Hugs can reduce stress, increase bonding and even improve our immune systems.
An airport in New Zealand caused a stir online in October after putting up signs in its departure terminal asking travellers to limit their goodbye hugs to under three minutes.
Hug it out, but make it quick. New Zealand airport sets time limit on goodbyes https://t.co/pzIm80WJvz
— The Associated Press (@AP) October 22, 2024
This week on the Show Me The Science podcast, Professor Luke O’Neill examined whether this was long enough to feel the benefits of a hug – and what those benefits are.
The act of giving or receiving a hug triggers multiple feel-good hormones, according to Prof O’Neill.
“They’ve shown that the hugging will trigger neurons in the skin, and what do they release? Endorphins,” he said.
“Now, endorphins, they’re the happy hormones.
“They calm us down and make us feel a bit relaxed.
“So, one function for hugging then is to do with calming things down, a de-stressor if you will, and also it allows us to bond with each other.”
Prof O’Neill said that another key hormone that is released is the ‘cuddle hormone’ oxytocin.
“You make it for bonding purposes,” he said.
“A really good example of this is when a mother is feeding her baby – breastfeeding them – both the mother and the baby make loads of oxytocin and they now bond.
“When you hug someone, you get a surge of oxytocin and that makes you feel good about that person – kind of a warm, fuzzy feeling, you might say.”
Immune system
Prof O’Neill said hugging is also important to humans from a biological perspective, as frequent hugs can strengthen a person’s immune system.
“So, your immune systems are kind of kicked in, you might say, and that will stop you getting infected in the first place,” he said.
“If you get infected, you’re going to fight the infection more effectively if you’re a hugger.
“It’s probably because the cortisol is being lowered – because cortisol is an immunosuppressant, hence the link between stress and infection.”
‘Self-hugging’
Even ‘self-hugging’ can produce similar effects, according to Prof O’Neill.
“If you just stroke your upper arm skin or put your hand over your belly or your heart, that will also decrease cortisol,” he said.
“So, there’s a natural way now to reduce cortisol and de-stress.”
“Now, getting back to the airport, a big question is how long should you hug for? Well, one second isn’t long enough, that’s for definite.
“They’ve done studies on this – five to 10 seconds is probably sufficient to get the cortisol to go down and the endorphins to go up – so maybe the New Zealanders are onto something.”
Prof O’Neill said to you should get four hugs a day to fully feel the biological benefits.
Listen back here:
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