Sexual health? Sex up and perk up from head to toe, literally!
Who doesn’t love sex? Sex is a beautiful thing. In fact, many studies have shown that maintaining an active and healthy sexual life can reap the many surprising health benefits—both physically and psychological.
Now that we know that sex can help boost our overall health and sexual well-being, let us share with you what these truly amazing perks are:
#1: Brain
Firstly, sex helps increase brainpower. It makes the brain work better by improving cognitive function and enhance your analytical thinking. According to researchers from the University of Maryland, sex helps to grow more brain neurons in hippocampus (memory making area).
Sex is a perfect stress reliever too. When you hug and touch your partner, the brain releases the "love" hormone called oxytocin. This hormone promotes love, warm and trust feeling thus boosting our happiness. It gets intensified during intimate sexual foreplay and arousal phase. Sex also releases serotonin and endorphins. These hormones are touted as the body’s natural antidepressant which can soothe stress and lift moods, and even ease headaches or migraines!
#2: Eyes
Sex is a good way to test your eyes. It relaxes body muscles, including eye muscles too. Your blink rate decrease and gaze time increase. As such, the eyes perform at their true ability, rather than straining and squinting as they would normally. So, it’s worth to go for eye test if your sight goes blurry after sex.
#3: Ears
Research has shown that the balance of sex hormones, including estrogen, progesterone, and androgen, aids in inner ear functions. Sex also helps in early detection of any hearing problem. As one of the powerful erogenous zones in the body, you may gently nibble, lick, kiss or talk dirty into each other's ears. If there is ear pain or difficulty hearing you partner's whisper, you may want to visit a doctor soon.
#4: Nose
Having sex raises your antibody levels and enhances your immune system, protecting you from cold and flu. It clears nasal passages and relieves stuffy nose. Basically, sex is like a natural antihistamine!
After climax, the prolactin hormone is released, causing brain’s stem cells to grow new neurons in olfactory bulb. Hence, heightening your sense of smell.
#5: Mouth
Kissing keeps your facial muscles strong. Researchers mentioned that 30 muscles are being used while kissing and the smooching helps keep your cheeks, neck and jawline tight.
Kissing also minimise cavities because smooching increases the flow of saliva, which keeps the plaque away.
#6: Face & Skin
Sex can reduce signs of aging, and is especially helpful for post-menopausal women. The increased in estrogen hormone will plump tired skin by smoothing out those unwanted wrinkles and fine lines.
Another benefit is radiant skin. During sexual intercourse, oxygen around the body surges and blood vessels dilate. This increased blood flow and nutrients to your skin pushes newer skin cells to the surface and allows your skin to glows better.
But what about the health benefits for our body?
#7: Heart
Sex reduces the risk of heart attack. In fact, having sexual intercourse three times a week can halve the risk of heart attack or stroke. It also releases endorphins that neutralise stress hormones in the body that are linked to heart disease.
Your accelerated heart rate during sex keeps the estrogen and testosterone levels in balance, which can reduce the development of many health issues. The imbalanced hormones can potentially lead to sexual dysfunction, fatigue, depression, sleep disorder, and many other chronic illnesses.
#8: Breasts & Nipples
Sex can help in the early detection of breast cancer too! Women's breasts are one of the common erogenous zones, and stimulating the breasts and nipples can cause them to swell. If there is any extreme pain or lump noticed during the play, it would be advisable to visit your doctor.
#9: Muscles
It is true that vigorous sex helps burn calories—a 30-minute session can burn up to 100 calories! Although that doesn't mean you should replace gym sessions with sex, it is certainly a great way to get some extra physical activity!
This full body workout will maintain your flexibility, balance and even tone muscles. There are so many sexual positions to spice up your sexual life. Be creative! Different positions can target different muscles groups, helping your muscles to better stretch and flex. Hence, reducing muscle tension and injury.
#10: Pelvic & Vagina
In women, sex is a great way to work your pelvic floor. During climax, the pelvic floor muscles squeeze and contract, strengthening them in the long run. Strong pelvic floor muscles can promote bladder control and avoid incontinence especially for those post pregnancy women who delivered natural birth.
Besides that, it also helps to increase vaginal lubrication, improve elasticity and balance hormones. Hormonal balance can boost chances of conceiving baby too alongside regular menstrual cycle to ease the baby planning. Some studies found that vaginal stimulation can also reduce chronic pain in back and leg, arthritic pain, and menstrual cramps.
#11: Prostate & Penis
In men, regular sex reduces the risk of prostate cancer, based on one study in Journal of the American Medical Association. Furthermore, frequent ejaculations can improve the semen volume and quality.
According to researchers at the University of Exeter, increased sexual activity can results in notable anatomical changes for the male reproductive organ. To put it simply—the more sex you have, the bigger your penis will become. However, the study is conducted on beetles and have yet to be proven on humans.
#12: Toes
As funny as it may sound, sex encourages strong toes too! Toe-curling orgasm? Check. When sex is good, you curl your toes in agreement. During orgasm, most of the muscles contract, causes your toes to flex back. This can happen to both men and women! Toe curls help to release tension in your feet, improve balance, support your feet's arches, and increase overall foot strength.
#13: General Well-Being
Every aspect of your life influences your state of well-being. This includes sexual wellness.
Sex allows people feel more confident about their bodies and bolster self-esteem. Furthermore, it can help you to grow your self-understanding, self-awareness, self-love and self-admiration.
Having sex regularly can not only improve libido, but enhance your attractiveness to the opposite gender due to the release of pheromones during the activity.
Ultimately, sex helps you create a happier and healthier life. One that's packed with love, passion and intimacy. You bond better and stay closer—thanks to all the good hormones in your body. So, practice safe sex, keep it fun and regular to maximise the benefits—we assure you that it's a good start to keeping most health problems at bay!
