Hugs can help keep you healthy. We all love the embrace of someone we’re close to, but that hug could convey more than good feelings. A new study out this week has found that those who get more hugs are also less likely to get a cold. “The researchers tested whether perceptions of social support are equally effective in protecting us from stress-induced susceptibility to infection and also whether receiving hugs might partially account for those feelings of support and themselves protect a person against infection.” After asking about how much social support a person has in their life and how many hugs they get, the authors exposed participants to the flu. “They discovered that perceived social support reduced the risk of infection associated with experiencing conflicts and that hugs accounted for one-third of this protective effect. Regardless of whether a participant reported having an interpersonal conflict, greater perceived social support and more frequent hugs helped mitigate cold symptoms.” The results indicate that those who get hugs more are also probably more supported and less stressed, which helps protect them from illness. 

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