of toxins, which are built-up in the body due to emotional pressure.
Protection against irritants
Have you wondered why your eyes water when you cut onions? It is because onion contains certain enzymes, which irritate your eyes. Similarly, when dust particles enter your eyes, they start watering. This type of crying simply protects your eyes and ensures that the particles are washed out along with the tears.
Cry for your overall health
Tears released due to emotional reasons contain 24 per cent of higher albumin protein, which helps to regulate the body’s metabolic system. Crying also helps to fight diseases such as high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes, which are caused due to high stress levels.
To feel comforted
Though you may be undergoing a lot of difficulties, crying gives you a feeling of relief. After you shed tears, your brain, heart and limbic system starts functioning optimally and you feel very comforted.
So, next time when your heart feels heavy or your eyes start to water up, don’t think of it as a sign of weakness. With so many benefits attached to it, shedding a tear won’t be that bad an idea.
