The Love Link: How Romance and Love Can Extend Your Lifespan

Romance is, without a doubt, important for a happy life!

After all, having someone to love and love you in return provides you with an amazing sense of fulfillment, satisfaction, and purpose in a way that few other things can.

With someone at your side, you will find that even the hardest challenges in life can be a bit more bearable, and you’ve got a better shot of surviving all of the difficulties we face today because you’ve got an emotional and physical support system to lean on.

But did you know that love and romance can also help you live longer? That’s right: science has found definitive proof that having a romantic partner and being in a loving relation can increase your longevity.

The Scientific Link Between Love and Longevity

There have been a lot of studies that provide evidence that having someone to love and care for can help you live longer. Not only because of the chemical effects of love and romance, but often because of your attitude toward the person you’re in a romantic relationship with.

Let’s take a look at a few of these studies…

One 2005 study [1] found that people who reported high levels of loneliness had poorer antibody responses to an administered vaccine. In contrast, those with good social connections—including romantic partners—had an increased immune response. The size of the social network didn’t matter, just that there was one in place. Having a partner or someone to love is an amazing way to combat loneliness, which can boost your immunity to disease and infection.

A study from 2003 [2] found that older adults who give love and support tend to be healthier than those who simply receive it. Individuals who reported “providing instrumental support to friends, relatives, and neighbors, and individuals who reported providing emotional support to their spouse” had lower mortality rates than those who only received support. Being a loving, attentive spouse or partner can increase your lifespan noticeably.

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A 2011 study [3] found a direct link between altruism and longevity. People who volunteered to help others lived longer than those who didn’t. The same held true for those with high altruistic desires and strong social connections. Helping someone else doesn’t only have to mean working at a pet shelter or feeding the underprivileged. You can be altruistic in helping your spouse or partner achieve their goals or overcome their challenges, and the longevity-boosting results will be the same.

In 2013 [4], a study found that people who “focus on the well-being of others”, such as through care-giving or volunteering, not only experienced fewer negative consequences of stress, but their cells were healthier. Telomere length (an indicator of cellular aging) was longer among those who spent more time engaged in outward-focused behavior—including being kind and warm with their spouses.

The Journal of the American Medical Association published a study [5] that found that people in a healthy relationship tend to make healthier choices—choices that ultimately promote a longer lifespan. When one partner made a change to healthier lifestyle, diet, exercise habits, quit smoking, etc., the other partner was 40% more likely to make the same healthy changes. There’s something amazing about supporting each other and changing for the better that does wonders to increase your lifespan.

Many studies have proven that people in isolation tend to age more quickly. Senior citizens with no social network of friends or loved ones will typically experience faster neurological deterioration, experience depression, and begin to decline physically [6]. Love and romance, on the other hand, can boost your mood, expand your cognitive functions, and stave off depression.

Of course, there are all the many physiological benefits of sex, too! Sex can lower your blood pressure, reduce the effects of stress on your body, improve the quality of your sleep, boost your immune system, even improve bladder control among women. Physically, having sex—especially with someone you love—can improve your health and increase your lifespan.

Pretty amazing, right? Having someone to love and be loved by in return can help you live longer. And it’s guaranteed to be a significantly happier life, too. You’ll find that love literally does make the world a better, brighter, happier, kinder, and healthier place, so embrace it wherever and whenever you find it!

Resources:

[1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15898866/

[2] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-9280.14461

[3] https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2011/09/volunteering-health

[4] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23602876/

[5] http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2091401

[6] https://www.aegisliving.com/resource-center/love-and-longevity/

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