Crying is a deeply human response to strong emotion, sadness, frustration, even joy. But beyond the emotional release, many people wonder: can crying burn calories? The short answer is yes, but the long answer puts things into perspective. While emotional responses do involve energy use, crying is not a weight loss strategy and burns only a minimal amount of calories.

How Many Calories Does Crying Burn?

Crying itself is a low-energy activity. The act of shedding tears, breathing heavily, and engaging facial muscles does require some physical effort, but not much. On average, crying burns about the same number of calories as sitting quietly, around 1 to 1.5 calories per minute.

If a person cries for 10 minutes, that’s roughly 10 to 15 calories burned. A longer, emotionally intense crying session might raise the number slightly due to an elevated heart rate or increased breathing, but we're still talking about very modest figures  not enough to impact your daily energy balance.

What Happens in Your Body When You Cry?

Crying activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps your body regulate stress. Emotional crying typically involves tear production, facial tension, vocal expressions (sobbing), and sometimes physical trembling or breath changes. These processes raise your metabolic rate slightly above resting, but not significantly.

Stress-related crying might elevate your heart rate temporarily, which can marginally increase calorie burn. However, this is still far less than what you’d burn walking or standing.

Nutritional and Energy Impact of Crying

Unlike physical exercise, crying doesn’t use stored energy from food or fat in a meaningful way. There is no real nutritional shift or calorie demand generated from crying that could influence your weight or metabolism. It may suppress appetite temporarily in some people due to emotional distress, but that’s not a reliable or healthy method for altering your diet.

Is Crying Good or Bad for You?

Crying can have mental health benefits. It may lower stress, improve emotional regulation, and act as a physical release. Suppressing emotions, on the other hand, can contribute to mental fatigue and anxiety. From a psychological perspective, expressing sadness or frustration through tears can help people process difficult emotions and return to emotional equilibrium.

However, chronic or excessive crying tied to unresolved stress or depression may indicate a deeper issue that needs professional support.

Crying and Diet: Is There a Link?

There is no direct link between crying and weight management. Crying doesn't stimulate fat loss, improve metabolism, or affect your nutrient absorption. Any calorie burn associated with it is negligible and should not be factored into dietary or fitness planning.

That said, chronic stress  which may lead to frequent crying  can indirectly affect diet. Some people emotionally overeat, while others lose their appetite, both of which can alter weight over time. The underlying issue here is emotional regulation, not calorie expenditure from crying itself.

Glycaemic Index Relevance

Crying is a behaviour, not a food, so it has no glycaemic index. However, emotional stress can influence blood sugar indirectly by affecting eating habits and stress hormone levels like cortisol. That can have implications for people with insulin sensitivity, diabetes, or those following a GI-based diet  but again, it’s not the crying itself, it’s what often comes with it.

Healthier Alternatives for Managing Stress

If you’re looking to manage stress in a way that actually supports physical health and burns meaningful calories, activities like walking, cycling, yoga, or dancing are more effective. These not only burn calories but also release endorphins and reduce cortisol. Journaling, meditation, or speaking with a therapist can also help channel emotional distress in healthy ways.

Summary

So, can crying burn calories? Technically yes  but only a very small amount. A 10-minute cry might burn 10 to 15 calories, which is negligible in the context of daily energy use. While crying can be emotionally therapeutic, it is not a tool for weight loss or calorie control. If you're feeling overwhelmed or emotionally drained, the best approach is a mix of physical activity, emotional support, and mindful nutrition, not counting tears as part of your fitness regime.

0 comments