Did you know that your girlfriends can reduce your stress level? Women respond to stress differently than men. This is true and it has significant health effects. When people experience stress the fight or flight response is triggered and releases hormones such as cortisol. Cortisol is the hormone that make you want to eat the wrong foods and put on unwanted pounds usually in the stomach area! Oxytocin has mostly been known for its role in childbirth is another hormone that is secreted by both men and women in response to stress. Men and women experience oxytocin differently. Men are problem solvers. They sort out and repress their emotions to either fight or flight and run away. Males are interested in performance and competition. Oxytocin is sometimes known as the "cuddle hormone" or the "love hormone," because it is released when people snuggle up or bond socially.
In women it buffers the fight or flight response and encourages them to protect their children and to gather with other women. Women know how to nourish each other and just being together is fulfilling and restorative! Women bare their souls and in the special bond they share with each other!