10 Health Benefits Of a Good Sex Life

16 October 2009 One Comment

Many people simply enjoy a healthy sex life because sex is pleasurable. Now there’s another reason to stay under the sheets; there are substantial health benefits of sex.

Here are ten different reasons why sex and sexual activity may help you live a longer, happier life due to the health benefits of sex:

1. Sex burns calories

Thirty minutes of sex 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.

2. Good sex reduce stress, sleep well

A recent survey revealed that people who have more sex reported that they felt more at ease, happier and learned how to handle stress better. So perhaps the term “sexual frustration” is not too far from the truth. After an orgasm, an intense wave of calm and relaxation overcomes humans (that’s why men usually fall asleep) and it’s a time when people can truly liberate themselves and let go. Plenty of people who enjoy a regular dose of sex convey that they sleep much better during the night and feel alive and refreshed throughout the day. So, one of the health benefits of sex is a better nights sleep, which allows you to handle day-to-day stress much more efficiently

3. Sex increase blood flow

It goes without saying that when we get aroused our blood starts to pump at a quicker rate and, thus, blood flow to our brain increases. Both an increased heart rate and more blood pumping through the brain result in better performance (in and out of the bedroom).

What this ultimately means is that the fresh supply of blood pumping through your body provides the organs with a healthy dose of oxygen and rids the body of old and wasteful products. So, another health benefit of sex is a cleansed system. Treat your temple right with the help of a little excitement.

4. Sex boosts self-esteem

Boosting self-esteem was one of 237 reasons people have sex, collected by University of Texas researchers and published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior.

That finding makes sense to Gina Ogden, PhD, a sex therapist and marriage and family therapist in Cambridge, Mass., although she finds that those who already have self-esteem say they sometimes have sex to feel even better. “One of the reasons people say they have sex is to feel good about themselves,” she tells WebMD. “Great sex begins with self-esteem, and it raises it. If the sex is loving, connected, and what you want, it raises it.”

5. Sex life improve mental health

Sex is considered to be a form of treatment for difficulties in a person’s mental health. Depression is common in a number of groups of people; however, it has been discussed that sex could be a tool to assist in relieving depression. As discussed above, sex is considered to be a form of exercise, and some people go as far as saying that exercise may be just as effective at treating depression as antidepressant medicines

6. Sex Reduces Pain

As the hormone oxytocin surges, endorphins increase, and pain declines. So if your headache, arthritis pain, or PMS symptoms seem to improve after sex, you can thank those higher oxytocin levels.

In a study published in the Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine, 48 volunteers who inhaled oxytocin vapor and then had their fingers pricked lowered their pain threshold by more than half.

7. More hormones are good

Both testosterone and estrogen levels experience a boost through regular sexual activity. Testosterone does more than just boost your sex drive, it helps fortify bones and muscles, and it keeps your heart in good working condition as well.

In women, sex increases the levels of estrogen, which protects against heart disease. Ever wonder why women love the touchy, feely stuff so much? It’s because of their rise in estrogen levels. This hormone also plays a huge role in a woman’s body scent. While estrogen makes women sentimental, a rise in their testosterone levels is what makes them desire penetration.

Men also produce estrogen and as they age, their estrogen levels increase while their testosterone levels drop. This reversal often results in men becoming somewhat calmer as they get on in years.

8. Good sex improve the senses

The feeling after sex is quite simply indescribable; however, not only does it leave you with an amazing feeling throughout your body, believe it or not it actually increases your sense of smell. Although this is probably the last thing you are thinking about after experiencing mind shattering, knee knocking, finger tingling sex, you will have produced the hormone ‘prolactin surges’. Alan Farnham in his article ‘Is Sex Necessary’ (Forbes.com) describes this hormone as causing stem cells in your brain to develop new neurons in the brain’s olfactory bulb (its smell centre).

9. Sex reduces prostate cancer risk

Frequent ejaculations, especially in 20-something men, may reduce the risk of prostate cancer later in life, Australian researchers reported in the British Journal of Urology International. When they followed men diagnosed with prostate cancer and those without, they found no association of prostate cancer with the number of sexual partners as the men reached their 30s, 40s, and 50s.

10. Sex Helps You Sleep Better

The oxytocin released during orgasm also promotes sleep, according to research.

And getting enough sleep has been linked with a host of other good things, such as maintaining a healthy weight and blood pressure. Something to think about, especially if you’ve been wondering why your guy can be active one minute and snoring the next.

Healthy Body, Healthy Sex

Health is important for life and sex. Without it, neither can exist. Sex is life and, certainly, life is a product of sex, but how good or bad it is depends entirely on you. By making slight changes to your lifestyle such as taking the stairs, joining a gym, getting off the couch and thinking about the quality of food you put in your system, you will finely tune your mind and body into sex-worthy shape. Maintain a healthy, active, focused life and your sex will improve immensely.