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Good for your head, skin and heart
If you want to stay healthy, a varied diet is important, as is sufficient exercise. But did you know that you can also work on your health in an even more fun way? Ten reasons why sex is so healthy.
1. Anti-stress
Sex relaxes and lowers blood pressure. This is shown by a Scottish study in which 24 women and 22 men had to do stressful things, such as speaking in public or doing math aloud. Test subjects who recently had sex were found to cope better with stress. Another study found that couples who live together and have sex often have a lower diastolic blood pressure to have.
2. Good for your immune system
112 students submitted saliva samples for a Wilkes University study. They also reported their activities between the sheets. Students who had sex once or twice a week were found to have more immunoglobulin A in their saliva than students who were less active in bed. Immunoglobulin A is an antibody that protects you against invaders such as bacteria and viruses.
3. Burn Calories
With half an hour of sex you burn 100 kilocalories or more. Maybe not as much as with a run or bike ride, but at least you don’t have to go to the gym. With a fanatic game of ‘sexercise’ you can even train your abdominal and leg muscles.
4. Healthy Heart
Sex twice a week reduces the risk of a heart attack in men. Sex gets your heart rate up. This makes your blood flow faster and that has a positive effect on your heart and blood vessels.
People who have once had a heart attack are sometimes afraid of another stroke if they want to resume their sex life. You don’t have to worry about that: if you can climb a few stairs without any problems, you can also have sex again.
5. More intimacy
When you hug someone, but also during an orgasm, you produce the hormone oxytocin. This is also known as the cuddle hormone. Oxytocin makes you feel connected to your partner. Also, the hormone is said to make you more sociable, loyal and less afraid.
6. Sleep well
Trouble falling asleep? Sex helps. The released oxytocin has a calming effect and ensures that you doze off more easily. Sleep well has many other health benefits. This way you will maintain your weight better if you get enough sleep.
7. Painkiller
In addition to oxytocin, your body also produces endorphins, a substance that suppresses pain and makes you feel good. Headaches don’t have to be an excuse: they can actually pass through sex.
8. Prostate
According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, men who ejaculate at least 21 times a month are less likely to develop prostate cancer than men who ejaculate 4 to 7 times a month. The exact link between sex and developing prostate cancer is not yet clear.
9. Keep the skin beautiful
People who are sexually active are found to be more attractive. During sex you produce sweat and the female hormone estrogen, which clears the pores. This way you get shiny hair and a more beautiful skin. Sex also produces the odor hormone pheromone, a substance that increases the attraction to others.
10. Strong Pelvic Floor
Women train their pelvic floor muscles during sex. you have strong pelvic floor muscles necessary for good bladder control: weakened pelvic floor muscles can lead to incontinence. Knowing where your pelvic floor muscles are will help you relax them when sex threatens to hurt and tighten them to increase the intensity.
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