A little in love

1. Trembling legs, butterflies in your stomach… how wonderful it is to be in love! The euphoric feeling is a bit like drunkenness. And it is just as addictive as drugs. What happens in our personal chemistry lab when we are in love? Which chemicals play a part in love?

2. Trembling legs, butterflies in your stomach… how wonderful it is to be in love! The euphoric feeling is a bit like drunkenness. And it is just as addictive as drugs. What happens in our personal chemistry lab when we are in love? What chemicals play a role in love?

1. The most famous 'love drug' is phenylethylamine, or PEA. It is a substance that occurs naturally in your body and is similar to amphetamine. The effect is also similar to amphetamine: you can take on the whole world and spend nights with your loved one.

Shot of dopamine

1. PEA also ensures that dopamine is released. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter: a molecule that sends signals to nerve cells. It plays a big part in the experience of pleasure and joy. Without dopamine, we become depressed, but when we see or touch our loved one, our brains get a shot of dopamine every time. Then we get that loving, floating feeling.

2. PEA also ensures that dopamine is released. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter: a molecule that sends signals to nerve cells. It plays a big part in the experience of pleasure and joy. Without dopamine we become depressed, but when we see or touch our loved one, our brains get a shot of dopamine every time. Then we get that loving, floating feeling.

Energy and excitement

1. Dopamine is not the only substance that plays a role in falling in love. At least as important is norepinephrine, better known in Dutch as noradrenaline. That looks a bit like dopamine, but is a bit more 'aggressive' and gives you just that euphoric feeling. Noradrenaline ensures the production of adrenaline, the well-known stress hormone, in your brain. The result: palpitations, butterflies in your stomach, sweaty hands and ... plenty of energy and excitement.

Sick of love

1. It is wonderful to be so in love, but all those hormones and neurotransmitters are actually not good at all for your body. They cause quite a bit of stress. Long-term high doses of adrenaline are not good for your heart. There are other drawbacks too. Some people suffer from lack of sleep and stomach pain. Others suffer from concentration problems or lose too much weight because they simply cannot get a bite down their throat. And what about the withdrawal symptoms if you have to miss each other for a week?

2. It may be wonderful to be so in love, but all those hormones and neurotransmitters are actually not good for your body. They cause quite a bit of stress. Long-term high doses of adrenaline are not good for your heart. There are other drawbacks too. Some people suffer from lack of sleep and stomach pain. Others suffer from concentration problems or lose too much weight because they simply cannot get a bite down their throat. And what about the withdrawal symptoms if you have to miss each other for a week?

Delusions

1. One of the psychological side effects of dopamine is that you start to think unrealistically about the object of your love. You have ended up in a psychotic 'delusion', as it were. You think that your loved one is the most beautiful and wonderful person in the world. Of course that image does not correspond to reality, but you are so 'under the influence' that you simply cannot see it. Only when the infatuation fades do you notice his or her bad qualities. Then the dopamine level in your blood has dropped significantly.

2. One of the psychological side effects of dopamine is that you start to think unrealistically about the object of your love. You have ended up in a psychotic 'delusion', as it were. You think your loved one is the most beautiful and wonderful person in the world. Of course that image does not correspond to reality, but you are so 'under the influence' that you simply cannot see it. Only when the infatuation fades do you notice his or her bad qualities. Then the dopamine level in your blood has dropped considerably.

Decline

1. 'Fortunately' you automatically produce less and less dopamine. Like any other drug, dopamine is highly addictive. We quickly need increasing amounts to maintain the happy feeling. At some point, usually after one and a half to three years, the body no longer keeps track of dopamine production. Then the infatuation subsides. At that moment the relationship is broken. Or the infatuation turns into 'loving'.

Cuddle hormone

1. If you can't afford to miss the euphoria of being in love, monogamous marriage isn't for you. Fortunately, the body also has a chemical formula for a long-term relationship. Until your diamond wedding, your body makes oxytocin when you see your partner. Oxytocin is also called cuddle hormone or relationship cement. It is a 'sister' of dopamine, but the effect is less extreme. Women have high levels of oxytocin around delivery. This ensures, among other things, that the uterus contracts back to its normal size and that milk production starts. An additional advantage is that the young mother falls in love with her newborn child, as it were. A handy biological reaction with the function that you take good care of your baby. Plenty of research has been done into the cuddle hormone. There are striking indications that both men and women produce oxytocin when hugging and caressing. In any case, it is clear that people with too little oxytocin have difficulty maintaining relationships.

2. If you can't afford to miss the euphoria of falling in love, monogamous marriage isn't for you. Fortunately, the body also has a chemical formula for a long-term relationship. Until your diamond wedding, your body makes oxytocin when you see your partner. Oxytocin is also called cuddle hormone or relationship cement. It is a 'sister' of dopamine, but the effect is less extreme. Women have high levels of oxytocin around delivery. This ensures, among other things, that the uterus contracts back to its normal size and that milk production starts. An additional advantage is that the young mother falls in love with her newborn child, as it were. A handy biological reaction with the function that you take good care of your baby. Plenty of research has been done on the cuddle hormone. There are striking indications that both men and women produce oxytocin when hugging and caressing. In any case, it is clear that people with too little oxytocin have difficulty maintaining relationships.

Lover or chocolate?

1. Other hormones that play a role between steady partners are endorphins. These are the body's own morphines, which have an analgesic and calming effect. Endorphins make you feel relaxed when you are together and take away anxiety. If you don't have a steady partner, look for comfort in chocolate. A big bar of dark chocolate and your endorphins will shoot up! Â

Biological?

1. For a good relationship you need 'chemistry' ... It might not be romantic to think that our body is a chemistry lab and being in love a successful chemical test. But it does make sense that our bodies work like this. After all, being in love usually leads to sex, and that's how we maintain the human species. And sex is also very healthy and good for the line. After all, it costs a lot of calories, you make the happiness hormone serotonin and with an orgasm the body is flooded with endorphins. That tastes like more ...

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