Everyone knows about the butterflies in the stomach, but did you know about the sweating and the glow in your skin too?
I feel it in my fingers
I feel it in my toes
The love that's all around me
And so the feeling grows
Editor's note: This article was originally published on June 4, 2020. It has since been updated.
So many of us would have felt love all around us when we found the one. It can become hard to find see logic and it definitely gets harder to see people as they are. The thrill of being with someone amazing can be so great that we might even get confused over our feelings. Sometimes, it can be hard to figure out if we're actually in love or not. Our hearts control our minds and emotions completely during this phase but this euphoric experience can go downhill very fast.
You could end up in a toxic romance and won't even know you're in it until it's too late. But, there are some parts of our body which can tell us if we're actually in love or not. The reaction these body parts have when you are with the right person can be an indicator that your partner and you will have a healthy and stable relationship.
Here are five body parts that can show you the way:
It is possible that love really does make us blind but not in a literal way. When people fall head over heels for someone, it can become hard to discern their flaws. We get swept up in our feelings completely and the joy of being in love takes over our mental processes. "Once we get close to a person, the brain decides the need to assess their character and personality is reduced," according to BBC News. A 2004 study by University College London said "love leads to a suppression of activity in the areas of the brain controlling critical thought." So, love is making us blind!
The butterflies you feel in the pit of your stomach are actually due to the rush of dopamine your brain releases when you fall in love. If you feel a pit in your stomach along with the rush of positive emotions, it could be your body telling you that something about that person makes you nervous. The butterflies-in-the-stomach feeling is connected to our brain and so is the pit of worry in our stomach. This could also be making you less hungry, according to a survey by eHarmony. It could lead to weight loss initially too.
"Butterflies is a great way to describe it, the time when you can't stop having sex. We found people almost forget to eat, there is a sense people are full on love," psychologist Dr. Linda Papadopoulos, who assisted with the study, told MailOnline.
Most people have an intuition that helps them make quick decisions. People might ignore it at times but really listening to your hearts and brains, which is what fuels the intuition, can tell you if you are with a good person or bad. Also, it tells us if we're really having a good time with them or are getting swept up in the moment. Love has the potential to switch on the fight or flight response in our body.
"When we feel that initial attraction to someone, a cocktail of chemicals, phenethylamine, dopamine, and oxytocin are released," says sexpert Simone Bienne to Cosmopolitan. "They keep your senses extra alert and give us the urge to bond and attach. As these secretions increase, our attraction to the object of our desire intensifies, and we get more and more of those dizzy feelings."
Being in love can make our skin glow and it makes us look younger. We feel refreshed and full of life. Being in love increases blood flow to the skin, according to Self. Our skin looks younger since our skin cells receive nutrients and oxygen. It can also reduce stress and improve your mood, which also has a positive effect on the skin. “Daily stressors such as a demanding job, a lack of sleep, and an unhealthy lifestyle can manifest as pallid patches, pimples, and wrinkles, which can add three to six years to your skin," Manhattan-based dermatologist and psychiatrist Dr. Amy Wechsler told Elle. When we are in love the stress abates, making our skin glow. Also, the many hormones released in our body during that phase can also make us sweat a little more than usual which is good for our body and skin.
References:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3804545.stm
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15006682/
https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/love-sex/sex/tips/a17391/what-love-does-to-you/
https://www.self.com/story/sexlove-love-good-for-health-beauty
https://www.elle.com/beauty/makeup-skin-care/a21270470/how-stress-affects-skin/
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Carina König
