A healthy lifestyle is a worthy pursuit. Focusing on wellness practices makes leading a longer and happier life easier. While there are numerous ways to prioritize your health, both physically and mentally, one strategy is to have a healthy sex life. Sexual intimacy, especially within the context of a committed relationship, can have a positive impact on overall wellness.
Let’s talk about some of the physical, mental, and emotional benefits of sex that can promote wellness in your life.
Physical Health Benefits of Sexual Intercourse
Sexual activity is a physical process. It involves not only the movement of your body with another person but also chemical and biological processes that occur during the act. These effects of sexual activity can impact your health positively in numerous ways.
Cardiovascular Health
The heart is responsible for pumping nutrient-filled blood throughout the body. The healthier your heart is, the stronger your cardiovascular system will be, making it more effective at delivering nutrients. If you are sexually active, this physical action can improve cardiovascular health. This puts you at a reduced risk of heart disease and stroke. Additionally, you can lower the cardiovascular risk of high blood pressure or poor circulation. By having sex regularly, you will improve blood flow, thereby lowering blood pressure. As a result, you will be at a lower risk of experiencing cardiovascular events, such as a heart attack.
Immune System Boost
The immune system protects your body from harmful agents, especially bacteria and viruses. It also helps heal physical damage to the body, such as cuts or fractures. Engaging in frequent sex with your loved one can increase the production of antibodies, which are essential for the body’s defenses against illness. Some research even suggests that men can reduce their risk of prostate cancer with regular sex. These recent studies on the relationship between prostate cancer and sex can provide hope for many men who are at risk of prostate cancer. If you want to build up your supply of antibodies, then regular sex with your partner is one way to do so.
Pain Relief
Pain is a natural part of life, so learning to prevent and manage it is the key to feeling comfortable. Did you know that sexual activity releases endorphins? These hormones have the natural ability to block pain so that you can reduce certain types of pain with more sex. Whether you experience frequent leg pain, joint pain, or muscle pain, it could be somewhat relieved by engaging in sex more consistently. Sexual health is especially helpful in reducing chronic pain conditions. Orgasms can even help increase your pain threshold. Finally, the physical activity of having sex can help you sleep better, which results in a better recovery pattern for your body.
Hormonal Balance
Maintaining a healthy balance of hormones is essential for overall wellness. Specifically, testosterone and estrogen levels are often improved in couples with active sex lives. Maintaining healthy hormone levels will also promote further sexual desire between partners. On the other hand, a lack of sexual activities can have a negative impact on your hormone levels, which will hurt your mood, libido, and energy levels.
Fitness and Weight Management
Another benefit of frequent sex is managing your weight and fitness levels. Sexual activity is naturally a form of exercise. You are engaging your muscles and cardiovascular system pretty intensely when you have sex, and this results in burning calories. The more calories you burn with each sexual experience, the easier it is to lose and keep off weight. Sexually active men and women are proven to have higher fitness levels than their counterparts. The muscles that are engaged the most during sex are the pelvic floor muscles, thighs, abdominal, buttocks, and upper arms.
Emotional and Mental Health Benefits
As you can see, sexual relationships have numerous physical benefits. However, these are not the only health benefits of sex. Sexual activities also have a significant impact on your mental and emotional health. Let’s talk through some of the benefits of sexual activity beyond the physical advantages.
Stress Reduction
Stress has a massive negative impact on our lives, not just emotionally. Dealing with stress consistently can lead to high blood pressure and even heart disease. Plus, stress makes it hard to enjoy life the way we should. Sexual satisfaction can help lower cortisol levels, promote relaxation, and reduce stress overall. If you have sex frequently with your partner, the body releases oxytocin so that each of you feels happier, which also helps regulate stress. Stress can build up and lead to many other emotional difficulties, especially when you look at men’s mental health stigmas and the frequency of depression in women.
Mood Enhancement
Oxytocin, along with dopamine, are also known as the happy hormones. When you engage in a sexual function, the brain releases these endorphins into your system. As a result, your mood will dramatically improve. The more you have sex, the more often these happy hormones will be released. This is an excellent strategy for combating depression and anxiety, which are both significant mental health challenges. It is also no secret that couples who engage in sex regularly tend to be in happier moods, which strengthens the foundation of their relationship as well.
Increased Self-Esteem
Self-perception is a crucial element of mental and emotional health. If you are confident in who you are and what you look like, many other aspects of health can fall into place. Frequent sexual performance can give you a positive attitude toward your body. It can also increase your self-worth. The impact that this has on self-esteem is ideal for overall wellness. Greater sexual frequency can boost your confidence and your satisfaction each time, which is perfect for men who are seeking ways to increase ejaculation and women who want increased pleasure.
Stronger Emotional Connection
Sexual health is not just about the physical sensation or the chemical reactions in our bodies that improve wellness. It is also about the intimate connection we have with our loved ones. Frequent intimacy can build stronger bonds between couples. It is also a great way to improve communication and trust. Plus, if you are thinking about starting a family, sex can also lead to children, which can bring you and your partner together as parents while also bonding with the new additions to your family.
Cognitive Function
We have discussed the importance of heart health and how sex can be beneficial in reducing cardiovascular risk. Still, the heart is not the only organ that can benefit from sexual intimacy. The brain also experiences the positive effects of sex, particularly regarding cognitive function. Having sex in a healthy relationship can lead to improved memory and concentration. As you get older, consistent sex can potentially reduce the risk of cognitive decline from aging.
Summary – Is Sex Good For Health?
When you look at all the positive effects of a sexually active lifestyle, it is easy to see why sex is good for health. The key is to practice safe sex. Typically, a committed relationship is the safest way to engage in sex. This reduces the risk of being exposed to sexually transmitted infections, which grows with the number of partners you are intimate with.
Additionally, if you experience sexual difficulties of any kind, you should speak with your doctor about potential remedies such as sexual medicine or other healthy practices for men and women. There are plenty of challenges that come with a sexual lifestyle, such as erectile dysfunction, the risk of unplanned pregnancies, decreasing libido in older women and men, and even issues of sexual abuse. However, in the proper context, the benefits far outweigh the risks.
Sex can have all kinds of benefits for you and your loved one. Improved heart health will help prevent many types of heart disease. Some peer-reviewed studies have shown that frequent ejaculation can even lower the chances of developing prostate cancer in men. Cardiovascular health, hormonal balance, and weight management are other physical benefits you cannot ignore. Then, you get into the emotional and mental benefits of having sex, which include reducing stress hormones, building a positive self-image, and developing a stronger emotional connection with your loved one.
Overall, it is safe to say that a healthy sex life has plenty of wellness benefits and is, therefore, ideal for general health. If your goal is to live a longer, healthier, and happier life, then it is time to talk with your partner about having sex more often. After all, you will both experience the same benefits.
