Eating a meal with someone close to you may do more than make dinner feel less lonely. A new study has found that eating with a romantic partner is associated with lower post-meal blood glucose levels compared with eating the same meal alone.
Researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Sheba Medical Center examined how social closeness may influence basic processes involved in the body’s regulation. Their findings were published in Science Advances on September 23.
Eating with a partner linked to lower glucose levels
The researchers studied 108 people, including 54 romantic couples, for the glucose experiment. Each participant ate the same standardised carbohydrate meal on two occasions. On one occasion, they ate alone, while on the other, they ate alongside their partner.
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The meal contained 102 grams of white-wheat bread. Researchers then monitored the participants’ blood glucose levels following the meal.
Two hours after eating, blood glucose levels were about 15 per cent lower when participants had eaten with their partner. The researchers also recorded smaller increases in glucose and a faster return towards baseline levels in the social setting.
Factors such as eating time, body mass index and stress were taken into account, and the association remained.
The role of social physiology
The glucose experiment formed part of a broader study into what researchers describe as “social physiology”. The concept examines whether close social relationships can affect the way the body regulates basic physiological functions.
The team also investigated temperature regulation and physiological stress. Their experiments indicated that being close to a familiar social partner could help people regulate body temperature during cold exposure and reduce physiological stress responses.
Comparable effects were also seen in experiments involving mother-infant pairs. The researchers noted that the effects occurred even without physical contact, suggesting that simply being near a close person could influence these processes.
Why might companionship affect blood sugar?
The biological explanation is not yet established. Researchers suggest that the brain systems involved in regulating energy and other basic functions develop within close social environments, beginning with relationships between infants and caregivers.
They hypothesise that close social partners may eventually become part of these regulatory systems, potentially affecting processes involved in glucose metabolism. Further research will examine insulin secretion and sensitivity, hormones, autonomic regulation and other metabolic pathways.
The findings do not mean companionship can offset the effects of carbohydrates. Instead, they raise the possibility that the social environment surrounding a meal may influence the body’s response to food.
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Findings also seen in Singapore study
The results are also consistent with observations from a separate study in Singapore involving 20,629 meals and around 1,200 adults. That research found lower post-meal blood glucose among people who ate with friends compared with those who ate alone.
However, the two studies used different approaches. The Israeli research compared the same participants under controlled conditions with a standardised meal, while the Singapore study examined people’s regular eating patterns in everyday settings.
The researchers emphasise that social closeness is not a replacement for medical care, a balanced diet or exercise. Instead, the findings suggest that relationships and the social setting around meals may be another factor worth examining when studying how the body responds to everyday physiological demands.