This Is What Love Does To Your Body
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All those who have experienced the bliss called ‘love’ can vouch for the fact that ‘falling in love’ is by far the best feeling. To experience a sudden surge of happiness and comfort in somebody’s arms, to feel a burning passion for someone, to long to see someone, to catch secret glimpses of each other, and to discover that the person you love is someone who would be the wind beneath your wings, is divine. Love fills our lives with positivity and beauty, and on this note, I would like to quote Oscar Wilde, “Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead.”
While love is a great feeling to cherish, did you know that it is therapeutic too? After all, don’t you suddenly calm down and put all your anxieties to rest as soon as your loved one embraces you? How else would you explain the phenomena of one’s heart thumping loudly at the very sight of that special someone? How else would you justify the surge of courage and strength you gain to face adversities when in love?
Scientists, too, have been in love and have tried to decipher the great health benefits that come with a loving relationship. The following are some of their most prominent discoveries!
1. Love Is An Analgesic
According to the Huffington Post, if you feel low you need to hug your loved one. A warm and loving embrace reduces the amount of cortisol (read: stress hormone) in your body. A good hug helps in transmitting soothing messages to the brain, which, in turn, helps the body to release tension (1).
Additionally, when you hug someone or when you receive a hug, another hormone called ‘oxytocin’ (read: love hormone) is released. According to the experts, oxytocin helps build trust and, to some extent, limits one’s short-term memory, which makes one forget the pain. Research has also found that oxytocin accelerates the healing of wounds. So, when you are in pain and someone offers you a warm hug, it can lead to a shut down of the painful stimulus (2).
It is also a great idea to let some action happen tonight between the sheets as lovemaking is a great painkiller for similar reasons as an embrace is!
2. Love Keeps The Heart Healthy
According to ABC News, when you fall for someone the lightness in your heart is nothing but your blood pressure dropping. “The lowering was not a big difference, but it’s significant,” says the lead author of the study, assistant professor of psychology, Brooks Gump, from the University of New York at Oswego (3).
It is also the magic of oxytocin at play that leads to stress reduction, lowering of blood pressure, reduction in anxiety, improvement of self-esteem, and alleviation of depression. Being in a calm and happy state is the best that one can do for their heart.
3. Love Is The Antidote To Chronic Diseases
According to research, love has the potential to cause cancer to disappear, tumour sizes to reduce, and even chronic pain to disappear. It also says that while most people aren’t aware of the healing powers of love, it is a keystone. Dr. James Roger Newton, a renowned 19th-century public healer from Cincinnati, Ohio, healed many in a miraculous fashion. His therapy was simple, all he did was to gaze at the ailing with a lot of love and compassion (4).
Real love makes us feel wanted, safe, and brings the best in ourselves. I am sure most of us, at some point, have experienced the magic of someone’s presence; their hug and touch make us feel a lot more confident and courageous to fight against all odds.
According to Huffington Post, love works as an antidote to stress. When stressed, the level of cortisol rises in the bloodstream. A rise in cortisol levels leads to high blood pressure, heart issues, diabetes, and even depression. Love comes as a saviour by discouraging the secretion of cortisol, and, instead, increases the secretion of the happy hormone, oxytocin (5).
4. Love Keeps Insomnia At Bay
Sleeping next to your beloved makes one feel more relaxed and that helps in getting quality sleep (6). I am sure the experience of having a good night’s sleep after a passionate love-making session is well-known. Scientifically, the benefit of love in curing insomnia can be attributed to the fact that oxytocin hormone levels are high in love.
5. Love Fights Addiction & Withdrawal Symptoms
Narcotic drugs, alcohol, tea, coffee, and other addictive substances increase the dopamine levels in the bloodstream, which leads to a surge in happiness levels. One also loses oneself temporarily if the addictive substance is stronger.
Besides dopamine, testosterone and oxytocin levels also shoot when in love. These two hormones work like magic for the de-addiction phase.
If one feels loved and wanted, the de-addiction process becomes a lot easier. Withdrawal symptoms are also relatively easy to handle as being in love and being loved makes your mind focus less on craving for things.
Love is a beautiful and divine emotion that every person deserves to experience in his or her lifetime. Love makes a person healthier, happier, content, secure, and overall a better human being. May your relationship flourish if you are in one, and if you are looking for the ‘right’ one, may this Valentine’s bring in the ‘love of your life’. On this note, I wish you all a very happy season of love!
