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Just Some More Reasons to Have Sex
| quote: | From managing migraines to alleviating arthritis pain, find out why making love may be just what the doctor ordered.
by Marcia Kaye (homemakers.com)
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How would you feel about an activity that can burn calories, strengthen your immune system, improve circulation, relieve pain, tone muscles, counter depression, make you look younger and use equipment you already own and is absolutely free?
It's not the latest wonder drug or aerobic workout, it's as ancient as human life itself. Sex, especially regular sexual activity with a caring partner, confers many emotional and psychological health benefits, and there's a growing body of evidence to prove it. Dr. John Bancroft, a psychiatrist and director of the world-famous Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction, based in Bloomington, Ind., says there's no doubt about it: "Having a rewarding and enjoyable relationship with sexual intimacy is good for you."
Kristina Towill, a registered marital and sex therapist in Kelowna, B.C., says that while the physical act itself carries some benefits, the milieu of a loving relationship multiplies those benefits many times over. "Sex in the context of a relationship bolsters mental health and emotional well-being for both men and women. The research shows that couples who are sexually active are happier than couples who aren't," says Towill.
Legal, non-fattening, and requiring no membership fees, sex may be just what the doctor ordered.
The 20-Minute Workout
It's no Boston marathon (well, OK, maybe some people come close), but sex may be more of a physical workout than we once thought. Dr. Jay Lee, a Calgary urologist with a special interest in sexual medicine for men, women and couples, says, "We now say that for men, the energy expended during sex equates to a game of golf -- carrying your own clubs."
And for women? Those studies haven't been done (volunteers can form a line to the right). But because a woman's energy expenditure during sex is so variable, the workout potential can range anywhere from that of a round of mini-putt, to that of a challenging 18-hole course with hills, to that of sitting in the cart with a glass of iced tea. Some calorie-expenditure charts say that for the average 145-pound Canadian woman, 20 minutes of moderate sex burns about 93 calories -- more than a 20-minute stroll or leisurely cycling, about as much as doubles tennis.
Like any exercise, sex can increase breathing rates, strengthen muscles, boost circulation and improve cholesterol levels. (But it differs from most other body-contact sports in that special gear is optional.) Sex revs up the heart rate, and there's an increasingly strong correlation between sexual frequency and cardiac disease, says Dr. Richard Casey, an Oakville, Ont., urologist and editor of the Journal of Sexual and Reproductive Medicine. A study from Wales followed more than 900 men aged 45 to 59 for 10 years. Compared to those who had two or more orgasms per week, those with far fewer orgasms had twice the death rate from cardiovascular disease and other causes.
Tonight Darling, I Have a Headache!
Have sex within an hour of getting a migraine, and you could literally be feeling no pain. Of 34 subjects in an Illinois study, 11 -- all women -- experienced complete or partial relief from their classic migraines after having sex that included orgasms. (In a few unlucky people, sex can sometimes trigger a headache.) Other studies have found that sex can relieve menstrual cramps and arthritis pain. It seems that arousal and orgasm triggers an endorphin rush in the brain, which acts as an analgesic, or pain blocker. With migraines, the serotonin released during orgasm causes a constriction of the dilated blood vessels in the brain that were causing the migraine. "The increase in endorphins lasts for an estimated one to three hours," says Lee.
The Immunity Idol
Can sex fight viruses? A 1999 study from Wilkes University in Wilkes Barre, Penn., found that in about 111 college students, those who had sex once or twice a week had significantly higher IgA -- a marker of the strength of the immune system -- compared to abstainers. Some scientists suggest that this is a chicken-or-egg scenario: Perhaps it's the case that healthy people (that is, those with higher IgA levels) are more likely to have sex anyway. But then why did the students who had very frequent sex, at least three times a week, have lower IgA levels than those who had no sex at all? One possibility, researchers postulate, is that those in the very-frequent sex group tend to be obsessive, and anxiety lowers IgA levels.
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| quote: | | Scott has been introduced to the rave scene, and Ecstasy, by Craig. The two of them go out on the weekends, with some of Craigs friends, and stay up all night, dancing in a drug-fueled trance. |
Last edited by Moral Hazard on Apr-26-2011 at 07:48
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