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How The Love Hormone Oxytocin Works: Oxytocin is a love hormone because it helps people bond in relationships, set up appropriate psychological boundaries, and maintain intimate relationships.
What is Oxytocin?
Oxytocin is the body’s natural wonder drug. It’s produced by the hypothalamus in the brain, and released into the bloodstream by the pituitary gland. Oxytocin was the first hormone to be discovered in the early 1900s, when veterinarians noticed that an extract of pituitary gland helped farm animals give birth. The name means “quick birth.” Scientists continue to discover more of its effects on our bodies and our emotions.
What does it do to the body?
Oxytocin does play an important role in childbirth and lactation. It causes the muscle contractions that push the baby down the birth canal, and the pulses that push breast milk toward the nipples. For this reason many people think that only women produce oxytocin. In fact, men produce as much as women — and we all need it to stay physically healthy. Oxytocin helps us relax and cover from stress, lowering blood pressure. It makes us feel calmer and helps reduce sensitivity to pain, while improving the body’s ability to heal. Oxytocin also plays a critical role in our emotions. Released into the brain in social situations of all kinds, it’s responsible for trust, generosity, and all kinds of love and personal connection.
How does it affect men vs. women?
While men and women produce oxytocin in relatively equal amounts, when it comes to the emotional effects, there are strong differences. Testosterone seems to mute oxytocin’s bonding effects, while estrogen enhances them. This explains why it seems so much easier for women to bond with others — and why sex, which releases tons of oxytocin into the body and brain, seems more likely to make women fall in love.
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