16/01/2022
When you’re in the mood, it just might help your health.
How does a juicy s*x life do a body good? Let’s count the ways. Here are 10 health benefits of s*x — backed up by science.
1. Less Stress, Better Blood Pressure
Having s*x could lower your stress, and your blood pressure.
That finding comes from a Scottish study of 24 women and 22 men who kept records of their s*xual activity. The researchers put them in stressful situations, such as speaking in public and doing math out loud, and checked their blood pressure.
People who had had in*******se responded better to stress than those who engaged in other s*xual behaviors or abstained.
Another study published in the same journal found that diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number of your blood pressure) tends to be lower in people who live together and often have s*x. And yet another study found that women who get lots of hugs from their partner tend to have better blood pressure.
2. S*x Boosts Immunity
Having s*x once or twice a week has been linked with higher levels of an antibody called immunoglobulin A or IgA, which can protect you from getting colds and other infections.
So say scientists at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. They studied 112 college students who kept records of how often they had s*x and also provided saliva samples for the study. Those who had s*x once or twice a week had higher levels of IgA, an antibody that could help you avoid a cold or other infections, than other students.
3. S*x Burns Calories
Thirty minutes of s*x burns 85 calories or more. It may not sound like much, but it adds up: 42 half-hour sessions will burn 3,570 calories, more than enough to lose a pound. Doubling up, you could drop that pound in 21 hour-long sessions.
“S*x is a great mode of exercise,” says Patti Britton, PhD, a Los Angeles s*xologist. It takes work, from both a physical and psychological perspective, to do it well, she says.
4. S*x Improves Heart Health
Having s*x may be good for your heart. A 20-year-long British study shows that men who had s*x twice or more a week were half as likely to have a fatal heart attack than men who had s*x less than once a month.
And although some older folks may worry that the s*x could cause a stroke, that study found no link between how often men had s*x and how likely they were to have a stroke.
5. Better Self-Esteem
Boosting self-esteem was one of 237 reasons people have s*x, collected by University of Texas researchers and published in the Archives of S*xual Behavior.
That finding makes sense to Gina Ogden, PhD, a s*x therapist and marriage and family therapist in Cambridge, Mass., although she finds that those who already have self-esteem say they sometimes have s*x to feel even better.
“One of the reasons people say they have s*x is to feel good about themselves,” she says. “Great s*x begins with self-esteem. … If the s*x is loving, connected, and what you want, it raises it.”
Of course, you don’t have to have lots of s*x to feel good about yourself. Your self-esteem is all about you — not someone else. But if you’re already feeling good about yourself, a great s*x life may help you feel even better.
6. Deeper Intimacy
Having s*x and or***ms boosts levels of the hormone oxytocin, the so-called love hormone, which helps people bond and build trust.
In a study of 59 women, researchers checked their oxytocin levels before and after the women hugged their partners. The women had higher oxytocin levels if they had more of that physical contact with their partner.
Higher oxytocin levels have also been linked with a feeling of generosity. So snuggle up — it might help you feel more generous toward your partner.
7. S*x May Turn Down Pain
Here’s another thing the love hormone, oxytocin, does: It boosts your body’s painkillers, called endorphins. So if your headache, arthritis pain, or PMS symptoms seem to improve after s*x, that may be why.
In one study, 48 people inhaled oxytocin v***r and then had their fingers pricked. The oxytocin cut their pain threshold by more than half.
8. More Ejaculations May Make Prostate Cancer Less Likely
Frequent ej*******ons, especially in 20-something men, may lower the risk of getting prostate cancer later in life, some research shows.
For instance, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that men who had 21 or more ej*******ons a month, were less likely to get prostate cancer than those who had four to seven ej*******ons per month.
Of course, that study doesn’t prove that ej*******ons were the only factor that mattered. Many things affect a person’s odds of developing cancer. The researchers did take that into consideration, and the findings still held.
9. Stronger Pelvic Floor Muscles
For women, doing pelvic floor muscle exercises called Kegels may mean will enjoy more pleasure — and, as a perk, less chance of incontinence later in life.
To do a basic Kegel exercise, tighten the muscles of your pelvic floor, as if you’re trying to stop the flow of urine. Count to three, then release.
10. Better Sleep
The oxytocin released during or**sm also promotes sleep, research shows.
Getting enough sleep has also been linked with a host of other health perks, such as a healthy weight and better blood pressure. Something to think about, especially if you’ve been wondering why your guy can be active one minute and snoring the next.
