Valentine’s Day is healthy!
Engage in these activities to give your health a boost.
- Social connection – interacting with loved ones and having loving relationships reduces psychological distress, reduces loneliness and improves self-reported health status
- Being in love or a happy relationship – lowers blood pressure, reduces anxiety and stress, reduces the frequency of colds and illnesses, helps manage pain, and extends longevity
- Going out for a show, having a laugh and great conversation – reduces stress, boosts your immunity, improves hearing, increases memory power, and makes you happy
- Having sex – improves sleep, bladder control, weight management, blood pressure, heart attack risk, prostate cancer risk, and your immune system
- Giving and receiving hugs – releases oxytocin which improve cardiovascular health, improves self esteem, lowers stress, improves sleep, and reduces pain
- Eating dark chocolate – provides fibre and micro nutrients such as iron and magnesium, improves blood flow and reduces blood pressure, supplies antioxidants, and raises HDL (good cholesterol) and prevents LDL (bad cholesterol) from oxidation
- Eating red or pink foods, and seeing these colours – red or pink foods contain phytonutrients that can lower heart disease risk and cancer, and seeing pink creates a calming effect in one’s emotions.
So enjoy this day with your loved ones and make the most of it!
References
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25979694
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30166237
- https://www.webmd.com/sex-relationships/features/health-benefits#1
- https://www.webmd.com/sex-relationships/guide/sex-and-health#1
- https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/316954#boosting-the-immune-system
- https://www.insider.com/health-benefits-of-being-in-a-relationship-dating-someone-2017-10#it-can-benefit-your-mental-health-5
- https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080611154211.htm
- https://www.activebeat.com/your-health/6-health-reasons-to-show-some-love-this-valentines-day/
- https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/7-health-benefits-dark-chocolate#section1
- http://colorsofhealth.com/colors/red.shtml
- https://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/color-pink.html
- https://www.spa-in-spain.com/blog1/2018/01/20/health-benefits-hugging/
- https://psiloveyou.xyz/ten-astonishing-health-benefits-of-a-hug-5deab126cf83