Love’s health benefits

It weakens the immune system, increases sensitivity to physical pain, and creates depression and fatigue. Moreover, it can generate inflammation throughout the body, leading to a range of health risks.

Here are a few of the benefits of being in a healthy and loving relationship:

• The act of falling in love releases euphoria-inducing chemicals in the brain such as adrenaline, dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and vasopressin.

• Love fosters positive emotions and cultivates laughter. Laughter is medicine for the soul and is good for a person’s mental wellbeing. Loving acts neutralise negative feelings.

• Although many people love to complain about their significant other, married people are less likely to suffer from depression. Companionship is great for mental health and wards off depression.

• People in love are a lot more confident in all areas of life. They are more stable and capable of achieving and maintaining their professional and personal goals.

• Love diffuses stress and fosters wellbeing. The support of a loved one helps us to cope better with stressful situations.

• Studies have shown that happy couples produce less cortisol when they’re stressed. Cortisol is a hormone that supresses the immune system. Cortisol also causes the body to store fat around abdominal organs, which is linked to diabetes, cancer and heart disease.

• A study conducted by Linda Waite – sociologist at the University of Chicago in Illinois proved that “being single after being in a long-term relationship causes a decline in physical health and well-being. Divorced and widowed people in the study had 20% more health problems than their married counterparts”. Rates of heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and other chronic ailments are lower in married people than unmarried people. In fact, married people visit the doctor far less than their single counterparts.

Image courtesy Stock.xchnge

• Love in the form of physical touch and affection lowers blood pressure. People who are in relationships tend to have lower blood pressure, even if they are stuck in unhappy relationships.

• Countless studies have proven that people in loving, mutually beneficial and long-term relationships on average live longer than their single counterparts. This can also be attributed to the spouse/partner caring about the health of their partners. Another reason for being in a healthy relationship is because partners tend to encourage each other to watch what they eat, keeping weight problems at bay and even discouraging unhealthy behaviour like smoking and drinking.

“Love is the most profound emotion known to human beings,” says Bonita Erasmus, owner of MatchVIP, a relationship specialist organisation for singles. “For most people, romantic relationships are the most meaningful element in their lives, but very few of us have the ability to cultivate healthy, loving relationships as this isn’t inherent and sometimes has to be taught.”