Six reasons that sex is good for your health

Sex is wonderful. Sex is fun.

If this doesn’t sound like sex to you, then you’re not doing it right.

And we should need few other reasons to motivate ourselves to keep doing it as much as possible.

But we’re going to give them to you anyway, because it turns out that getting down and dirty can bring a multitude of health benefits as well as making you feel fantastic.

It’s good for your brain
Researchers from Oxford and Coventry University found a link between regular sexual activity and improved brain function in older adults.

After asking 73 people aged 50-83 how often on average they’d had sex in the past 12 months and about their general health and lifestyle, they found that people who had sex at least once a week scored higher on cognitive function tests.

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Specifically on ones that measured their visuospatial ability and verbal fluency, which sounds good to us.

Ithelps you sleep better
Dr Michele Lastella, a sleep researcher at Appleton Institute for Behavioural Science at CQ University who’s currently researching into the relationship between sleep and sex, told SBS that sex might help us have a better quality of sleep.

“It is possible that sex, particularly with a partner and orgasm, may aid better quality of sleep,” she said.

“From our preliminary data it appears that over 60% of people indicate that their sleep improves after sex that is with a partner and involves an orgasm.”

It reduces cancer risk
A Harvard University study found that men that ejaculate at least 21 times a month – by having sex or going solo – decrease their prostate cancer risk.

Researchers analysed the data of 31,925 healthy men, who completed a questionnaire about their ejaculation back in 1992 and were followed until 2010.

And they found that those that ejaculated at least 21 times a month – compared to those that ejaculated 4-7 times a month – had their cancer risk go down in both age groups.

It’sgood for the heart
Even more good news for men, as having sex several times in a week can lead to healthier blood vessels and better circulation.

Which researchers from the National Defence Medical Centre in Taiwan say is crucial for preventing buildup of the chemical homocysteine.

Though it’s rare, people with very high levels of it are at higher risk of having a cardiovascular event such as a heart attack or stroke.

And after tracking more than 2,000 men and women aged from 20 to 59 and analysing their blood samples, they found that men claiming to have sex at least twice a week showed the lowest traces of the chemical.

It could fendoff the dreaded flu
A study by Wilkes University researchers back in 1999 found that people who had sex less than once a week had a small increase in immunoglobulin A – an antibody crucial to the immune system – over those who totally abstained.

It’s your body’s first line of defence when it comes to keeping away colds and flu, so no harm in having a little more of it.

It could make you look younger
Former head of Old Age Psychology at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Dr David Weeks, found in his research that those that look younger than their age claim to have sex 50% more on average than those that don’t.

He told The Telegraph: “Sexual satisfaction is a major contributor to quality of life, ranking at least as high as spiritual or religious commitment and other morale factors, so more positive attitudes towards mature sex should be vigorously promoted.”

This could, of course, be that young-looking people have more sex as opposed to the other way around – but we won’t tell if you won’t.

Words by Alice Sholl

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