http://www.newsmax.com/health/sex_builds_better_health/2008/07/28/116884.html
Sex Builds Better Health Eight Great Ways
When you have S-E-X on your mind, chances are H-E-A-L-T-H is the last thing
you're thinking about - but the two actually go hand-in-glove! Sex promotes both
our physical and psychological health, according to experts, and here are eight
ways it helps:
1) Sex Busts Stress. Scottish researchers studied the sexual activity of 24
women and 22 men, then put them in stressful situations such as public speaking.
The subjects who had intercourse withstood stress better than those who either
abstained from sex or engaged in other sexual activities.
2) Sex Burns Calories. Sex burns up 85 calories in 30 minutes, and 40 half-hour
sessions will burn about 3500 calories, which is enough to lose a pound.
3) Sex Builds Cardiovascular Health. English researchers found fear of a stroke
during sex is groundless. They followed 900 men for 20 years and found no
connection. On the other hand, they found that the men who had sex at least
twice a week reduced their risk of a heart attack by half compared to men who
had it less than once a month.
4) Sex Builds Immunity. Having sex several times a week has been linked with
raising levels of the antibody immunoglobulin A (IgA), which helps ward off
colds, according to researchers at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
5) Sex Builds Bonds. Sex raises the level of the hormone oxytocin, known
popularly as the "love hormone," which results in building trust and
strengthening bonds. The more contact - including hugs - the higher the level.
6) Sex Lowers Pain. As the love hormone oxytocin builds, endorphins rise, which
results in lowering of pain. If aches and pains are better after sex, it's
because of oxytocin levels.
7) Sex Lowers Risk of Prostate Cancer. Frequent ejaculations in young men may
lower the risk of prostate cancer in later years. Australian researchers studied
men with and without prostate cancer, and found frequent ejaculations in men in
their 20s offered protection, but found no such link for men in their 30s, 40s,
and 50s.
8) Sex Promotes Sleep. Oxycontin is at the forefront again - it helps both men
and women sleep, which in turn promotes healthy weight and blood pressure.
(Although women would almost universally say it had a much stronger effect on
men, who are wide-awake one minute and sawing logs the next.)
