A study of 100 adults revealed how healthy marriages can change the human body far more than people realize
A happy marriage might make life easier for a person. But according to recent research by Taylor and Francis, a good marriage can impact way beyond just the emotional aspects of a person's life. The study suggested that a happy marriage where a person feels a strong sense of emotional support can promote healthy eating habits and in turn, prevent obesity. The study measured brain responses to food stimuli and plasma oxytocin levels in 94 participants to find out how a marriage with high emotional support affected a person.
A person's marital status and the fact that they felt supported led to lower BMI, higher levels of oxytocin — a hormone associated with trust, social bonding and more, healthier eating habits and better control of food cravings. The findings pointed to good marriages leading to a lower risk of obesity because of oxytocin-related changes in the brain and gut connections. Arpana Church, a neuroscience professor at UCLA Health and one of the authors of the study, told Newsweek that great marriages have a strong impact on a person's health. "Supportive, stable and emotionally nurturing relationships may do much more than make us feel good," Arpana expressed.
"They may literally help rewire our brain and gut in ways that protect against unhealthy eating and excess weight," she went on. "Investing in healthy relationships is not just 'soft' psychology; it may be a powerful, biological tool for better metabolic and mental health." A diverse group of participants was included in the study. People with good marriages and emotional support had lower BMI than those who didn't feel a sense of support in their marriages. "People who were married and felt strongly emotionally supported had: Lower BMI, fewer food addiction–like symptoms, stronger activation in a self-control region of the brain (dlPFC) when viewing food and healthier patterns of gut tryptophan metabolites linked to lower inflammation and better metabolic and brain health."
"But it is the oxytocin levels that are key, showing that social support may reduce obesity risk by tuning an oxytocin–brain–gut pathway, not just by changing behavior on the surface," Arpana continued. "Big picture, this work supports the idea that obesity is also a social and neurobiological condition—and that strengthening supportive relationships may be a legitimate target for interventions, alongside diet, exercise and medications." However, unmarried people had very different brain patterns compared to their married counterparts. The presence or absence of emotional support in their lives didn't show such starkly different results. The scientists believe that it could be because a married person receives more constant and individual emotional support from a partner.
Married participants also had higher levels of oxytocin compared to the unmarried participants. Nonetheless, researchers highlighted that they still needed to test the findings with a larger and more diverse group to get a more conclusive hypothesis, according to the outlet. Arpana pointed out, "Marriage and emotional support literally get 'under the skin' to influence obesity risk." She also highlighted oxytocin's role in the results. The researcher called it "a conductor orchestrating a symphony between the brain and gut strengthens the brain's ability to resist food cravings while promoting beneficial metabolic processes in the gut, both of which help maintain a healthy weight." The study reflected upon the importance of social connections for good physical health.