The good news for couples. A new study found that strong relationships improve your health. It seems that following your heart may be good for your actual heart. A recent study found that those with stronger relationships with their partners had lower stress levels. In fact, the good news doesn’t stop there. They also found that those with the best relationships had the lowest blood pressure. Having a positive relationship with your partner could help buffer the impact of stress and minimize the negative impact on your health.
The study also had another interesting twist which was there were some aspects that the researchers had categorized as negative relationship traits that were actually found to be helpful. What they labelled as criticism and demands placed on the other partner for example were found to be associated with longer lifespan and improved blood pressure as well.
Replacing criticism or demands with softer sounding descriptions may make them a bit more palatable. After all is someone reminding you to take your medication a demand or a gentle nudge to take care of yourself? The same case could be made for criticism. Commenting about not choosing the salad or not exercising like you had said you planned to that day might not be something you want to hear. However, many people pay personal trainers, dieticians, psychologists, coaches etc. lots of money each year to tell them to do things they don’t necessarily want to hear but know is good for them.
So for all of those of you out there looking for mister or miss right you have one other reason to keep up the search. For those already in relationships it is extra incentive to make sure you are investing in your relationship to make it as strong as possible. It may do your heart good.
There are probably some of you who are already working out how to spin this at home. Proposing a long romantic dinner where you can express your love and support for each other may sound more appealing than sweating away for an hour on the treadmill. If you are looking into how to have a positive impact on your blood pressure and heart health why not give date night a go?
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