Everything related to sex is always beautiful. It is truly impossible to describe the exhilarating moment of getting close and touching your partner. When lips and bodies touch, there are fireworks and explosions that make you feel like you’re on top of the world. Sex becomes more wonderful with the intimacy that comes with love, trust and understanding. This highly intimate gesture not only gives you and your partner intense pleasure, but also helps you sleep well, relieve stress and release happy endorphins in the body. And on top of that, it burns tons of calories! With so many incredible benefits at your disposal, why not want to have sex every day? Or at least you don’t bring sex into your life on a regular basis?
Ideal Frequency for Having Sex
A 2015 study found that overall well-being was only partially related to sexual frequency. Relationship satisfaction gradually increased from not having sex to having sex once a week, but did not improve any further or even slightly decreased at this point. One sexual encounter per week is fairly consistent with the current average. However, our increasingly busy lives may be getting in the way of having more sex. Proof of this is that in 2010 adults had nine times less sex per year, compared to the frequency of sex in the 1990s.
Average Sexual Frequency
- Average adult: 54 times per year (about once per week)
- Adults in their 20s: Around 80 times per year
- Adults in their 60s: 20 times per year
Emotional Intimacy
Sex isn’t just about physical intimacy. It helps create a stronger emotional bond between two partners. For any relationship to be successful, it is important that the people involved are on the same emotional page, and having sex is a great way to build that emotional intimacy.
Cardiovascular Health
A recent study says that men who have sex more than twice a week, have a lesser risk of getting a heart attack, than men who had sex less than once a month. Sexual activity (but not masturbation) has been linked with lower systolic blood pressure.11 Elevated blood pressure increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. Sexual activity helps dilate blood vessels, increasing the delivery of oxygen and nutrients throughout the body while reducing blood pressure.
Immunity
Regular lovemaking increases the level of the immune-boosting antibody immunoglobulin A (IgA), making your body stronger against illnesses such as colds and fevers. Having sex protects the body against germs, viruses and other intruders. Researchers at Wilkes University in Pennsylvania found that college students who had sex once or twice a week had higher levels of immunoglobulin A than students who had less sex.
Stress
When you’re stressed because of work or family issues, don’t let it affect your performance in the bedroom. Being close to your partner can relieve stress and anxiety. Having sex not only improves your mood, it has also proven that people who enjoy regular bedroom activities are better able to cope with stress and are happier people.
Pain
Headache may prevent you from making love, but on the contrary, sex is good for pain. When orgasm is about to occur, the level of the hormone oxytocin increases fivefold. These endorphins actually reduce aches and pains. “Orgasm can block pain,” says Barry R. Komisaruk, PhD, a distinguished service professor at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. It releases a hormone that helps raise your pain threshold. Stimulation without orgasm can also do the trick. “We’ve found that vaginal stimulation can block chronic back and leg pain, and many women have told us that genital self-stimulation can reduce menstrual cramps, arthritic pain, and in some cases even headache,” Komisaruk says.
Longevity
When one has an orgasm, a hormone called dehydroepiandrosterone is released. This improves immunity, repairs tissue and keeps the skin healthy. Men, who have at least two orgasms a week, live longer than men who have sex just once every few weeks.
Blood Circulation
As the heart rate increases during sex, fresh blood comes to the organs and cells. As the body removes used blood, it also flushes out toxins and other substances that make you feel tired.
Sleep
The sleep that you get just after you’ve made love will be much more relaxed. Getting a good night’s sleep will make you feel alert and overall healthy. “After orgasm, the hormone prolactin is released, which is responsible for the feelings of relaxation and sleepiness” after sex, says Sheenie Ambardar, MD. She is a psychiatrist in West Hollywood, Calif.
Exercise
“Sex is a really great form of exercise,” Pinzone says. It won’t replace the treadmill, but it does matter. Sex consumes about five calories per minute, four more than watching television. It gets your heart rate up and uses a variety of muscles. “As with exercise, consistency helps maximize benefits,” Pinzone says. If you can’t find time to go to the gym or exercise at home, it’s a great way to help you shed those extra pounds and stay fit. Regular sex will do wonders for your waistline. Half an hour of lovemaking burns more than 80 calories.
Hormone Levels
In men, the hormone testosterone is what makes them more passionate in the sack. Not only will it make you feel way better in bed, but it also improves your muscles and bones, keeps your heart healthy and keeps a check on your cholesterol. In women, on the other hand, the hormone oestrogen protects them against heart disease and also determines a woman’s body scent.
Depression
Sex, any other form of exercise, also prompts the brain to release feel-good chemicals that increase happy hormone levels. These chemicals also help increase levels of serotonin, which acts as a neurotransmitter and is one of the body’s most important antidepressant chemicals. Thus, it helps to reduce the chances of falling into depression.
Feel Better
According to a research, people who had sex in the morning coped better with their daily stress better and even sailed through the day in a good mood. Thanks to all the happy hormones produced after a session of sex, couples are armed with a smile to all the challenges that life throws at them daily.
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