Hebrew University study finds blood sugar is better regulated when we eat with a partner

A team from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Sheba Medical Center reported in late September 2026 in the journal Science Advances that the human body regulates itself more efficiently in the company of a loved one. The paper, titled "Social Physiology: Human homeostasis is more efficient in social proximity", was led by psychologist Prof. Shir Atzil with doctoral student Monia Masalha as first author and Dr. Shai Fuchs of Sheba as a collaborator. The three-year project was funded by a European Research Council Starting Grant awarded to Atzil.

The researchers recruited healthy adults in long-term couples and tested them in a laboratory furnished to look like a living room. Each person went through the same challenges twice on the same day, once alone and once with their partner, in a balanced order. In the main test they ate a standard portion of white bread containing 50 grams of carbohydrate while their blood glucose was tracked for two hours. Other tests measured how their bodies coped with time in a cold room and with a mild stress stimulus.

With a partner present, glucose rose less after the meal and returned to normal faster; on average the difference was around 23 percent, though it varied greatly from person to person. Body temperature also dropped less in the cold, and stress responses settled more quickly. The benefits appeared even without physical touch and were not explained simply by people feeling less stressed. No differences were found between men and women.

Atzil calls the phenomenon social physiology: the idea that basic processes such as metabolism and temperature control are designed to work with other people around. The team cautions that the work is preliminary, that it has not yet been tested in people with diabetes or prediabetes, and that companionship is no substitute for diet, exercise or medical treatment. They suggest, however, that clinical glucose tests may need to take into account whether a patient is alone, and they now plan to study siblings and strangers and to understand why some people benefit more than others.