You might have often heard people saying a healthy sex life is important. And sex is great — there’s no doubt about that. But did you know that getting busy with your partner can actually help you live a longer life? Wondering how? Read on and be amazed at how sex impacts your overall health.
1. Gives Your Immunity A Boost
Having sex often makes your body more resistant to illnesses because it improves your immune system. Those who have sex at least once a week have been found to have higher levels of the antibody immunoglobulin A (IgA) than those who have sex less frequently.1 This antibody is what protects you from germs and foreign substances, preventing you from falling sick often. However, keep in mind that this is alongside other steps to stay healthy like eating well, sleeping well, and vaccinating yourself.
2. Reduces Stress And Helps You Sleep Better
Indulge in a few intimate moments with your partner, and say goodbye to your stress. Your body releases a hormone called oxytocin when you have an orgasm during sex. This hormone not only makes you feel great after sex but is also said to counter the effect of the stress hormone cortisol, easing any stress you have.2 Furthermore, the oxytocin released after sex makes you feel relaxed, helping you sleep better.
3. Maintains Good Heart Health
Sex is a way of exercising your heart, so it’s bound to be good for you. Having sex is said to give you about 5 calories every minute and increase your heart rate and muscular activity. Then again, this is in addition to other forms of exercise like say cycling and walking.
What’s more is that if you have high blood pressure, getting busy could actually lower it. Research suggests that frequent sex helps lower your systolic blood pressure — the amount of pressure in your arteries when your heart muscles contract.3 Sex has also been found to possibly lower the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and other heart diseases.
4. Reduces Prostate And Breast Cancer Risk
Research suggests that men who ejaculate more often between their 20s and 50s are less likely to develop prostate cancer later on in life.4
That said, frequent sex doesn’t just protect men from cancer. Women who have frequent sex are also said to be less likely to develop breast cancer. However, research is required to properly establish these claims.
Other Benefits
- Oxytocin, which is the hormone released when you have sex, may benefit you if you have a headache or any other form of physical pain. In some cases, women have also been known to feel relief from menstrual pain thanks to frequent sex.
- Sex regulates hormone levels, promoting regular menstrual cycles and reducing menopause symptoms in women.
- Pelvic thrusts during sex exercise the muscles that control urine flow. This may help reduce the chances of the inability to control your urine as you age.
- A great sex life can elevate your mood instantly. Not just that, healthy sex can also make it easier for you to communicate your feelings with your partner and give you a great deal of self-esteem.
- Heightened levels of the hormone prolactin, which is released during sex, may help you smell better by causing brain stem cells to produce new nerve cells in the part of your brain responsible for smell.
These benefits of regular, healthy sex are sure to make you want to indulge in it more often, helping you live longer.
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