Doing Your Homework
Researchers have been busy studying the beneficial effects of sex and are glad to report that they've found them. Forbes online reported on a longitudinal study of about 1,000 middle-aged men, conducted by Queens University in Belfast. The research findings were published in the British Medical Journal in 1997. Other studies continued this research and their results confirm the findings:
After sex, your sense of smell improves. This is why you get hungry! A good meal will also help you deal with depression — and if you order take-out or delivery, you don't have to leave home.
The risk of heart attack or stroke for men is cut in half for men who have sex three or more times per week.
Sex is good exercise. You can burn 200 calories during sex. That equates to 15 minutes on a treadmill. Researchers found that your pulse rate rises from about 70 beats per minute to 150 — that's equivalent to an athlete going full out.
What those scientists research is nothing short of amazing. Sex can help you control your weight. Getting that body in shape will help you work on improving that self-image. Those dedicated researchers determined that you can work off the equivalent of six Big Macs if you have sex three times a week for a year.
For women, as they approach orgasm, levels of the hormone oxytocin increase up to five times their normal level. This triggers a release of endorphins, which act as your body's personal pain relievers.
Getting older can mean less bladder control, and sex can help you with this embarrassing problem. Sex works the same muscles that control urine flow, so the more sex, the more you tone up! Do those Kegels!
When you're depressed, so is your immune system. According to a Wilkes University study, participants who engaged in sex once or twice a week had 30 percent higher levels of the antibody immunoglobulin A. That antibody is believed to give your immune system a boost.
And finally, for the men, how about a healthier prostate? Forbes online reports on a study published by the British Journal of Urology International that found men in their twenties can reduce their chances of getting prostate cancer by ejaculating more than five times a week.
What are Kegels?
Kegels, named for Dr. Arnold Kegel, a gynecologist who discovered them, are pelvic floor exercises that work to strengthen the pubococcygeus muscles. To clarify here, we're talking about the pelvic floor, not floor exercises! The exercises involve alternately tightening and then releasing these muscles.
With no reported drawbacks and several obvious benefits, healthy sex can go a long way toward helping you deal with the symptoms of depression.
