More often than not when life gets busy with work, responsibilities, or kids, couples decide that sleep is the new sex! But before you choose to snooze rather than canoodle, remember that sex is as powerful a stimulant and relaxer as sleep (even when you don’t quite hit the peak)…
So what’s so great about sex and why is sex so healthy?
1. It’s a workout.
2. It’s a mood lifter.
The next time you’re feeling down in the dumps, skip the chocolate and opt for a romp between the sheets. X-rated action beats the blues and you can cheer the endorphins (happy hormones), neurotransmitters that are released during sex, for this joyful feeling.
3. It’s a pain buster.
Darling, not today, I have a headache? All the more reason to go for a steamy session, for when you have sex, two chemicals are released in the body: endorphins, and oxytocin...and together, they act as a powerful opiate. So regular sex is a good cure for those period pains and even migraines.
4. It de-stresses.
Before you reach for a splash of whiskey or a glass of wine to soothe those inflamed nerves, remember that sex can help lower your blood pressure and leave you with a relaxed afterglow as well.
5. It slows down aging a tad.
A session of sex once or twice a week can leave you with higher levels of immunoglobulin A, an antibody that plays a critical role in the immune system. Plus there are physiological benefits of sex: positive changes in parameters like pulse and heart rate, reduction in blood pressure, and dilation of blood vessels and capillaries of the skin, which leads to an overall youthful appearance of the skin.
What Happens When You Don’t Have Sex
Other than not getting all these benefits stated above, not having sex can lead to intimacy issues, and a feeling of drifting apart in a relationship as well. Obviously, the intensity and the duration of sex depends on you and your partner, but a session once or twice a week is considered good enough to reap a host of benefits. In case you are in a relationship and not having sex, well, this is all you are putting yourself and your body through…
- Not having sex for a while means your immune system takes a hit since the immunoglobulin levels drop – leaving you vulnerable to a host of infections.
- Sex is a good way to manage stress levels – so if you are not getting enough of it, your stress levels increase making you a ticking time bomb…
- Less sex means it takes longer for you to get into that mood or to even achieve climax. The more sex you have, the easier you get into a frisky mood. Your libido takes an eventual hit as well.
- You tend to have vague and weird dreams, often leading to sexual release (nightfall for men) and even involuntary orgasms for women in sleep.
- You start to drift apart from your partner – as humans, we need intimacy and sex as much as we need food or water. Being in a relationship and not having sex will soon make you feel less desirable and also create distance between you and your partner.
- Not having sex can lead to self-esteem issues if you start feeling undesired and then move on to more serious self-worth issues, as well as depression and mood swings.
- Men need to flush their systems regularly, and by that we mean ejaculation. Not ejaculating enough can lead to prostate problems and even cancer.
So having sex not often is okay, but don’t let it get to never. You take out time for the kids, and for the family, for the cooking and the cleaning as well – so remember to earmark some time out for intimacy as well. The less you have sex, the more of a problem it will become. And since there are so many health benefits you get from it, well, need you more reasons to be a tad raunchy tonight?
