Letting down one's guard. Chatting. Getting to know each other in comfortable ways. These are not frivolous activities for women after all.
Scientists have long known that having close relationships - even simply social contact - leads to living longer. Until now they did not have proof as to why -especially for women. One clue comes from the chemical reaction to social closeness - even with strangers.
What happens, for example, when women who are strangers to each other are put in a situation where they are encouraged to talk or collaborate? Their progesterone and cortisol levels go up.
How does this affect their behavior? In a recent study women were divided into two groups, one with no encouragement to interact. The other group was given just 20 minutes of an activity that encouraged conversation - such as playing a cooperation-based video game. (I can't wait share this with my women's group).
Remarkably, even in that short a time, that second group, with the elevated hormonal levels were more likely to:
• Have reduced chemical levels of stress and anxiety in their body. • Say they would risk their lives for their partners in the experiment.
Reading this, some may be tempted to take a medical shortcut and take progesterone.
But Dr. Steven Park, a professor at New York Medical College, warns, "You need it in the right doses. And it has to be in the right balance as estrogen in the body. The easier path to better progesterone levels may simply be by making it a point to connect with friends and family more often
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