Aside from the obvious perks of having regular sex, these particular health boosts are beneficial to men and women in general.
1. Sex boosts your immune system
People who engage in regular sex have higher levels of the decidedly unsexily named salivary immunoglobulin A.
This means more antibodies for common diseases like rhinovirus and other germs that cause the common cold, among other infections. Anyone who interacts with a lot of people on a daily basis can benefit from a constant boost to their immune system and sex is a fun way to do that, it turns out.
2. Regular sex improves heart health and blood pressure
As with any regular physical activity, sex improves blood flow, heart strength and lowers blood pressure, by the same mechanisms that jogging or other cardiovascular exercise does.
30 minutes of structured physical activity a day has a dramatic benefit on your endurance, blood oxygenation and overall heart health. Now imagine getting that benefit with your partner having sex instead of dueling ropes or something else entirely less fun
3. Endorphins released during orgasm can block pain
Right before and during orgasm, your body releases oxytocin and endorphins.
These little neurochemicals block pain, anxiety and a slew of other negative thoughts and feelings, and they’re more concentrated during sex than even under the influence of certain drugs.
By binding to opioid receptors, they inhibit the release of pain-causing tachykinins which does exactly what it sounds like. Effectively, more sex equals less pain.
4. Intercourse improves sleep and reduces stress
The joke that men tend to fall asleep immediately after sex might be an overused trope on film, but it’s not too far off from the biology of things.
Blood vessels dilate, endorphins flood our bodies, and we simply feel our most relaxed post-coitus, and this is a great way to fall right to sleep.
Serotonin also has a large role to play in the sleep-inducing effects of orgasm, and it also makes us feel pretty good. Serotonin’s stress-reduction factor also helps improve sleep and sleep makes us more resilient to stress, so having sex helps initiate a cycle that makes has sweeping, cascading benefits for our health.
5. Regular sex makes you more motivated
The release of dopamine through sex makes you want more sex – it’s a neurochemical whose role it is to make you want to do a rewarding activity again, for another chance at said reward.
The benefit here is that simply having more dopamine circulating can improve your likelihood of doing beneficial activities, particularly if they are relatable to the sex you just had.
For instance, as a partner, if you cleaned the house and your spouse is extremely pleased and it leads to sex, the dopamine will increase your motivation for future helping-around-the-house events.
Simply put, if you want another layer of general motivation for anything in your life, have more sex and produce more dopamine.
This is especially beneficial in an age where we burn our dopamine production out with social media and constantly accessible information via mobile devices. Put the phone down and have more sex.
6. Sex “counts” as exercise and burns calories
Sure there are more efficient ways to getting exercise but there’s literally no way that’s more fun than a 30-minute romp.
Prolonged sexual intercourse – that is, 30 minutes or more – has a beneficial effect akin to jogging on both men and women. This is protective of the cardiovascular system, but, like jogging, also burns calories and revs up the metabolism.
If you were to only get 30 minutes of increased, structured physical activity per week and it was sex, then you’d still benefit from the array of positive health impacts that exercise provides.
7. Endorphins released during sex elevate mood
The positive, feel-good effects of post-sex glow can improve your daily interactions.
Whether you’re being stressed by work, school or some other trigger, sex can keep you smiling the next day. The improved attitude can be boosted the more frequent the sex is, so make it a point to schedule regular sessions with your partner.
8. Regular sex boosts self-confidence
Sexual intercourse has been shown to improve responses on self-esteem tests.
While it might not sound surprising that someone who is having sex on a regular basis, to have science that backs up the idea is particularly powerful. Anyone can benefit from this and everyone can benefit from a boost in self-confidence, especially college students, on whom this study focused,
While the benefits of regular sex for men and women, in general, are varied and broad, there are gender-specific benefits as well.
With that in mind, let’s look at how sex benefits each gender.
