Take Bath to Reduce Stress, Just Like These Snow Monkeys from Japan Do!

A good hot water bath feels such a relief after a long and tiring day. It not only makes you feel free from the sweat but also relieves you from an exertion. Well, the Japanese snow monkeys too are adopting this habit to feel stress-free! The macaques apparently have been using hot springs as a way to not only keep themselves warm in the winters but also cope with stress.

A new study that has been published in the journal Primates has confirmed the researchers who had been studying the monkey behaviour. Among all the primates, the macaques reside in the far North in Japan. The Jigokudani Monkey Park in Japan became so famous to see monkey baths that people did not mind trekking up to the peak, to see the happy monkeys taking a dip. The snow monkeys' bath time became a tourist attraction.

The winters in Japan are very strong and the hot springs are a good way for the monkeys to lounge in and feel the warmth. To see the effects of the bath time on these species, a group of researchers from the Kyoto University tracked 12 females. They observed their behaviour in the different season (including the winters). They studied which monkeys took the most baths and also studied the hormone samples from their faeces.

Monkeys too experience stress when they have to maintain their body temperature. The result of the researchers confirmed that monkeys used the hot springs in winters and also that those who took longer baths had lower levels of the stress hormone. In the next agenda, these researchers plan to study the saliva samples and find other hormones related to stress. But one thing remains clear a nice bath is an easy and quick measure to reduce stress. After all, we are evolved from the monkeys, right?

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 05, 2018 09:13 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).