Why scary movies are good for your health
Saturday, February 3, 2024
Make every day more interesting. Each day a surprising fact opens a world of fascinating information for you to explore. Did you know that….? 
| | Original photo by nicoletaionescu/ iStock |
| Watching a scary movie can burn as many calories as exercise. | We're all familiar with the feelings that come with watching a fright flick — the sense of dread that engulfs us as a character enters a foreboding place, ominous music building, etc. According to a 2012 study commissioned by the video subscription service Lovefilm, these heart-pounding moments can do more than cause a good old-fashioned scare, however. Of the 10 movies tested, half caused participants to burn at least 133 calories, more than the amount used up by a 140-pound adult on a brisk 30-minute walk.
Granted, this limited study was hardly robust enough to earn a write-up in a peer-reviewed journal. Yet the science behind the results is essentially valid, thanks to human hard-wiring that traces to when our primitive ancestors had good reason to fear the monsters lurking in the night. When exposed to a harrowing situation, our sympathetic nervous system triggers the "flight or fight" response, which sends adrenaline into the bloodstream, diverts blood and oxygen to muscles, and kicks heart activity into a higher gear. Add in the outwardly physical reactions often prompted by the scariest scenes, such as jumping back in your seat or instinctively reaching for a companion, and it's easy to see how sitting through The Shining (184 calories) or Jaws (161 calories) delivers results akin to sweating through a workout.
There are other benefits to putting ourselves through this sort of simulated danger, including the release of endorphins and dopamine, which allows us to feel relaxed and fulfilled after "surviving" the events witnessed on screen. Of course, not everyone is a fan of the frightening imagery in The Exorcist (158 calories) or Alien (152 calories), and researchers caution that stress can outweigh the gains for people who are genuinely repulsed by these movies. If health is your goal and the sight of blood makes you queasy, you're better off rising from the couch and getting your legs moving instead of watching someone else flee the clutches of a zombie.
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 | | A large movie theater popcorn has more calories than a large soda. | | |
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| A large movie theater popcorn has more calories than a large soda. |  |  |
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| The part of the brain responsible for controlling the fear response is called the __. |  |
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 | Numbers Don't Lie |
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 | | Calories burned during the study's airing of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" | | 118 |
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| | | Weekly minutes of exercise recommended by the U.S. HHS | | 150 |
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| | Percent of respondents who enjoy scary movies, per a 2021 CBS poll | | 48 |
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| | | Box-office gross (in dollars) of 2000's "Scary Movie" | | 278 million |
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 | Competitive chess players can burn up to 6,000 calories per day during a tournament. |
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| If scary movies aren't your cup of tea and you want another creative way to burn calories, then competitive chess may be your ticket. According to Stanford University researcher Robert Sapolsky, a chess player can go through 6,000 calories a day over the course of a tournament, about three times the daily amount expended by the average person. The reasons are largely the same as those previously mentioned — the heightened tension of a high-stakes game forces bodies into a state of energy-consuming overdrive. However, the effects are magnified by the behavior of participants, who often skip meals and endure sleepless nights as they obsess over strategy. As a result, top players have taken to training like professional athletes to prepare for the grueling toll of tournaments. Norway's Magnus Carlsen, for example, partakes in an array of activities that include running, soccer, skiing, and yoga, a regimen that helped him reign supreme as the undisputed world chess champion from 2013 to 2023, while simultaneously leaving him ready to hit the beach without a shred of self-consciousness. | | |
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posted by June Lesley at 5:41 AM
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