Spending time with other half has great health benefits – even if you argue

Sometimes you may feel like you want to get as far away from them as possible.

But just being in the presence of your romantic partner — even if you’ve just had a nasty argument — can provide powerful health benefits, a study suggests.

Researchers have found that people who spend more time with their partner have lower levels of C-reactive protein the next day – a sign of inflammation.

A team from the University of North Carolina recruited 100 adults in romantic relationships for their study.

These participants visited a laboratory three times over the course of a month and provided blood samples.

At each visit, they also completed surveys that included a question about the amount of time they had spent in their partner’s physical presence over the past 24 hours.

Just being in the presence of your romantic partner – even if you’ve just had a nasty argument – ​​can provide powerful health benefits, a study suggests (stock image)

Simply being in the same room as their loved one – whether awake or asleep – counted.

Analysis found that participants who reported spending more time in the presence of their partner over the past 24 hours had lower C-reactive protein (CRP) levels.

This protein, made by the liver, increases when there is inflammation in the body. High CRP levels can indicate a serious health condition that the body is trying to fight.

Elevated CRP over a long period of time has previously been linked to health problems such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity and cancer.

The link between time spent with a partner and lower CRP levels remained strong even when the researchers took into account relationship quality, feelings of hostility toward a partner and feelings of loneliness.

Analysis found that participants who reported spending more time in the presence of their partner in the past 24 hours had lower C-reactive protein (CRP) levels (stock image)

This, they said, suggests that simply being physically close to a romantic partner can have its benefits, regardless of how the relationship goes.

The study, published in the journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity, said: ‘People with whom we have close social relationships, such as a good romantic partner, are who we want to laugh with, hug, or laugh with. choose to sit next to you in silence and silence at the end of the day.

‘We measured CRP on three different days over time and found evidence that just being with a romantic partner was beneficial in the form of lower CRP.

“By identifying this proximal biological pathway through which being with our close others may facilitate better health outcomes, these findings reveal uncharted pathways for addressing the mechanisms through which close relationships influence long-term health.”