Go ahead and hug and kiss. Have sex! Couples who find ways to be physically close everyday may have less stress, according to a study from researchers in Switzerland.

Reuters reports that people who are in close relationships, especially marriage, have fewer stress hormones coursing through their bodies. This was true even for couples who reported more problems at work, suggesting physical affection at night can be a buffer for the next day's stress at work.

The study: Led by Dr. Beate Ditzen of the University of Zurich in Switzerland, the team followed 51 working German couples for one week. Most, but not all, of the couples were married. The participants kept detailed records of their daily activities, including physical affection with their partner. They recorded their mood at various points of the day as positive (defined as good, relaxed and alert) or negative (defined as bad, tired, fidgety). In addition, saliva samples were collected daily so researchers could measure the day-by-day fluctuations in levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

The results: Those who reported more physical contact--from kissing to sexual intercourse--during a given day had lower levels of cortisol. Chronic stress can wreak havoc on the body, weakening the immune system and even contributing to heart disease. Previous research has shown that people in happy marriages tend to be in better health and live longer lives than their single friends or couples who are in unhappy unions. Ditzen thinks the reduced stress response seen with physical affection helps to explain this link. Sexual intimacy also works its magic by improving mood.

Should married couples have more sex? Ditzen told Reuters Health that she would not recommend that couples "express more intimacy, per se," but instead find activities that create positive feelings for both partners. Intimacy may mean sex for some, but for others it can just mean more affectionate touching.

"This means that there is no specific behavior that couples should show in everyday life," Ditzen told Reuters. "Rather, all kinds of behavior which couples themselves would consider intimate...might be beneficial."

The study findings were reported in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.

--From the Editors at Netscape