Sexual Healing – The Less Obvious Benefits of Sex

 “Sexual Healing, oh baby
Makes me feel so fine
Helps to relieve my mind
Sexual Healing baby, is good for me
Sexual Healing is something that’s good for me
Whenever blue tear drops are falling
And my emotional stability is leaving me
There is something I can do
I can get on the telephone and call you up baby, and
Honey I know you’ll be there to relieve me”

Sexual Healing – Marvin Gaye

You may know the song but did you know that Marvin was actually on to something? There are tons of health benefits from “sexual healing”.

You may have heard the expression, “its tension release”. Well sex actually can be used as a stress management technique and has shown not only to lower stress but boost confidence and self esteem (I’ll discuss that more later). Stress can lead to many physical ailments as you know including high blood pressure and cardiovascular problems. Studies have shown that sex actually reduces blood pressure. English researches found that men who have sex at least twice a week can lower the chances of fatal heart attacks!

Oxytocin is a chemical released when a woman is aroused or engages in sexual behavior and as it is released, endorphins increase. Endorphins give us a slight opiate affect and account for our mental happiness and work as pain relievers. And so the releasing of Oxytocin increase endorphins which work as pain relievers. So sex can actually work as a pain reliever. Oxytocin also helps us sleep and we all know the problems that occur consequently of sleep deprivation.

Immunoglobulin A (IgA) is a central part of our immune systems that protects us from getting colds and common infections. A study has shown that couples who have sex at least twice a week  have higher levels of IgA which means that they have less colds and infections. Men who are more sexually active have also been shown to evade a higher risk of prostate cancer.

This may or may not come as a surprise to you but sex has also been linked to increasing self esteem. Just think about it, sex often makes us feel-well sexy, accomplished etc. and so it really isn’t that big of a shock that  happily sexually active people often are more confident. Just think of SATC’s Samantha Jones. Another reason sex may boost confidence is because it burns calories. A half hour of sex has been shown to burn more than eighty calories! What a work out.

Sex also produces the “love chemical”, you know the one, that chemical that gives us the feeling of security and closeness. And so, of course there are the obvious pleasantries, rewards, and motifs for sex but now there are even more. But people don’t use or let someone use this information to guilt you into anything you are not willing to do.