scientific Benefits of hugging
Nowadays, with twenty four hour access to mobiles, texting and email, many people spend more time interacting with their technology than they do with each other.
This lack of touch has many effects on different aspects of our lives, and can lead to feelings of loneliness, isolation and insecurity.
So why is touch so important to us?
We typically think of touch as a pleasant, but not very important part of life.
But touch plays an integral role in our daily experiences.
It influences what we buy, what we eat, who we love, and even how we heal.
We use our sense of touch to gather information about our environment and to establish social bonds with each other.
Multiple studies have concluded that touch, especially hugging, provides numerous health benefits.
If you’re looking for a great way to boost your immune system, reduce your stress, improve your sleep and even help cure depression, you need to consider hugging.
Hugs have no side effects and require no prescription.
Even better, they’re free and can be given and received anywhere, at any time.
Here are 20 great reasons why you should hug and allow yourself to be hugged every single day.
1-Hugging Satisfies Our ‘Skin Hunger’
Skin is the body’s largest organ.
It acts as a defence against the outside world, regenerating at an incredible rate Skin is also our brain’s data collector.
The soles of our feet, the tips of our fingers, and our lips are all especially designed to collect the smallest details of sensory data and transmit them to the brain via nerve endings.
Touch is the very first sense that we acquire, so it makes sense that touch and physical contact is necessary for our well being.
Sadly, many people are touch-deprived.
One study found that one-third of people receive no hugs on a daily basis while 75 percent said they wanted more hugs.
Humans become nearly unrecognizable in the absence of touch.
Two hundred years ago, French scientists spotted a creature resembling a human running through the forests.
Eventually the creature was caught, and it turned out to be an 11 year old boy.
They named the child Victor, and determined that he had been living wild in the forest for most of his life. Scientific Benefits of hugging
Initially doctors thought that Victor was mentally retarded, but eventually the physicians and psychiatrists concluded
he had been deprived of human physical touch, which had retarded his social and developmental capacities.
These findings are validated in a study conducted by the Miami Touch Research Institute
which demonstrated the importance of touch for preterm babies.
Babies that received daily massages has an accelerated growth rate forty seven percent greater than the babies in the control group, who were not given massages.
Bottom line: Hugs provide the skin contact that our bodies need to remain healthy.
Buy survival home remedies doctor’s book in just 37$ click on the picture given below 👇
2-Hugging Balances the Nervous System
When we receive a hug, a network of tiny, egg-shaped pressure sensors called
the pacinian corpuscles send messages to the brain via the Vagus nerve.
These corpuscles can sense touch and react to it
Studies have shown that when a person receives a hug
their galvanic response shows a noticeable difference in skin conductance.
This is due to a transfer of electricity and moisture from the person doing the hugging.
These electricity and moisture levels create a more balanced nervous system.
According to neurologist Shekar Raman, MD, forms of touch such as a hug or pat on
the back are processed by the reward centre in the central nervous system, making us feel happiness and joy.
The more we connect with others, the happier we feel.
Bottom line: Hugging leads to a balanced nervous system.scintefic benefits of hugging
3-Hugs Are Anti-Aging
As we age, our hormone levels drop, leading to a loss of muscle mass.
In fact, our bodies lose up to five percent of our muscle mass each decade past our thirties.
Now studies are focusing on the benefits of oxytocin in regenerating muscle mass and activating muscle signal pathways.
In a study conducted on mice, in which researchers injected oxytocin into older mice with muscle damage
they exhibited better healing after nine days than mice who did not receive the hormone.
The mice that received oxytocin were able to repair muscle damage up to eighty percent more than the young, untreated mice.
The results demonstrated that oxytocin is important in maintaining a youthful body and healthy muscles.
Since hugging increases the body’s capacity to release oxytocin
It also has the capability to help prevent aging.
Bottom line: Hugging keeps us young and maintains muscle strength. Scientific Benefits of hugging
4-Hugging Protects Against Heart Disease
Scientists have shown that hugging causes the body to produce oxytocin
helping to calm the nervous system and create relaxation
but oxytocin has another as well.
It reduces blood pressure and heart stress.
In a study conducted by the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, researchers worked with two groups of women.
The first held hands with their partners for ten minutes then hugged them
while the second group just sat quietly next to their partners.
After the ten minutes were up
the women discussed a recent event that had been stressful for them.
The women in the no-contact group showed significantly higher blood pressure readings than those who hugged and held hands.
The participants
who did not have any contact with their partners also developed a quickened heart rate of ten beats per minute compared to five beats per minute among those scientific Benefits of hugging
who got to hug their partners during the experiment.
Bottom line: Hugging leads to lower blood pressure and a reduced heart rate scientific Benefits of hugging
5-Hugging Relieves Pain
Sales of over the counter pain medications have exploded in recent years, even though in many cases their effectiveness is limited.
Now scientists have found that emotional bonds can reduce pain aches and pains.
They call this effect ‘love induced analgesia’.
Researchers at Israel’s Haifa University recruited dozens of female volunteers and repeatedly subjected them to temporary
In the first experiment, a complete stranger held the women’s hands to try to comfort them
while in the second experiment they had a partner standing near them but not touching them.
In the final experiment the partner was allowed to hold and stroke the woman’s hand as she was being touched by the hot metal.
The results showed that when a loved one touched their skin, volunteers’ pain scored dropped significantly.
The researchers also found that the more a woman’s partner expressed empathy and support during the experiment
the lower the level of pain and the greater the level of relief.
The study concluded that social touch has a powerful pain killing effect and suggests
Bottom line: Hugs from loved ones provide drug free pain relief.
6-Hugs Can Help with Depression
In addition to releasing oxytocin, hugging also causes the body to produce dopamine.
Known as the pleasure hormone
dopamine is a neurotransmitter that helps control the brain‘s reward and pleasure centers.
Dopamine also helps regulate movement and emotional responses.
It allows us to see rewards and pushes us to take action to achieve them.
Dopamine deficiency results in Parkinson’s Disease
people with low dopamine activity may be more prone to addiction.
Deficient levels of dopamine activity in the brain can cause depression characterised by low energy, and lack of motivation.
In some cases, a severely dopamine deficient person may even wish to commit suicide, but often won’t do anything about it.
Using MRIs and PET scans, scientists have shown that hugging stimulates the release of dopamine.
This is a much safer way of alleviating some of the symptoms of depression
Than taking medications with multiple side effects.
Buy survival home remedies doctor’s book in just 37$ click on the picture given below 👇
7-Hugging Helps to Fight Stress Induced Illness
It’s a well known fact that stress can weaken the immune system
Leading to colds and other illnesses.
As the body tries to cope with stressful situations
it responds by becoming physically sick.
Scientists have been investigating the link between physical touch and a healthy immune system.
In a 2015 study involving 404 healthy adults, researchers from Carnegie Mellon University examined the effects of receiving hugs on the immune system.
Participants were tested on their susceptibility to the common cold
After being exposed to the virus.
turns out that the people who received more hugs, and greater social support
were less likely to get sick.
In fact, researchers calculated
the stress-buffering effects of hugging explained thirty two percent of that beneficial effect.
And amongst those participants that did get a cold
those that received hugs reported fewer symptoms.
The researchers concluded.
And being hugged more frequently could be an effective means of reducing stress and stress related illness.
