Valentine's Day is not all aboutmushiness, flowers and chocolates, for now a new research has shown that Cupid's magic works as far as the health of your heart is concerned.

    Women in happy marriages are much less likely to have a heart attack than those in high-stress relationships, research at the University of Pittsburgh, in the US, found.

    And men who have sex two or more times a week halve their risk of a cardiac arrest, a study at Bristol University found.

    Hugs lower your blood pressure while making love is a great cardiacworkout.

    It temporarily raises blood pressure and gives the arteries and veins a workout, keeping them strong and flexible.

    Cathy Ross, a specialist nurse with the British Heart Foundation, says: "Sex can provide the same benefits as walking up severalflightsof stairs."

    And it's a lot more fun which means we're more likely to stick with the exercise regime.

    We burn on average 200 calories when we have sex. But trying out different positions can increase the burn and fun.

    HUGS also help. Doctors at the University of North Carolina, in America, found cuddles can lower blood pressure and boost levels of the relaxing feelgood hormone oxytocin.

    Kissing is also recommended for gums and teeth because it increases production of saliva, which helps kill the bacteria that cause tooth decay and gum disease.

    In the long term this can even help to head off a heart attack because gum disease can increase the risk of heart attacks.

    情人節帶給你的不僅僅是激動、鮮花和巧克力，一項最新研究顯示，愛神丘比特還能讓你的心臟更加健康。

    美國匹茲堡大學的一項研究發現，擁有幸福婚姻的女性患心臟病的幾率遠遠低于那些婚姻狀況不佳的女性。

    布里斯托爾大學的一項研究表明，一周有兩次或兩次以上性生活的男性心臟驟停的風險要小一半。

    此外，擁抱可以降低血壓，而性生活則可以鍛煉心臟功能。

    擁抱和性生活會使血壓暫時升高，能讓動脈和靜脈得到鍛煉，從而使它們保持強勁和柔韌。

    英國心臟基金會的護理專家凱西·洛斯說：“性生活所能起到的作用和上幾段樓梯差不多。”

    而且，這種“鍛煉”更有趣，人們更容易堅持。

    一次性生活能夠燃燒平均200卡路里的熱量，嘗試不同的姿勢則可以增加熱量的燃燒，還可以增加樂趣。
    
    擁抱對身體也有好處。美國北卡羅萊納大學的博士們發現，擁抱能夠降低血壓，還可以促進能讓人感到放松和舒適的腦下垂體后葉荷爾蒙的分泌。

    接吻對牙齦和牙齒有好處。因為接吻可以增加唾液的分泌，從而有助于殺死引起蛀齒和牙齦疾病的細菌。

    由于牙齦疾病會增加患心臟病的風險，所以從長期來看，接吻甚至有助于降低心臟病的發病率。