SIX (6) GREAT THINGS SEX WILL DO FOR YOU
Most people learn the basics behind sex when Mom, Dad or the sex-ed
teacher sit them down for a talk about where babies come from. And sure,
sex is about reproduction. But it also has a number of pleasant side
effects that aren't quite as well-known. Here are six things (safe) sex
can do for you.
1.) Reduces Anxiety:
Sex may sometimes cause, ahem, performance anxiety, but fortunately
there's a cure: Sex! OK, maybe it isn't as simple as that, but sexual
activity has been shown to reduce anxiety in rodents and humans.
2.) Relaxes Nerves:
Sex can relax people, too, according to a study of 24 men and 22 women
who kept daily diaries of their sexual activity and then had to either
do arithmetic or speak in front of a crowd. People who reported more
sexual intercourse had lower blood pressure when performing these
stressful tasks. (Unfortunately for onanists, the results didn't apply
to masturbation.)
3.) Boost Immunity:
While you probably shouldn't get busy with someone with a cold, regular
sex may boost your immune system. A study presented at the Eastern
Psychological Association Convention in 1999 found that among
undergraduate students, those who had sex once or twice a week had
higher levels of the antibody immunoglobulin A, or IgA, compared with
students who fooled around less. IgA is found in saliva and mucosal
linings, and it is one of the body's first defenses against infections.
Don't get too excited, though: The study found that those who had sex
three times a week or more had levels of IgA comparable to those who
abstained from sex altogether, suggesting there's a happy medium. The
researchers speculated that moderate sexual activity exposes you to
other people's bugs, boosting the immune system, New Scientist magazine
reported at the time. The sexaholics, on the other hand, may have been
more anxious or stressed overall, which tends to lower immunity. So
watch it, and don't get yourself over worked!
4.) Makes You Happy:
No big surprise here; Sex and happiness go hand-in-hand. A 2004 study
published in the economics journal The American Economic Review asked
900 American women how various daily activities made them feel and found
that "intimate relations" topped the charts for happiness. (The morning
commute was the most unpleasant daily ritual.) A 2004 study of 16,000
Americans, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, found
that people who are happy tend to be the ones getting the most action.
The study estimated that boosting between-the-sheets time from once a
month to once a week was the happiness equivalent of getting a $50,000
raise. (Though type of sex matters: Men who paid for sex were less
happy, as were people who cheated on a spouse).
5.) Soothe Your Pain:
Orgasms don't just feel good; they ease pain. Research conducted at
Rutgers University has found that women have increased pain tolerance
and decreased pain detection during vaginal stimulation and orgasm. One
1985 study, published in the journal Pain, found that during vaginal
stimulation, women saw increases in their pain threshold of about 36
percent to 40 percent. Around orgasm, women's pain threshold increased
by 74.6 percent. The researchers are hoping they can isolate the
chemical or brain response that causes this immunity to pain, enabling
them to take the effect out of the bedroom and into day-to-day life.
6.) Decreases neuroticism:
Do you stress out about relationships? A regular sex life could ease
your fears. Newlyweds who score high in neuroticism – a trait marked by
mood swings and frequent worry – cope better in their marriages when
there's more sex. For most couples, frequency of sex at this stage of
marriage wasn't associated with happiness, but neurotic spouses seemed
to get a boost when things were active in the bedroom. Neuroticism tends
to make people unhappy, but sex wiped worries away, making neurotic
newlyweds as satisfied as their relaxed counterparts.
7.) Reduces prostate cancer risk:
Men, here's a good reason to get off: Ejaculation may reduce prostate
cancer risk. A 2004 study published in the Journal of the American
Medical Association followed 30,000 men, including about 1,500 who
eventually got prostate cancer, and found that an active sex life was
not associated with a higher risk of the disease. Men who ejaculated the
most – 21 times a month or more – were about one-third less likely to
develop prostate cancer than those who ejaculated between four and seven
times a month. The jury is still out on when and if adding extra
ejaculation to your life is helpful, however. Research on the topic has
been somewhat contradictory and the protective effect of ejaculation is
probably small. Perhaps the best approach is to have sex for sex's sake,
and let the side benefits fall where they may.
Information as regard this article was researched from LIVE SCIENCE archive. We can't validate the authenticity of this information, be it
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By: Moses S. Olarotimi
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