January 31, 2007

• Health benefits of nookie

  What with valentines day coming up and all

  this one’s for you mary

  from Forbes Magazine:
  
  The best that modern science can say for
  abstinence is that it’s harmless when practiced in moderation. “Saving
  yourself” before the big game, the big business deal, the big hoe-down
  or the big bakeoff may indeed confer some moral advantage; but
  physiologically it does zip.

  Having
  regular and enthusiastic sex, by contrast, confers a host of measurable
  physiological advantages, be you male or female. (This assumes that you
  are engaging in sex without contracting a sexually transmitted
  disease.)

  In one
  of the most credible studies correlating overall health with sexual
  frequency, Queens University in Belfast tracked the mortality of about
  1,000 middle-aged men over the course of a decade. The study was
  designed to compare people of similar age and health. Its findings,
  published in 1997 in the British Medical Journal, were that men who
  reported the highest frequency of orgasm enjoyed a death rate half that
  of the laggards. Other studies (some rigorous, some less so) purport to
  show that having sex even a few times a week has an associative or
  causal relationship with the following

  • Improved sense of smell: After sex,
    production of the hormone prolactin surges. This, in turn, causes stem
    cells in the brain to develop new neurons in the brain’s olfactory
    bulb, its smell center.
  • Reduced risk of
    heart disease: In a 2001 follow-up to the Queens University study
    mentioned above, researchers focused on cardiovascular health. Their
    finding? That by having sex three or more times a week, men reduced
    their risk of heart attack or stroke by half.
  • Weight
    loss, overall fitness: Sex, if nothing else, is exercise. A vigorous
    bout burns some 200 calories — about the same as running 15 minutes on
    a treadmill or playing a spirited game of squash. The pulse rate, in a
    person aroused, rises from about 70 beats per minute to 150, the same
    as that of an athlete putting forth maximum effort
  • British researchers have determined that the
    equivalent of six Big Macs can be worked off by having sex three times
    a week for a year. Muscular contractions during intercourse work the
    pelvis, thighs, buttocks, arms, neck and thorax. Sex also boosts
    production of testosterone, which leads to stronger bones and muscles.
    Men’s Health magazine has gone so far as to call the bed the single
    greatest piece of exercise equipment ever invented.
  • Reduced
    depression: A study of 293 women in 2002 had the same implications.
    American psychologist Gordon Gallup reported that sexually active
    participants whose male partners did not use condoms were less subject
    to depression than those whose partners did. One theory of causality:
    Prostoglandin, a hormone found only in semen, may be absorbed in the
    female genital tract, thus modulating female hormones.
  • Pain
    relief: Immediately before orgasm, levels of the hormone oxytocin surge
    to five times their normal level. This, in turn, releases endorphins,
    which alleviate the pain of everything from headaches to arthritis to
    even migraines. In women, sex also prompts production of estrogen,
    which can reduce the pain of PMS.
  • Less
    frequent colds and flu: Wilkes University in Pennsylvania says
    individuals who have sex once or twice a week show 30 percent higher
    levels of an antibody called immunoglobulin A, which is known to boost
    the immune system.
  • Better bladder
    control: Heard of Kegel exercises? You do them, whether you know it or
    not, every time you stem your flow of urine. The same set of muscles is
    worked during sex.
  • Better teeth:
    Seminal plasma contains zinc, calcium and other minerals shown to
    hinder tooth decay. Since this is a family web site, we will omit
    discussion of the mineral delivery system. Suffice it to say that it
    could be a far richer, more complex and more satisfying experience than
    squeezing a tube of Crest — even Tartar Control Crest. Researchers have
    noted, parenthetically, that sexual etiquette usually demands the
    brushing of one’s teeth before and/or after intimacy, which, by itself,
    would help promote better oral hygiene.
  • A
    happier prostate? Some urologists believe they see a relationship
    between infrequency of ejaculation and cancer of the prostate. The
    causal argument goes like this: To produce seminal fluid, the prostate
    and the seminal vesicles take such substances from the blood as zinc,
    citric acid and potassium, and then concentrate them up to 600 times.
    Any carcinogens present in the blood likewise would be concentrated.
    Rather than have concentrated carcinogens hanging around causing
    trouble, it’s better to evict them. A study published by the British
    Journal of Urology International asserts that men in their 20s can
    reduce, by a third, their chance of getting prostate cancer by
    ejaculating more than five times a week.

  -J

  • 12:59 am
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