Hugs, Health, and Happiness For a Happy New Year

 

Have you noticed the basket of Hug Coupons in our office?  Our pediatric patients sure have.  Many of them love grabbing one or more on their way out the door.  Unfortunately, our adult patients either don’t notice them or just ignore the basket.  Hopefully, after reading this, they will make a New Year’s resolution to grab a coupon or two.

 

Did you know that hugging is good medicine? When you hug someone (who is willing, not coerced), it transfers energy and gives the person hugged an emotional lift.  Research shows that hugging increases the “love hormone” oxytocin.  In fact, studies consistently show that just a 10-20 second hug a day leads to biochemical and physiological changes in your body that can significantly improve your health.  In other words, hugging is scientifically correlated with helping to heal sickness, disease, loneliness, depression, anxiety, and stress. 

 

Hugging is also a form of communication because it can say things you don't have the words for.

 

Did you know that most people feel “touch-deprived”?  Touch deprivation is a serious medical syndrome.  Children who are not hugged experience delays in walking, talking, reading, appropriate interactions with others, and lowered IQ.  Sadly, replicated studies show that 33% of adults receive no hugs on a daily basis and a whopping 75% said they wanted more hugs.

 

Here is a partial list of benefits of a daily10-20 second hug summarized from the studies noted in the Sources below:

• Boosts Your Immune System
• Fight Infections
• Lowers Risk of Heart Disease
• Stress Reduction
• Stimulates Oxytocin (the Feel Good Hormone aka Love Hormone)
• Reduces Fibromyalgia Symptoms
• Helps with both Anxiety and Depression
• Helps Relieve Fatigue
• Communicates Without Saying a Word
• Boosts Self-Esteem Especially in Children
• Stimulates Dopamine, Serotonin, and Endorphins which stabilize mood as well as other benefits
• Can Provide A Quiet Moment to Cultivate Peacefulness and Connection

 

According to Virginia Satir, a pioneer in Family Therapy, you need four hugs a day for survival, eight hugs a day for maintenance, and twelve hugs a day for growth.  

 

Fortunately, the nicest thing about a hug is that you usually can't give one without getting one.

 

So, what are you waiting for—a personal invitation to promote health and happiness?  OK, here it is: Go give a hug for goodness sake!

 

Happy New Year from all of us at  St Louis Allergy Relief Center

Ian Wahl    Beverly Wahl     Aaron Wahl

 

Dr. Ian Wahl is the founder and director at St. Louis Allergy Relief Center in Chesterfield, MO which specializes in Advanced Allergy Therapeutics, a natural allergy relief treatment protocol.

Learn more at our website: http://www.stlouisallergyrelief.com 

Schedule an Appointment today
at http://www.stlouisallergyrelief.com 
or call us at 314-384-9304 

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St Louis Allergy Relief Center 
1415 Elbridge Payne Rd Suite 135 
Chesterfield, MO 63017

 

Sources:

Cohen S, et al. (2014). Does hugging provide stress-buffering social support? A study of susceptibility to upper respiratory infection and illness.

journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797614559284

Denison B. (2004). Touch the pain away: New research on therapeutic touch and persons with fibromyalgia syndrome.
journals.lww.com/hnpjournal/pages/articleviewer.aspx?year=2004&issue=05000&article=00006&type=abstract

Grewen KM, et al. (2003). Warm partner contact is related to lower cardiovascular reactivity.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15206831

Inagaki TK, et al. (2012). Neural correlates of giving support to a loved one.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22071630

Keltner D. (2010). Hands on research: The science of touch.
greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/hands_on_research

Monroe CM. (2009). The effects of therapeutic touch on pain. DOI:
10.1177/0898010108327213

Rosenblatt C. (2011). Magic touch: Six things you can do to connect in a disconnected world.
forbes.com/sites/carolynrosenblatt/2011/01/18/magic-touch-six-things-you-can-do-to-connect-in-a-disconnected-world/#6dec46ec51af

Touch may alleviate existential fears for people with low self-esteem. (2013).
psychologicalscience.org/news/releases/touch-may-alleviate-existential-fears-for-people-with-low-self-esteem.html

http://preventdisease.com/news/14/012314_9-Reasons-Need-Giving-Receiving-Hugs-Everyday.shtml

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/02/06/hugging.aspx  

 

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