{"id":1319,"date":"2014-02-13T11:33:01","date_gmt":"2014-02-13T11:33:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/?p=1319"},"modified":"2021-07-26T10:35:12","modified_gmt":"2021-07-26T10:35:12","slug":"7-ways-that-love-is-good-for-your-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/7-ways-that-love-is-good-for-your-health\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Ways that Love is Good for Your Health"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_2884\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2884\" class=\"wp-image-2884 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Heart-outline-300x210.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"210\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Heart-outline-300x210.jpg 300w, https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Heart-outline-1024x717.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Heart-outline-768x538.jpg 768w, https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Heart-outline-1800x1260.jpg 1800w, https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Heart-outline-1200x840.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Heart-outline-740x516.jpg 740w, https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Heart-outline-440x307.jpg 440w, https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Heart-outline-370x258.jpg 370w, https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Heart-outline-1536x1075.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Heart-outline-2048x1434.jpg 2048w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/210;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2884\" class=\"wp-image-2884 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Heart-outline-300x210.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"210\" srcset=\"https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Heart-outline-300x210.jpg 300w, https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Heart-outline-1024x717.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Heart-outline-768x538.jpg 768w, https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Heart-outline-1800x1260.jpg 1800w, https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Heart-outline-1200x840.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Heart-outline-740x516.jpg 740w, https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Heart-outline-440x307.jpg 440w, https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Heart-outline-370x258.jpg 370w, https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Heart-outline-1536x1075.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Heart-outline-2048x1434.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><p id=\"caption-attachment-2884\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">image: iStock photo<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Love feels good. I think we\u2019d all agree on that. But it also has some surprising health benefits. Here\u2019s a list of 7 of them:<\/p>\n<p><b>1) Love is good for your heart <\/b><\/p>\n<p>I think we all expect this. Biologically, love produces the hormone \u2018oxytocin\u2019. It\u2019s why it\u2019s often referred to as the \u2018Love Hormone\u2019 or even \u2018Cuddle Chemical\u2019 (yes, hugs produce it too). Research also shows that it is a \u2018cardioprotective\u2019 hormone. Simply put, it protects your cardiovascular system: it reduces blood pressure, helps clear your arteries of free radicals and inflammation, and even helps repair damaged blood vessels.<\/p>\n<p><b>2) Love makes you happy<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Emotionally, love makes us feel euphoric. We even feel tingling sensations in our hearts. In the brain, love elevates levels of both dopamine and serotonin, which contribute to this effect.<\/p>\n<p><b>3) Love improves general health<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Some research that compared couples whose relationship was close with those whose relationship wasn\u2019t so much, found that couples who were in a close relationship reported their health as \u2018very good or excellent\u2019. The health reports were poorer in the other couples.<\/p>\n<p><b>4) Love is good for your immune system<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Every couple has arguments. That\u2019s to be expected. But research shows that couples who argue in a more loving, positive way, were measured to have higher immediate immune function compared to couples who showed more negative behaviour. I guess, even when we argue, we should remember to be kind.<\/p>\n<p><b>5) Love can help you get fit<\/b><\/p>\n<p>OK, this might be obvious in the sense that regular sex is good for the heart, but there is another way that love can aid fitness. We all know that many people who start on an exercise program quit within 6 months to a year (you\u2019ve probably been there yourself \u2013 seen it, done it, got the t-shirt), but did you know that when you work out with a romantic partner, not only do you work harder (perhaps you\u2019re trying to impress) but you are also more likely to keep the program up?<\/p>\n<p><b>6) Love can help you live longer<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Research that compares married couples (in happy marriages) with single people shows that married people lived longer. And the good news for men is that the effect is especially pronounced in us. Seems we benefit from all that <span style=\"text-decoration: line-through;\">nagging<\/span> good advice. Married men are less likely than single men to over indulge in drinking and smoking, which is better for health in the long term.<\/p>\n<p><b>7) Love can lessen physical pain<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Researchers who measures pain perception typically ask volunteers to place their hands in ice-water or receive electric shocks. Electric shock pain-perception-studies have shown that the experience of pain is lessened when we hold someone\u2019s hand. And it\u2019s even better news for females \u2013 pain decreases most in women in happy marriages who held their husbands\u2019 hand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Love feels good. I think we\u2019d all agree on that. But it also has some surprising health benefits. Here\u2019s a list of 7 of them: 1) Love is good for your heart I think we all expect this. Biologically, love produces the hormone \u2018oxytocin\u2019. It\u2019s why it\u2019s often referred to as the \u2018Love Hormone\u2019 or&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2884,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,78,165],"tags":[55,12,26,177,82,15,16],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>7 Ways that Love is Good for Your Health - David R Hamilton PHD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Love feels good. I think we\u2019d all agree on that. But it also has some surprising health benefits. 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