Health benefits of sex
By Dr. J Mercola*
A good sex life is one way to stay happy, healthy and fit.
There are at least nine ways that having sex once a week can benefit your health. They are:
1. Get fewer colds because of an increase in immunoglobulin A, an antibody that fights infection
2. Women can get more predictable periods because of exposure to male pheromones
3. A better physical response to stress
4. Lower blood pressure, which lowers your risk of heart disease
5. Lower your bad cholesterol and increase your good cholesterol
6. Help tone your abs, gluts and pretty much any muscle in your body
7. Natural increases in estrogen improve the appearance of your hair, skin and nails
8. Improve your memory because blood flow increases to your brain
9. Increased feelings of motivation because of the release of endorphins
Boost your self esteem with more sex
And this is actually only the tip of the iceberg. Sex has also been found to boost self-esteem and improve intimacy in your relationship. This is because sex and orgasms result in increased levels of the hormone oxytocin — the “love” hormone — that helps you feel bonded to your partner.
As oxytocin increases, so do hormones known as endorphins, which in turn lessens feelings of pain related to everything from headaches and arthritis to symptoms of PMS. It can also help you to get a better night’s sleep.
Use sex to strengthen your muscles
Further, for women, having sex can help strengthen muscles of your pelvic floor (the same ones used to stop urination). As you age, having strong pelvic floor muscles reduces your risk of accidents.
Of course, these benefits are assuming you’re having sex with a mutually monogamous partner – otherwise you risk catching a sexually transmitted disease.
Sexual pleasure begins in your brain
Your brain and nervous system control your sex glands and genitals, and this is why they also control your sexual desire, as well as orgasms. This is why, for example, visual images trigger sexual desire in both sexes.
Your brain stem also emits nerve impulses that control erectile function. These nerve impulses navigate through the erection centre of your spinal column to the erectile tissue of your penis, where they trigger a chain reaction in the membranes of your vascular muscle cells.
This sophisticated chain reaction is dependent on a messenger molecule called cyclic guanosine monophosphate, or cGMP.
However, this works in reverse as well; an erection softens as soon as another enzyme called phosphodiesterase starts to degrade the cGMP molecules.
Drugs like Viagra, Levitra and Cialis work by inhibiting phosphodiesterase, which may help maintain your erection. But, these pills will not create an erection in and of themselves. Your initial erection still has to be triggered psychologically. Without that initial impetus, potency pills will have no effect whatsoever.
This is also why these pills are ineffective for many men who take them hoping for a magic jack-in-the-box effect.
Anxiety and fear take a toll on your libido
As you might suspect, because your sexuality is so intimately tied to your mind, anxiety, defensiveness, fear, and failure of communication are all destructive psychological forces that can take a heavy toll on your libido, whether you’re a man or a woman, by acting as road blocks to desire.
According to Professor Gert Holstege with the University of Groningen in the Nederlands, “Fear and anxiety need to be avoided at all costs if a woman wishes to have an orgasm.”
*About the author: Dr. Mercola founded one of the most visited health sites on the Internet, Mercola.com and has a practice, the Optimal Wellness Center, in the northwest suburbs of Chicago.For more information visit www.mercola.com
