There are many elements that make up a successful long-term relationship, from healthy communication and boundaries to an active sex life and a good sense of humor. However, according to a new study, there’s one thing you should be doing with your partner that’s just as important as everything listed above: eating.
- Who doesn’t love eating? Seriously, it goes without saying that food is delicious. Whether it’s chowing down on a big slice of pizza, our favorite Chinese takeout, or a homemade meal we’ve spent hours preparing, sometimes nothing feels better than pigging out.
- Doing it together makes us happy. The study, performed by the Marriage Foundation, discovered that couples who eat together than those who routinely have meals apart. Obviously work and our generally hectic schedules might make it hard to have three meals a day with our partners, but the more we can eat together, the better, according to the data. In fact, 67% of couples said they’re happier when they get to share food with their significant others.
- The food even tastes better when we eat with our partners. As the report reads, “Couples who do make the decision to eat together consistently reported a higher enjoyment of their meal.” While only a third of married couples and 28% of couples who live together eat together most of the time, the consensus seems pretty clear: food is even more delicious when sharing it with the one we love.
- It’s more about quality time than what’s on the table, of course. Marriage Foundation chairman Sir Paul Coleridge explained that it’s not really about what we’re eating or the fact that we’re eating together at all. It’s more about having quality time with our partners. He says that boredom and neglect are the biggest relationship killers and that eating together “is vital to ensuring to communicate properly, undistracted by screens, and surely every bit as important as sex.” Go figure!
