Men hate cuddling and women can’t get enough of it, right?
It’s stereotypical, but there is a basis for the generality.
Through clinical experience, psychologist and psychoanalyst Michael Bade, D.M.H.
came up with an explanation.
Here are some of the awesome things that happen to your body when you cuddle.
Essentially, oxytocin is a hormone that has long been attributed to aiding in childbirth and breastfeeding.
However, the hormone also plays an important role in how you feel.
“The higher your oxytocin, the higher your happiness,” Zak explained toWebMD.
Even watching sappy movies will boost this “feel good” hormone.
Touch, however, seems to be the best kind of interaction.
Zak specifically recommends eight hugs per day minimum.
It’s time to get cuddling!
Those that received support and were given hugs were protected against developing an infection.
It also seems the more hugs the better.
Those who received greater support and more frequent hugs had even less severe signs of illness.
That said, dopamine isn’t theonlychemical at work while you’re cuddling.
Is there really any reasonnotto cuddle?
Interestingly enough, the better the marriage of the couple holding hands, the less stress experienced.
If that is the significance of just hand-to-hand contact, imagine the relief that would come from cuddling.
But, why the dramatic bodily response to begin with?
High blood pressure can wreak serious havoc on your body in numerous ways.
In turn, you could develop numerous conditions, from heart disease all the way to heart failure.
Your heart isn’t the only thing affected by hypertension, either.
Your brain, as well as your kidneys, can be damaged as a result.
Obviously, none of these things are good.
Cuddling, of course.
However, there is a definitive link between reduced blood pressure and hugging, especially for women.
The women’s blood pressure went down.
By the same token, the oxytocin levels of the women also increased.
What’s more, the greater frequency of hugs, the lower resting blood pressure.
Pretty cool, right?
Just as the premenopausal women’s blood pressure lowered so, too, did their heart rates.
The first group was instructed to sit beside their partners and hold hands.
Meanwhile, the second group had no physical interaction with their partners.
They sat alone and were not shown the romantic video segment.
All the while, every person from each group was having their heart rate monitored.
The results of this experiment?
Not only that but their heart rate increased at a ratedoubleto the first group of hugging partners.
The case for cuddling and physical touch in general is strong!
Did you run to your mom and show her your boo-boo?
No doubt she kissed your evolving bruise, gave you a hug, and sent you on your way.
Perhaps it was her motherly instinct taking over that caused her to kiss away your pain.
Science has come up with its own explanation.
As this hormone is released by way of physical touch, it is aptly named.
Okay, maybe notcompletelyheal you, but it can reduce your pain.
As it turns out, that caress your mom gave youliterallyhelped to relieve your discomfort.
Ah, cuddles nature’s Tylenol.
Wondering how in the world this can be true?
Does this mean we should still be asking someone to kiss our boo-boos?
Even more interesting was the impact men had on the study.
The men’s attempts at intimacy with their partners were linked with positive outcomes to an evenhigherdegree.
In the case of cuddles, if your man initiates, it seems your relationship satisfaction may actually increase.
No partner to cuddle?
Canoodling random strangers is not exactly socially acceptable.
Wait, actually, it is.
Well, sort of.
In 2014, an app called Cuddlr launched.
Think: Tinder… but for cuddling platonic cuddling.
Williams continued, “[W]e don’t get enough touch in our daily lives.
RememberZak’s recommendationto up your hug intake?
Trying to find a way to squeeze no pun intended eight hugs into a day is no easy feat.
Zak wants you to know thatpets count!
“Owner-dog bonding is comparable to parent-infant bonding,” Takefumi Kikusui of Azabu University in Japan explained toToday.
Researchers in Japan measured oxytocin levels in over two dozen pairs of dogs and their humans.
Over the course of 30 minutes, the participants talked, petted and looked at their pets.
