Originally published 2020-04-26.
Can a hug really make you healthier? The short answer from research is: modestly, and mainly by easing stress. Studies link warm, welcome physical contact with lower stress hormones, slightly lower blood pressure, less pain and anxiety, and even some protection against the common cold. The effects are real but small, they depend heavily on whether the hug is wanted, and none of them replaces medical care. Here are five ways hugs may benefit your health, and what the evidence behind each one actually shows.
Why touch matters to humans in the first place
Touch is thought to be the first sense to develop in the womb, and for babies it is a lifeline. Newborns are calmed by being held, and a large 2024 review in Nature Human Behaviour found that infants benefit from touch, with contact from parents doing more good than the same contact from care staff. As we grow, hugs and cuddles stay part of how we greet, console and celebrate with each other.
That same review, led by Julian Packheiser and Helena Hartmann, pooled more than 130 studies covering around 10,000 people. It found that touch interventions, from hugs and massage to skin-to-skin contact, reduced pain, depression and anxiety, and had smaller effects on heart rate and blood pressure. Shorter but more frequent touch tended to help more than occasional long sessions. That is the backdrop for the five benefits below.
1. Hugs can take the edge off stress
When you are anxious, your body releases cortisol, the main stress hormone. Affectionate touch is linked with the release of oxytocin, a hormone involved in bonding and trust, which seems to work against the stress response. That is why a hug from someone you love can feel like a reset button after a hard day.
The evidence here is promising but more nuanced than popular articles suggest. A 2022 experiment published in PLOS ONE by Berretz and colleagues found that a hug from a romantic partner before a stressful task lowered the cortisol response in women, but not in men. Oxytocin is often nicknamed the "love hormone", yet scientists stress that it does many jobs in the body and its effects vary with context and person.
Practical takeaway
If you are supporting someone through a stressful moment, a hug offered gently, with the chance to say no, may help them settle. For some people, sitting close or holding hands does the same job.
2. Hugs may help your body fight off colds
This is the claim with the best-known study behind it. At Carnegie Mellon University, psychologist Sheldon Cohen and colleagues followed 404 healthy adults. For two weeks, participants reported each evening whether they had argued with anyone and whether they had been hugged. The researchers then deliberately exposed them to a common cold virus and kept them in quarantine to see who got sick.
People who felt well supported were less likely to become infected despite stressful conflicts, and hugs accounted for about a third of that protective effect. Among those who did catch the cold, people with more support and more frequent hugs had milder symptoms. The study appeared in Psychological Science in 2014.
It is worth being precise: this was an observational link, not proof that hugs boost immunity directly. Hugs may simply be a marker of close, supportive relationships, which are good for health in many ways. Loneliness and social isolation, by contrast, are associated with poorer health over time.
3. Hugs are linked to a calmer heart
A well-cited 2005 study by Light, Grewen and Amico in Biological Psychology looked at couples and found that women who reported more frequent hugs from their partners had higher oxytocin levels and lower resting blood pressure and heart rate. The 2024 meta-analysis also found improvements in cardiovascular measures, though weaker than the effects on mood and pain.
Older versions of this claim sometimes suggested a hug could be life-saving during a heart attack or stroke. That is not true. The effects of a hug on blood pressure are small and short-lived. Anyone with chest pain, sudden weakness, facial drooping or trouble speaking needs emergency help immediately, not comfort alone. For ongoing concerns about blood pressure or heart health, talk to a doctor.
4. Hugs and touch can ease pain
There is decent evidence that touch reduces how much pain people feel. Pain was one of the outcomes that improved most in the 2024 review, which included studies of patients in hospitals and clinics. Gentle touch and massage are used alongside standard treatment in some cancer and palliative care settings, partly because they reduce distress, which in turn affects how pain is experienced.
Researchers are careful to say that much of this work involves structured touch such as massage rather than everyday hugs, and that hugs have not been tested systematically against other forms of contact. The effects of embracing someone are likely part of the same picture, but the direct evidence for hugs alone is thinner.
5. Feeling safe may help you sleep
Sleep and stress are closely linked: a racing mind and high arousal make it harder to drift off. Because hugs and close contact can calm the body, many people find a cuddle before bed helps them relax. It is also why many children fall asleep holding a teddy, doll or favourite blanket, and why weighted blankets have become popular with adults.
Interestingly, the 2024 review found measurable benefits even from non-human touch, including stuffed animals, body pillows and heavy blankets, though human touch did better for mental health. Direct research on hugs and sleep quality, however, is limited, so treat this one as plausible rather than proven. Persistent sleep problems are worth raising with a doctor.
Myths, limits and the role of consent
A popular claim says you need a hug of at least 20 seconds, or a set number of hugs a day, to get health benefits. These figures circulate widely but are not based on solid primary research. The meta-analysis found that session length did not significantly change outcomes, while frequency mattered more.
The most important limit is consent. A hug only helps when it is welcome. An unexpected or unwanted embrace can feel like an invasion of personal space and raise stress rather than lower it. Customs also vary: hugging is common in many countries but far less so in parts of East, South and Southeast Asia, and between unrelated men and women in many traditional communities. Some people, including many autistic people and survivors of trauma, may find touch uncomfortable.
As Packheiser put it when the 2024 study was released, if you feel like hugging family or friends, "don't hold back, as long as the other person gives their consent." Ask, read the other person's response, and remember that a kind word or simply being present can offer comfort too.
Sources: Carnegie Mellon University: Hugs help protect against stress and infection (2014); Ruhr-Universität Bochum: When and how does touch make a difference? (2024); Wikipedia: Hug (citing Light, Grewen and Amico 2005; Berretz et al. 2022).
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