Sex is an essential part of life. It is not only about reproduction, but about pleasure, satisfaction, and intimacy as well. It can be enjoyed in different ways, such as vaginal sex, oral sex, anal sex, and even masturbation, and can provide a variety of benefits that can help boost your physical, mental, emotional, and social health.
What can sex do for a person’s health?
Various studies have found that sex is an excellent low-intensity cardiovascular workout that can do the following to your body:
- Sex can help you burn calories.
According to a research, men can burn up to 100 calories and women around 70 calories during an average sexual intercourse session, or about 3 to 4 calories per minute.
- Sex can lower your blood pressure levels.
Because it is considered a cardio exercise, just like running or swimming, sex can help keep your blood pressure low, and protect you against hypertension and other heart problems.
- Sex can strengthen your muscles.
During sex, you make use of different muscle groups in your body, such as the glutes, lower back, hips, and hamstrings.
- Sex can keep your sex drive or libido up.
Frequent sex can increase your testosterone levels and boost your sex drive or libido, allowing you to have more pleasurable times in the bedroom.
- Sex can improve your immune functions.
Having sex once or twice a week can increase your immunoglobulin, which is the antibody that serves as the first line of defense against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and also helps in the prevention of different types of infections and diseases.
- Sex can help you sleep better.
Every time you orgasm, your body releases the hormones oxytocin and endorphins, which, when together, produce a sedative effect, allowing you to get sufficient and good quality sleep every night.
- Sex can get rid of headaches and migraines.
A study found that having sex during a headache or migraine attack can significantly reduce the pain.
- Sex can enhance your mental health.
Just like exercise, among the benefits that you can get from being sexually active are reduced stress and anxiety levels, and increased energy and happiness.
What should you do to become more sexually active?
1. Exercise
You can have more sex if you have a healthy heart. With regular cardiovascular exercise and workout regimen, you can make your heart stronger and manage your hormone levels better. It can also ensure that blood is properly circulated in your body so that your libido and erections do not fail you.
2. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables
Many fruits and vegetables are natural libido-boosters that should be great for keeping you sexually active. For instance, you should eat more bananas as they are loaded with potassium, a nutrient that is instrumental in keeping your sexual performance and overall health in good condition. You should also try to add more peppers, onions, and garlic into your daily diet as they have the ability to boost your blood flow and reduce inflammation, hypertension, and other heart complications.
3. Quit unhealthy habits
Drinking too much and smoking are two common bad habits that a lot of people have. They have been shown over and over to have debilitating effects to the body, as they contain several compounds and substances that can damage vital organs and impact one’s sexual performance.
4. Stay away from stress
For a lot of people, stress is an inevitable part of life. It can negatively affect all aspects of your health — physically, mentally, emotionally, and sexually. If you are often stressed out, your risk of increased heart rate and high blood pressure levels rises, and this can make getting an erection or achieving an orgasm difficult during sex.
5. Spend time outdoors
The sun is an excellent source of vitamin D, which is a nutrient that can contribute to improving your cardiovascular health and sexual function. It can also prevent your body from producing melatonin, which is a hormone that induces sleep and suppresses your sexual urges.
6. Talk to your partner
When it comes to sex, having open communication lines with your partner can strengthen your intimacy and relationship. You should not only think about what satisfies or pleasure you, but also what satisfies or pleasures them. If you can build a mutually beneficial bond, the both of you will be able to enjoy your sexual encounters a lot more.
7. Consult a doctor
Regular medical exams are crucial to keeping your sexual health in check. There are many diseases and disorders that can threaten your sexual functions, and many of them can easily be prevented or cured if detected early on. Any moment you notice something out of the ordinary, such as low libido, difficulty getting an erection, having a strange rash on your penis, or blood in your urine, you should not hesitate to pay your doctor a visit to find out what the problem is and get treatment for it right away.
What happens if you do not have sex?
If you are on a dry spell, even if you are doing your best to get laid, you may experience some negative effects that can be harmful to your physical, mental, and emotional states.
Because having sex regularly can better your immune system, no sex can decrease your ability to ward off illnesses. The reason for this is because more sex facilitates higher production of antibodies that can help effectively prevent infections and diseases.
Furthermore, being celibate, especially if not by choice, can seriously hurt your self-esteem. You will start to question if there is something wrong with you, what your worth is, what you are not doing that the others are, and so many other things. You will be more stressed, anxious, angry, or depressed, and will likely have more trouble socially.
And, as a result of poor mental and emotional health, getting your sex drive going and having an erection for an enjoyable sex will be very challenging.
