Want to boost your mood? A new study says you should just think about your romantic partner.
New research from Western University finds that merely thinking about that special someone activates your body chemistry in a way that improves your mood.
Sarah Stanton, a psychology researcher at Western, says "We set out to look at whether or not just thinking about your partner was enough to kind of give us a physical and psychological energy boost."
What she found is that when people in the study thought about their romantic partner they got a boost in blood sugar - or glucose levels.
"We can't really know that it's the glucose that's making us happy or if being happy is driving the glucose. All we know is that those processes are related, so we know that if we think about our romantic partner we get a boost in glucose, we get a boost in our mood and those who are getting the boost in glucose are the ones who are feeling really happy."
The discovery is linked to something called eustress - or good, euphoric stress - which is the opposite of distress, or bad stress.
And there's more good news. It wasn't just people in the early stages of romantic love who experienced the benefits. It was people in longer term relationships as well.
Stanton explains "It seems that no matter how long you've been with your partner or how happy you are or how old you are. If you think about them, at least in our study, you still can get that little stress response."
The research adds to findings concerning thoughts about love stimulating increases in cortisol and speaks to the health benefits of being in love.
"I think that it probably has a buffering effect," Stanton adds. "It will buffer you against negative things."
Which all seems to suggests that love may indeed make the world go round.
