You may be aware that crying helps you release negative emotions and is a natural way for your body to cope with unwanted feelings of distress or fear. What you may not know is that there are several other benefits of crying that can help your mental and physical health. Stress – Crying can lower your stress levels. Crying helps to remove some of the chemicals and hormones that are built up in the body from stress. If you compare shedding tears to shedding sweat during exercise, the same process occurs. Exercising relieves stress and removes built up chemicals in the body. However, if you hold back your tears, you can increase your stress levels which can lead to other health issues such as high blood pressure and heart problems.

Mood – Crying is associated with an emotional response. When tears are shed, the endocrine system releases endorphins (“feel-good” hormones) that stabilize the mood. When we cry, we give our bodies the ability to stabilize and become content again. Prevents Colds and Flus – Tears are natural antibacterial and antiviral solutions that work to fight the germs that we get in our eyes. The fluid lysozyme in tears is capable of killing up to 95% of all bacteria in a matter of minutes. Just like your nose has hair and nasal tunnels to collect bacteria and germs, your eyes have tears to help prevent you from getting sick! Detox – Tears that are formed out of emotional distress or grief had more toxic byproducts in them than tears of irritation (from itching or onion peeling). This means that emotional tears, tears made of stress, are capable of removing wastes and toxins from our body.

Lubrication – One of the most important things that tears do for us is that they enable us to see. Tears moisten our eyes and prevent dehydration of the membranes surrounding the eyeball. Without tears to lubricate our eyes, we would not be able to see.