Love's strong social connections, bonding and support are linked to better health, because it allows the brain to signal to the body that you are safe and take your nervous system out of “fight or flight," Frissell said.
“The extent to which we love others well, we love our neighbors well, shapes the society we live in,” he said.
Anthony Chambers, a psychologist and chief academic officer at the Family Institute at Northwestern University, said one of the Harvard study's findings was people who were happiest in their relationships at 50 were the healthiest mentally and physically at 80.
VanderWeele also said it's important to have even “love of enemy” — people who we don't agree with or are in opposition to us.
The experts also said an expanded definition and view of love opens up the possibilities toward whom and what you can direct these “unitive” and “contributive” feelings.
