Hugging, kissing lower stress hormones

Couples who spend more time hugging and kissing have lower levels of stress hormones in their bodies, new research suggests.

A Swiss study has found proof that intimacy improves psychological health - but you need to have a close relationship, preferably a marriage, to benefit. Researchers from the University of Zurich in Switzerland studied 51 mostly married German couples for one week, and found those who reported more physical contact, from holding hands to sexual intercourse, had lower levels of the so-called stress
hormone, cortisol, in their saliva.

Cortisol is responsible for several stress-related changes in the body and is secreted in higher levels during the body's fight or flight response to stress.

The finding, reported in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, found that couples who
reported more problems at work had the biggest drop in levels of the hormone through
intimacy.
Lead author Dr Beate Ditzen said intimacy was thought to improve hormone levels
simply by boosting mood.
But she stressed that couples should not race to express more intimacy as such, but
rather find things to do together that create positive feelings for both partners.
Intimacy means different things for different couples, Dr Ditzen said.
"This means that there is no specific behaviour that couples should show in everyday
life," she said.
"Rather, all kinds of behaviour which couples themselves would consider intimate ...
might be beneficial."