Table of contents:
- Tears of various interesting benefits
- 1. Clean the eyes from dust and dirt
- 2. Protect the eyes from bacterial infection
- 3. Releasing the "burden" on the body
- 4. Keep the nose moist
Seeing someone cry may make you think they are sad. When in fact, tears do not only indicate sadness or disappointment. Sometimes, feelings of happiness, emotion, or even surprise can also cause tears to flow. Interestingly, there are various benefits of tears that you may not be aware of. Anything, huh?
Tears of various interesting benefits
Tears can be said as a form of expression of someone's feelings. The fluid produced by the eye seems to be the body's way of releasing "burdens" that may be unbearable.
When you feel joy that is so deep, tears can be a sign of that happy feeling. Thanks to tears too, some people are grateful for being able to release the emotions that were buried inside of them.
In other words, tears aren't always bad, you know! Without realizing it, there are various benefits of tears for your body's health, namely:
1. Clean the eyes from dust and dirt
There are 3 types of tears that everyone has. Starting from a reflex tear (reflex tears), tears without stopping (continuous tears), and emotional tears (emotional tears).
Each type of tear has different functions and benefits. Reflex tears or reflex tears usually will come out when suddenly there is dust, dirt, smoke, or other foreign objects that enter the eye.
So, these tears will automatically come out of your eyes to clean dust particles, dirt, and other harmful things. For example, when you are walking on the sidewalk and are exposed to pollution, riding a motorbike, or accidentally being exposed to fumes from burning garbage or motorized vehicles.
2. Protect the eyes from bacterial infection
The eye is a sensitive organ, including bacteria. Well, tears have benefits as a killer of bacteria that enter the eye.
You do this by producing tears continuously, or it is also called the type of tears without stopping (continuous tears). These tears will always lubricate and moisten the eyes to keep them from being attacked by bacteria.
This is because there is a content called lysozyme in this natural liquid from the eye. This lysozyme helps keep the eyes clean and free from bacteria.
According to the journal Food Microbiolgy, lysozyme has very strong antimicrobial properties to reduce the chances of the eye getting a bacterial infection.
3. Releasing the "burden" on the body
Apart from reflex tears and relentless tears, another type of tear is emotional tears. The benefits of emotional tears are that they can relieve stress, pressure, anxiety, and other unpleasant things.
If 98% of the reflex tears are filled with water, this does not apply to emotional tears. Apart from water, emotional tears also contain stress hormones from the body. That is why emotional tears can only come out after the body seems unable to bear the burden of sadness that you have.
When you feel stressed, anxious, and sad, the muscles all over your body usually become tense. Then after the body releases it through emotional tears, feelings of anxiety, sadness, disappointment, and stress will also disappear.
Apart from releasing stress hormones, emotional tears can also stimulate the production of endorphins in the body. Endorphins are also known as happy hormones.
4. Keep the nose moist
Apart from being useful for the eyes themselves, tears also have good benefits for other organs of the body, such as the nose. The reason is, the tears that are collected in the eye will later flow into the nasolacrimal tract.
Nasolacrimalis is the channel that connects the tear glands with the nose. When these tears enter, flow, and reach the nose, it will keep the nose moist and free from bacteria.
