"Scientists are now finding that massage can reduce blood pressure, boost the immune system, dampen harmful stress hormones and raise mood-elevating brain chemicals such as serotonin. And you can't beat massage for relaxation. Babies fall asleep faster when massaged than when rocked - and they stay asleep, rather than waking the moment Mom tiptoes away. All these factors, says Tiffany Field, founder of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami's School of Medicine, 'put massage in the same category with proper diet and exercise as something that helps maintain overall health.' ...

"The effects aren't always so straightforward. Massage can also stimulate nerves that carry signals from the skin to the brain, triggering changes throughout the body.... Field showed that massage (as opposed to light touch) stimulates the brain's vagus nerve, causing the secretion of food-absorption hormones, including insulin. Nerve stimulation probably explains other benefits as well.... Dr. James Dillard of Columbia University [says], 'Every nerve cell in the body has some connection to every other nerve cell.' ...