Sex improves your health and here’s how.
- Making love is a physical activity whose energetic effort would be greater than a brisk walk at 4.8 km/h.
- Sexual activity strengthens the cardiovascular system and reduces the risk of stroke.
- According to one study, a third of men and 13% of women reported that sex relieved their headaches.
Depression, heart function, anxiety, sleep… Sex has many benefits for our health, both mental and physical. And scientific research proves it! The first argument comes from a study evaluating the energetic effort of a sexual relationship. This would be more important than a brisk walk at 4.8 km/h. In other words, sex is not comparable to sport, but it is definitely a physical activity.
Sex is good for heart health
“The benefits of regular sexual activity for the heart are multiple: sexual intercourse represents moderate physical effort comparable to climbing 20 steps at a good pace, explains Professor François Carrécardiologist at Rennes University Hospital and ambassador of French Federation of Cardiology (FFC). Like any physical activity, it helps to strengthen the myocardium, that is to say the heart muscle, which helps eliminate toxins from the body.”
In addition, having sex on a regular basis also reduces stress and the risk of depression thanks, according to the FFC, to the release of a multitude of hormones (serotonin, dopamine and endorphin) during orgasm.
When “sexuality (…) is experienced in well-being and fulfillment, (…) it will boost mental faculties, improve concentration and allow letting go, explain sexologist Magali Croset-Calisto, interviewed by Why doctor. It will help strengthen the cardiovascular system and reduce the risk of stroke. A study conducted in Pennsylvania a few years ago showed how people who have at least 2 sex per week cut their heart and stroke risks in half.”
Sex: a positive impact on sleep and health
Another benefit: Sex could contribute to better health and longer lives in people with hypertension, according to a study published in the journal The journal of sexual medicine. Indeed, scientists observed that participants who had 12 to 51 sexual encounters per year had a significantly lower risk of all-cause mortality than those who had less frequent sexual intercourse.
Finally, sexual intercourse also has a short-term virtue: reducing headaches. Indeed, according to a study published in the journal Cephalalgia, in some cases, making love can relieve people who suffer from headaches. In detail, a third of men and 13% of women who responded to the researchers’ questionnaire indicated that sex relieved their headaches.
Last positive point: sex improves sleep. “It’s not for nothing that we talk about a little death after orgasm because it increases the level of endorphins which promote falling asleep, especially in men, indicates sexologist Magali Croset-Calisto. It will also strengthen the muscles of the perineum and thus prevent incontinence.”
Sex is therefore positive for health, provided you protect yourself against sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
