Want to cut flab? Laugh out loud!

A daily chuckle can burn up to five pounds of fat a year, says a UK study.

There is more to the phrase ‘laughter is the best medicine’, for now a new research has revealed that a daily chuckle can burn up to five pounds of fat a year.

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A really raucous laugh uses about the same energy as walking more than half a mile, the American researchers claim. It works many muscles and makes the heart beat faster.

"Participants in our study had ten to 20 per cent higher energy expenditure during episodes of laughter than during rest," Dr Maciej Buchowski, from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, was quoted by the Daily Mail, as saying.

He said 15 minutes of chuckling daily could lead to a weight loss of just over 4.5 lb in a year.

Although laughter has long been thought to be good for the heart and the immune system, this is the first study to suggest a benefit in weight loss.

Researchers measured the number of calories expended by 45 18 to 34-year-olds as they watched different television shows, including nature programmes and comedy clips.

The results, published in the International Journal of Obesity, showed a significant increase in energy use when the comedy clips were on.