Sharing a meal with someone close could change the way our body manages sugar entering the bloodstream.
To investigate this, researchers compared the reactions of participants placed in two situations. They ate either alone or in the presence of someone with whom they had a close bond. The meal was standardized and rich in carbohydrates, so that the amount of sugar absorbed would remain comparable.
A couple shares a meal together around a table.
Credit: CareScout.
After eating, blood sugar naturally rises. It corresponds to the amount of glucose present in the blood. This glucose comes in part from the digestion of carbohydrates and then serves as fuel for cells. The body must then bring this concentration back toward its usual level.
The researchers found that this rise was smaller when the meal was shared with someone close. Blood sugar also returned more quickly to its starting level. Yet the contents of the plate had not changed between the two situations.
The team did not limit its study to meals. Other experiments examined the body's response to cold and stress in adults and infants. Once again, the presence of someone close was associated with more effective regulation. The phenomenon could appear even without physical contact.
One might think that the effect simply comes from experiencing less stress in the company of someone close. The researchers tested this possibility, but their results do not fully explain it this way. They therefore propose a broader idea: some bodily functions could be directly influenced by our social environment.
They call this principle “social physiology.” In other words, the human body may not always regulate its parameters entirely independently. Being close to familiar people could contribute to this regulation, whether involving blood sugar, temperature, or certain responses to stress.
These results come from controlled experiments and still need to be studied in everyday life. A future question will be to determine which social relationships produce this effect and under what conditions it persists over time.