10 Health Benefits of Sex

Did you know that good sex is good for your health too? Each of these 10 health benefits of sex is backed by scientific data:

1. Sex Relieves Stress and Lowers Blood Pressure
. . .according to researchers from Scotland who reported their findings in the journal Biological Psychology. They studied 24 women and 22 men who kept records of their sexual activity. Then the researchers subjected them to stressful situations, such as speaking in public, and noted their blood pressure response to stress.

Those who had intercourse had better responses to stress than those who engaged in other sexual behaviors or abstained. Another study published in the same journal found that loving-partner sex was associated with lower diastolic blood pressure. Other research found a link between partner hugs and lower blood pressure in women.

2. Sex Boosts Immunity
Having sex once or twice a week has been linked with higher levels of an antibody called immunoglobulin A or IgA, which can protect you from getting colds and other infections. Scientists at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., took samples of saliva, which contain IgA, from 112 college students who reported the frequency of sex they had. Those in the "frequent" group -- once or twice a week -- had higher levels of IgA than those in the other three groups.

3. Sex Burns Calories
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 Heart Health
Researchers 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.

5. Sex Boosts Self-Esteem
Gina Ogden, PhD, a sex 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 Bonding and Trust
Having sex increases levels of the hormone oxytocin, the so-called love hormone, which helps us bond and build trust. "Oxytocin allows us to feel the urge to nurture and to bond," Britton says. Higher oxytocin has also been linked with a feeling of generosity. So if you're feeling suddenly more generous toward your partner than usual, credit the love hormone.

7. Sex Reduces Pain
As the hormone oxytocin surges, endorphins increase, and pain declines. So if your headache, arthritis pain, or PMS symptoms seem to improve after sex, you can thank those higher oxytocin levels.

8. Sex Reduces Prostate Cancer Risk
Australian researchers reported in the British Journal of Urology International followed men diagnosed with prostate cancer and those without. They found that men who had five or more ejaculations weekly while in their 20s reduced their risk of getting prostate cancer later 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
For women, sex strengthen the pelvic floor area and helps to minimize the risk of incontinence later in life.

10. Sex Helps You Sleep Better
The oxytocin released during sex also promotes sleep, according to research. And getting enough sleep has been linked with a full range of other benefits, such as maintaining a healthy weight and blood pressure.

So you are doing something good for yourself when you are engaged in healthy, loving sex. What a great excuse to have more!