TEARS OF RELEASE CAN HELP US SLIM

We’ve all heard of the ‘break-up diet’ but it’s not just a lack of appetite that causes you to lose weight after a nasty split.

Crying over your ex can cause you to shed kilos, according to a new study that found being unhappy causes a spike in cortisone levels, the hormone linked to stress.

Hormones prolactin, leu-enkephalin, and adrenocorticotropin (also called ACTH) are produced when we’re under pressure.

But when you cry with ‘real emotion’, the body gets a signal that stress is over and we don’t need to retain fat any more - the Bright Side reports.

A previous study by the University of Minnesota, reported on by The Mirror, found crying can help with healing, boosting immunity and reducing levels of anger and stress.

Professor William Frey, who worked on the study, said in 2012: “We feel better after crying because we are literally crying it out.

“Chemicals that build up during emotional stress may be removed in our tears when we cry.

“Unalleviated stress can increase risk of heart attack and damage certain areas of our brain. The human ability to cry has a survival value.”

Emotional tears, as opposed to those you produce when in pain, are also thought to contain higher levels of manganese, which helps lower bad cholesterol.

They also boost potassium, which helps control high blood pressure, and the hormone prolactin, which helps reduce stressful feelings and boost the immune system.