Petting a dog can actually lower your blood pressure

More reason to find a dog to pet, so.

There are plenty of positives to touching an animal. One of them is that an animal has let you touch it. The other is that you got to touch an animal. A few things that are guaranteed to make your day go a whole lot smoother. There is another benefit to petting dogs and cats and rabbits and whatever other fluffy object you've got lying around too though - lowered blood pressure. No seriously, it's a thing. New research conducted by Tombola has shown that petting a dog or any animal really for just 15 minutes has the glorious power to reduce your blood pressure by up to 10 percent. Loads, tbh. The study detailed that petting a live animal:

"... Releases serotonin, oxytocin, prolactin and even lowers the stress hormone cortisol. These feel-good hormones lower our stress and anxiety, serotonin being the main thing antidepressants try to replicate."

The research also showed that even traditionally hard animals like turtles had the same effect, but in order for blood pressure to actually be lowered, the thing being petted did have to be alive - ie, not a toy. "Researchers found that petting a living creature, whether furry or shelled, massively reduced anxiety in the participants," said the research. Stunning news for all involved. And just when you thought pets couldn't get any better, it turns out that spending time with them could actually do more for our well being than spending time with actual humans. Because they're less judgemental. Ideal. A study in a nursing home showed that residents felt less lonely after spending time with dogs over humans. “The fact that pets cannot understand or talk back may even be a benefit as it means they are completely non-judgmental," said the authors.