Humans are naturally customized to be social creatures who need love & affection.
We present our love by making gestures like holding hands, positive communication, hugging etc. But have you ever wondered how our bodies regulate these feelings of love?
Identically, it is because our bodies have a hormone called oxytocin that regulates our emotional responses.
Hormones are chemical signals of our body, in simpler terms, they are the indicators that give signals to the body about performing an activity.
In this blog, we will read about the oxytocin hormone and its importance. We will also cover how to boost its level inside the body.
What is Oxytocin Hormone?
Oxytocin is basically a hormone that is important in regulating social behaviour, reproduction, and feelings like love and affection inside our body.
Oxytocin is also called the “cuddle hormone”. This is because whenever we indulge in any form of passionate sentiments of love like cuddling, holding hands and so forth, our body releases oxytocin.
Up until now, we know what is Oxytocin hormone. Now, let’s understand how oxytocin develops in our body
How Does Oxytocin Develop In Our Body?
Oxytocin is produced in the hypothalamus (a part of the brain responsible for functions like blood pressure, heart rate etc.) and the pituitary gland stores it and releases it in our blood.
But what is the reason why our body produces and releases these hormones? Let us look over the important roles oxytocin production plays inside our bodies.
Function Performed By Oxytocin
While this may be true that the “love hormone” is mostly associated with phycological aspects of human behaviour.
There are other two most important functions of this hormone namely:
- Stimulating urinal contraction during labour and,
- Stimulating the movement of milk during the breastfeeding period.
Moreover, there are other roles of oxytocin in the human body such as:
- Promotion of Social Recognition Skills– Oxytocin promotes the social recognition skills of humans by helping the bodies to identify facial recognition.
- Development of Parental Relationship– Oxytocin is also known to develop parental bonding and it regulates social interactions between a parent and a child.
- Reduces Anxiety– Oxytocin also helps in reducing anxiety. Oxytocin is known as the hormone of affection; therefore, they allude to the feeling of calmness and contentment. As a result, these feelings help reduce anxiety in a human being.
- Develops Love & Trust- Oxytocin is also helpful in developing love and trust feeling between individuals through positive communication and physical gestures. Therefore, the release of oxytocin helps develop an understanding of love and trust among individuals.
Now let’s come to know whether this hormone functions differently in both men and women.
Does Oxytocin Hormone Differ In Men And Women?
Women have a higher oxytocin level as compared to men. This is because biologically women release more oxytocin while giving birth or breastfeeding.
Although, the function of oxytocin is mostly the same in men and women in social skills such as parenting, relationship development etc.
There are some differences between women and men in the way they process oxytocin.
To put it differently, oxytocin function in men increases their ability to deal with a stressful situation or improves their flight or fight response.
Whereas, when oxytocin functions in females, it tends to increase their feeling of familiarity and comfort.
In view of the given instances and biological differences at which our body releases oxytocin, the level of oxytocin might differ between individuals.
Did you know that having an oxytocin level lower than normal might lead to depression and autism? It can even have complications in a female during giving birth or breastfeeding.
Symptoms That You Might Have Low-Level Oxytocin
Here are the points to check on to know if you have a low level of oxytocin hormones.
- Having poor communication
- Feeling anxious or depressed
- Lack of pleasure or no orgasm during sexual intercourse
- Increased sugar cravings
- Insomnia or lack of sleep
- Feeling stressed or lack of motivation
- no feeling of affection
However, Oxytocin levels can be levelled up with certain methods, let’s understand methods of How to increase oxytocin.
Ways to Increase Oxytocin Levels
Here are the proven ways that can help in boosting your oxytocin hormone.
- Get a Pet: We all love interacting with dogs, research shows that having a dog releases the oxytocin level, you can boost your oxytocin level by cuddling or patting him.
- Listen to Music: No matter what, there is music for all moods. You can listen to music as it boosts your Happy Hormone and thereby increasing your oxytocin levels.
- Indulge in Foods that Increase Your Oxytocin – There are a lot of foods which are known to help boost your oxytocin such as figs, avocados, watermelon, spinach, orange, chia seeds, chamomile tea etc.
- Caffeine – Observations have been found that caffeine results in a change of various hormones including oxytocin. Consuming coffee or other caffeine drinks might help you increase your love hormones.
- Massages- Massages are great for reducing anxiety and calming your mind which also helps in boosting your oxytocin level. Research has shown that massages not only increase the oxytocin level of a person but also the person giving a massage.
- Increase Social Interaction- Social interaction is a great way to improve positive communication, increased affection, and develop relationships which will help you induce your oxytocin level.
- Yoga – Benefits of yoga cannot be emphasized enough. Yoga helps improve health, gives peace of mind, prevents diseases, and boosts your mental health. Yoga is a good way to boost your oxytocin levels.
- Intimacy and Physical Touch- Lastly, having intimate moments with your partner or spending cuddle time with your children or pets might be an instant way to release oxytocin.
With this, we hope you got brief info on the oxytocin hormone so let’s conclude it with final words.
Final words
To summarize, Oxytocin also called the love hormone is produced when our body induces feelings of love and affection. It helps develop parental relationships and social relationships. It might also help reduce anxiety and depression.
Oxytocin plays a very important role in most of our social desires as human beings, especially in the life of females. Therefore, a low level of oxytocin may cause health disorders.
On a positive note, there are a lot of ways by which a person can boost their oxytocin level. Lastly, in case of any serious issue, an individual must always reach out to a medical professional.
