Benefits of Having Sex

You may be surprised by the benefits of having sex.

Have you ever stopped to think about the reasons for having sex? Have you ever thought that the benefits of it can go beyond simply procreating or having a few minutes of pleasure?

Science has discovered that sex has numerous health benefits that go far beyond the sheets. From improving self-esteem to preventing serious diseases. Sex is an antidote to health, as important as physical exercise and good nutrition.

For both men and women, sex has lifelong benefits. It is like a protection for the human body.

And many of these benefits have to do with the brain. That’s where almost everything happens and that’s why sex is so good.

I confess that, when I started to study the subject to write about the benefits of having sex, I had no idea how many health benefits it could bring. Nature is so perfect that everything was planned so that, in addition to pleasure, your own body would benefit from sex.

Let’s check these benefits then?

1.      Boost Your Immune System

One huge benefit of sex is its impact on the immune system. According to researches, sex defends the body against germs, viruses, and other intruders. Sex equals fewer sick days.

“Sexually active people take fewer sick days,” says Yvonne K. Fulbright, PhD a sexual health expert. Of course, you should do things such as eating well, exercising, having enough sleep. Sex is one more thing to do in order to boost your immune system.

2.      Boost Your Libido

More sex can boost your libido. Also, sex can help to combat vaginal dryness, irritation and pain. Menopause, instead of many people believe, is another good reason to keep having sex. A good thing to do in this moment of life is to talk to a doctor about what you can do in order to lower symptoms. Lubricants, moisturizers help a lot. So do beautiful lingerie!

“Having sex will make sex better and will improve your libido.”

Lauren Streicher, MD., an assistant clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

 

3.      Improve Women’s Bladder Control

Did you know that incontinence affect about 30% of women in some point of life? And did you know that a strong pelvic floor can avoid it?

Good sex is like a workout for your pelvic floor muscles. When you have an orgasm, it causes contractions in those muscles, which strengthens them.

Orgams strength and tone pevic floor muscles. It helps women to have less problems with urine leaks.

 4. Lower Your Blood Pressure

A Scottish study published in the journal Biological Psychology found that sexual activity prevents increases in blood pressure during stressful moments. Sex can help people to lower high blood pressure. You should not replace blood-pressure lowering drugs for sex, but it can help you to keep yours lower.

 5. Burn calories

Sex counts as exercise. That’s awesome! According to a 2013 study results, energy expenditure during sexual activity appears to be approximately 85 kCal or 3.6 kCal/min in young healthy men and women. These results suggest that sexual activity may potentially be considered, at times, as a significant exercise.

 6. Lower Heart Attack Risk

Having sex up to two times a week may prevent you from dying of heart disease, according to researches.

According to a study published in January 2015 in the American Journal of Cardiology, men who had sex twice weekly or more had less risk of cardiovascular diseases, like stroke or heart attack.

 7. Lessen Pain

Studies show that intense sexual activity is able to reduce pain in general, such as menstrual cramps, back pain, leg pain and even migraine.

Sex can reduce pain sensation, as orgasm is able to release hormones that block pain signals.

“We’ve found that vaginal stimulation can block chronic back and leg pain, and many women have told us that genital self-stimulation can reduce menstrual cramps, arthritic pain, and in some cases even headache.”

Barry R. Komisaruk, PhD, a professor at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.

 

 8. Improve Sleep

As orgasm releases the prolactin hormone, a natural sleep aide, you feel more relaxed and sleep better.

As says Sheenie Ambardar, MD., a psychiatrist in West Hollywood, Calif:

“After orgasm, the hormone prolactin is released, which is responsible for the feelings of relaxation and sleepiness”.

And do you know what happens when you sleep more? Libido increases!

A 2015 study shows that women who got a good night’s sleep were more likely to experience sexual desire the next day. 

 9. Relieve Stress

Maybe sex isn’t something you think about in times of great stress. But you should consider this possibility, since sex releases various substances in your brain that relieve stress, such as dopamine and oxytocin, in addition to reducing cortisol.

Sex can relieve you from stress. That’s because all the actions involved such as touching, kissing, hugging and sexual intimacy releases substances in our brains that helps to lower stress effects in our bodies.

 10. Prostate Cancer

Good news for men: A study from 2004 shows that chances of developing prostate cancer can be lower with more ejaculations. A study showed that men who ejaculated more than 21 times/month had lower chances of this kind of cancer than people who did for about four times/month.

11. Prolong your life

With so many positive aspects and benefits that sex can bring, there is no doubt that, naturally, just by bringing good health results, it is able to prolong life.

According to British scientists at the University of Bristol, who studied 900 middle-aged men, students who had sex once a month or less, compared to those who reported it twice a week had half the death rate.

12. Act as a natural antidepressant

In 2002, a study of University at Albany with 300 women showed that those that had sex without a condom had less depression symptoms that those used a condom. That’s because there are some substances in semen, like estrogen and prostaglandin, that have antidepressant effects on women’s body.

13. Improve your memory as you age

It is natural that, over the years, our memory will no longer be the same and begin to show some flaws.

A study by Australian researchers in 2018 showed that sex can improve the memory of older people, with a correlation between the frequency of sexual activity and memory performance.

The study showed that, among more than 6000 participating adults over 50 years of age, sex has positive effects on memory.

14. Improve Partner Intimacy

Nothing can be better for health than a strengthened relationship. Sex is able to strengthen the bonds of a relationship as a couple, generating more trust and empathy.

The simple fact that sex provides a better mood is enough to keep relationships at a better level.

A report published in March 2017 in the journal Psychological Science showed that, after keeping a 2-week sex life diary, newlywed couples were able to remain in a very good mood with each other for up to 48 hours after intercourse. Those who managed to keep their sexual activity up to date reported months of marital happiness.

15. Improve Skin and hair health

If you have read this article so far you already know that sex releases some hormones in our body. One of them is estrogen, a hormone capable of helping to improve the appearance of skin and hair, preventing and aging.

Another benefit of sex to the health of the skin and hair is the reduction of cortisol, the stress hormone, capable of reaching mainly the skin of the face, causing wrinkles, dark circles and premature aging. Cortisol also causes hair loss and hair thinning.

As sex fights cortisol, we can believe that it is able to keep us free from some stress results.

16. Boost chances of getting pregnant

It may seem a little obvious that sexual activity increases the chances of pregnancy, but people with that intention tend to focus more on the fertile days of the month.

Studies from 2015 showed that for those couples who are trying to conceive, it may be better to have sex every day.

There is no evidence from this study that daily sex will increase fertility, though Lorenz (one of those who carried out the studies) believes that the more your immune system gets the message that it’s time to reproduce, the more this could eventually increase your chances of pregnancy.

It is amazing the benefits of having sex and how few people know it!

I believe that from now on your way of seeing sex goes beyond the immediate pleasure it is capable of generating.

To think that sexual activity can result in a better quality of life, is to take more care of your health.

Sources:

This tool does not provide medical advice.

https://www.medicinenet.com/sexual_health_pictures_slideshow/article.htm

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https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jsm.12858/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC387502//

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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26385401/