Love is a beautiful thing.

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It is the greatest of all gifts given freely to mankind. One of the greatest need of every human is the need to be loved and loved back.

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Love is a strong feeling of affection.

If you are reading this, then I am sure you must be thinking that Valentine’s Day was the “most healthy day” of your life this year. well, you may be right if you were actually in love, but if you weren’t in love, I think you need to read this to find out why you should consider making next year vals day to be the beginning of your good health.

Before I start, let me quickly clarify the types of love I have known since I was a kid.

• EROS is a type of romantic love that involves sexual pleasure and desire.

• STORGE- Is the “family love” between parents and their children.

• PHILIA is a mutual kind of friendship for a particular purpose. The benefits include companionship, trust and dependability

• AGAPE- This is a type of love taught in the holy books, it is a universal type of love, the love for strangers, nature or God.

• LUDUS is a type of love that doesn't involve commitment. It is a short-term love with a focus on fun, with no strings attached. (A fling in contemporary English)

• PRAGMA- This is a long-term type of Love with no sexual gratification. Personal qualities and goals are the aim of the relationship.

• PHILAUTIA is simply the love of one’s self.

Loving and being loved back is the greatest thing that can happen to you in your lifetime.

An individuals health is assessed by the state of complete, physical, mental, emotional, social; and spiritual health and not merely the absence of disease.

PHYSICAL HEALTH

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The physical health is improved when we bond with the people we love. When we bond by (Physical touch such as hugging, hand holding, kissing or even having sex ), hormones are secreted , an example - oxytocin is a hormone produced by the brain which helps to override the other 3F hormones (fear, fight and flight) and gives a sense of security hence reducing ANXIETY.

Do you know that oxytocin helps to reduce pain threshold levels? Falling in love is a natural pain control mechanism just like a music prescription!

MENTAL HEALTH

Mental health is the state of balance between the emotional health and cognition. Falling in love could lead to an improvement in cognitive function, you learn from your spouse and improve on the areas where you were deficient. Falling in love wards off the feeling of loneliness and isolation, thus preventing depression and even suicidal ideation

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EMOTIONAL HEALTH

Do you know that you can be emotionally sick? When you are in love, your positive emotions come into play, falling in love increases the level of our emotional intelligence which helps you to form and maintain a better interpersonal relationship with our spouse.

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SPIRITUAL HEALTH.

I am sure many of us reading this are not aware of the concept of spiritual health. A person who loves you will help you to grow spiritually. He/she would always think of you in prayers. When there is a physical meeting and this kind gesture is discussed, it will leads to a greater bonding and spiritual growth.

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Some of the health benefits of falling in love are

• FALLING IN LOVE MAKES YOU HAPPY
  Every doctor wants to see his patient in a happy state of mind, if you achieve this by falling in love, then you don’t need to see a doctor for a checkup. You have fewer doctors visit and you stay young.

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• FALLING IN LOVE REDUCES STRESS
  Stress is the body’s automatic physiological, emotional or psychological response to any demand that is perceived as a threat to a person’s well-being.Stress is a combination of thoughts and worries that have positive and negative effects on our body’s responses.

Falling in love helps prevent these worried and helps us to achieve a positive attitude to our self and our spouse. We feel relaxed and happier and our physical health gets better on the long run.

• FALLING IN LOVE HELPS TO PROLONG YOUR LIFE
  Research has shown that women live longer than men, an average woman’s lifespan in the US, is about 81.4 years, while that of a man is about 76.4. Women are noted to fall in love more than men, they tend to show emotional support to their family than their men counterparts.

Married couples and love couples live longer than some singles, some married couples have been found to have lower cases of SUBSTANCE ABUSE, LOWER BLOOD PRESSURE LEVELS and less DEPRESSION when compared to the singles.

• FALLING IN LOVE BOOST YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM.
  There is no scientific basis to prove this, but studies have revealed this .

• FALLING IN LOVE HELPS FASTER HEALING.
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The power of love also helps flesh wound heals faster. When one of the partners falls sick, a show of love aids quick recovery from the illness. This is seen in the #storge type of love when family members troop to the hospital to visit a member, It aids quick recuperation.

There are also claims of reduced cold episodes when you fall in love.

Love and health are inter-twined in a special way. Humans are made to connect when we cultivate good relationships, the health benefits of falling in love are numerous.

These are few tips to strengthen your love life

• Practice good communication, learn better ways to resolve conflicts
• Make time for each other
• Keep making each other happy
• Set and reach goals together
• Celebrate each other’s success together.
• Love and respect you’re self