Healthy Reasons to Have Sex Right NOW.

Yesterday, on New Years Eve, I suggested you all resolve to do something actually reasonable (Resolution Time) and resolve to have more sex in 2011.  So today, lets explore why it's such a good, and HEALTHY reason to make this resolution, and I'm not blowing smoke up your ass here (pun maybe intended - we are talking about sex!)... And this is actually scientifically proven, this shit comes from a real news source, CBSNews and they quoted WebMD. . . So hot damn. 

You know, being the "family" channel - CBS stresses that sex should be in a loving relationship, and I say that's probably the optimal way, but hey, if you can't get in a long term relationship... I'm sure there are other ways to sexercise.  Just open up Craig's List... I know "Adult Services" doesn't Exist anymore, so you can't pick up hookers (or escorts for you more high class folks) but Casual Encounters is still going strong last time I checked and that works just as well.  Check out my blog on Craig's List Changes - No more "Adult Services!" 

So on to the Top 10 Reasons why you should resolve to have sex now!

1. Sex Relieves Stress
According to researchers in Scotland (reporting their findings in the journal of Biological Psychology - I'm constantly amazed at the number of Scientific publications - I wonder who reads all of them!), sex lowers blood pressure and provides overall stress reduction.  The researchers studied 24 women and 22 men who kept records of their sexual activity over time while the researchers subjected them to stressful situations like speaking in public and doing verbal arithmetic and noted their blood pressure in response to stress.  Lets just hope they didn't make them perform sexual acts while they were doing those stressful situations...  But the sexed up people had better responses to stress than those who engaged in other sexual behaviors or abstained. 

2. Sex Boosts Immunity

So having sex once or twice a week (not even all that much actually) has been linked with higher levels of an antibody (warning science content!) called  immunoglobulin A or IgA.  This antibody can protect you from getting colds and other infections (yes, that science content was worth it).  So, some scientists at Wilkes University took samples of saliva (spit for us uncivilized) which contained IgA from 112 college kids who reported their frequency of sex.  Those in the "frequent sex" group (once or twice a week - really for college kids?  that's it??? - had higher levels of IgA than the other 3 groups - those who reported being abstinent, or having sex less than once a week. 

3. Sex Burns Calories
"Sex is a great mode of exercise," says Patti Britton, PhD, a Los Angeles sexologist and president of the American Association of Sexuality Educators and Therapists. It takes work, from both a physical and psychological perspective, to do it well, she says.  Like I said in the Resolution Time blog, Thirty minutes of sex burns 85 calories or more. It may not sound like much, but it adds up: 42 half-hour sessions will burn 3,570 calories, more than enough to lose a pound. Doubling up, you could drop that pound in 21 hour-long sessions.

4. Sex Improves Cardiovascular Health
So, Hugh Hefner just engaged on Christmas Day to a 24 year old Playboy model.  I don't know about you, but I would think he might keel over during a good love making session.  Now, guess what... apparently I'm way wrong!  In a study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, scientists found frequency of sex was not associated with stroke in the 914 men they followed for 20 years.  The researchers also found that having sex twice or more a week reduced the risk of fatal heart attack by half for the men, compared with those who had sex less than once a month.  Sounds like Mr. Hefner is probably healthier than the rest of us with all the sex he's had over the years.  Hell, good luck to him!

5. Sex Boosts Self-Esteem
Seriously who can feel bad about themselves when someone likes them enough to want to see them naked and want them enough to have sex with them?  Yeah, no...  Now, I think this study is a little hookey, but apparently Boosting self-esteem was one of the 237 reasons people have sex -makes me wonder what the other 236 reasons were!  Gina Ogden, PhD, a sex therapist and marriage and family therapist in Cambridge, Mass says, "One of the reasons people say they have sex is to feel good about themselves. Great sex begins with self-esteem, and it raises it. If the sex is loving, connected, and what you want, it raises it."


6. Sex Improves Intimacy

Dang, this article was filled with research, researchers, and studies... But what else do I expect from a real news source!  Doing it and having orgasms while doing it increases the level of the hormone oxytocin (not to be confused with OxyContin which is a very strong pain drug that people like to abuse but also gives you that whoo-whoo feeling...).  Oxytocin, also called the love hormone helps us bond and trust (what you don't want for one ngiht stands!)   Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and the University of North Carolina evaluated 59 premenopausal women before and after warm contact with their husbands and partners ending with hugs. Tey found that the more contact, the higher the oxytocin levels.  So, side note... if you want to avoid that bonding and trusting... avoid the extra contract, the extra snuggling at the end... think wham, bam, and thank you ma'am...  Not my preferred method, but if you don't want to have the attachments of intimacy but with the health benefits... avoid the oxytocin!

7. Sex Reduces Pain
But, for pain reduction... lets keep that oxytocin going ...  as the oxytocin increases so do endorphins and pain declines.  Awesome news for those headaches, arthritis, backaches, or for the women in the audience - PMS!  More studies.....   In a study published in the Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine, 48 volunteers who inhaled oxytocin vapor and then had their fingers pricked lowered their pain threshold by more than half.  Not bad odds, and I'll take it... 

8. Sex Reduces Prostate Cancer Risk
For the men in the audience, this is excellent news... especially as the incidence of prostate cancer seems to rise each year.  If men ejaculate five or more times weekly in their 20's (that's less than once a day - and from stories I hear - that's NOTHING if you are just counting self pleasure and not even counting the sex!), especially those in their 20's, it may reduce the risk of prostate cancer later in life by a third. Another study, reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that frequent ejaculations, 21 or more a month, were linked to lower prostate cancer risk in older men, as well, compared with less frequent ejaculations of four to seven monthly.

9. Sex Strengthens Pelvic Floor Muscles
And for the women, doing a few pelvic floor muscle exercises known as Kegels during sex offers a couple of benefits. (And if you don't know what Kegels are - look it up RIGHT NOW!) You will enjoy more pleasure, and you'll also strengthen the area and help to minimize the risk of incontinence later in life.  Besides, the fact that stronger pelvic floor muscles provide for better sex for you AND your partner!

10. Sex Helps You Sleep Better
And more good news on the oxytocin... it helps promote sleep, which also helps you meet new years resolution #2 in Resolution Time post!  And we know what a great think sleep is!