Strong relationships between partners can help you avoid disease, lead a healthy lifestyle, and even prolong life, according to Harvard Medical School. On the other hand, relationship problems tend to lead to stress and weaken the immune system. It doesn’t matter if you are dating someone, breaking up, or are preparing for a wedding, keep in mind that all of your romantic relationships somehow affect your mind and body. Here are ways your relationship affects your health:
You and your partners physical fitness:
Happy couples motivate each other to stay in shape – they go to the gym together and feel shared responsibility towards each other. This shared responsibility creates a sense of accountability. Dissatisfaction with relationships can lead to weight gain through emotional eating and problems with sleep, which again has a negative effect on your happiness.
The correlation between regular sex and stress:
It is no secret that regular sex reduces stress and improves the emotional state. According to Kyle R. Stephenson and fellow researchers, couples who had sex often were more satisfied with their lives and relationships than others. Sex, however, is only a component of relationships. In addition, the behavior of your partner outside the bedroom can easily affect the level of stress, turning it in the opposite direction. Family disagreements, debates about money, or even discussing who does what around the house can increase stress levels.
Physical touch as a stress relief:
A Study published in the Journal of Psychological Science found that hugs for both partners increase the level of oxytocin, a hormone that is responsible for reducing anxiety and elevating mood. In women, blood pressure and the level of cortisol in the blood, a stress hormone that promotes fat accumulation, went down. So constantly hug, hold hands, and generally touch each other as often as possible to tap into this benefit! In a matter of seconds, you can overcome stress and anxiety.
Overall effects on health:
According to WebMD, people in love are healthier in almost all possible areas. They are more active, more successful, less likely to smoke and drink, less suffer from large and small ailments and diseases. The research team claims that love has a strong effect and is a common means of reducing and preventing stress. By helping people cope with stress in all aspects of existence, a romantic relationship acts as a powerful means of maintaining a healthy and satisfying life.
Positive effects on self esteem:
A romantic relationship affects your self-esteem. The effect of a romantic relationship is expressed in increasing self-esteem. When you feel loved, you feel respected and know that you are valued. You also begin to appreciate and feel more confident. The release of endorphins, which occurs when you are in love, strengthens the immune system. Immunity, helps prevent diseases and promotes rapid recovery in case of health problems. It also prevents mental health problems, such as depression.
A healthy and romantic relationship can inspire creativity and ingenuity and can help to create a more positive and strong foundation for growth and healthy living. It activates areas of the brain responsible for attention, motivation, and memory, and serves us to control the autonomic nervous system. In other words, it increases our productivity and stress resistance. These are the underlying reasons why we want love and search for love.