Many folks misunderstand the health benefits of sex. Intimate sexual experiences lie at the very center of health and happiness. I have discovered that sexual energy fuels my creative abilities. If you can shake off repressive beliefs about sex, you can access its powerful physical and emotional health benefits.Sex And Social Rules
What did your parents teach you about sex? What is society teaching you now? Certainly, it is a gift for us to enjoy. I believe the best circumstances for sex are in a loving, committed relationship. In this case we call it “making love.” However, depending on your age and your own social rules of “rightness” or “wrongness” about sex in our society, I’ll bet you have some discomfort or hidden fears about sex or perhaps even condemn others for their proclivities.
Also, I think it is rather humorous that my local church leaders have created the role of “anti-pornography expert.” The more we fight anything the more we empower it. Although I do not promote pornography, I also cannot condemn it. For some, watching sex can help improve the intimacy experience. It opens the mind to sexual creativity in the bedroom for both men and women. This also up-regulates sexual desire and sexual fantasies, which are not only natural and normal but also healthy. Visual sexual stimuli for both women and men can work really well.
Why is there so much fear that a husband or wife may find pornography on the Internet and begin to enjoy it? Are marriages really ruined because of pornography itself (inherently, it is joyful), or is it the judgment and shame — the immaturity on the part of someone in the relationship — that is really to blame?
Sex Helps You To Love More And More
Since love is a spiritual feeling, sexual intimacy is best used as a way to express this feeling and to energetically connect more deeply. You can also use your sexual energy and direct it into loving acts of service, quality time together, words of appreciation and gifts that are further expressions of your love connection. The key is to focus on the relationship aspects that you enjoy and not waste energy or attention on unrewarding activities.
The Beneficial Effects Of Sex On The Heart And Other Health Parameters
Epidemiological studies have suggested that sexual activity has favorable effects on long-term health.[1] Researchers followed 914 middle-aged men for more than 20 years and found that having sexual intercourse twice or more a week reduced the risk of fatal heart attack by 2.8 times on average compared to those who have sex less than once a month. This was reported in the February 2002 Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.[2]
Blood pressure can improve, too. In 2002, German researchers reported in Biological Psychology that frequent intercourse among couples living together was associated with lower diastolic blood pressure.[3] The same journal reported a study that showed a more favorable blood pressure response to stressful events in those who routinely had sexual intercourse compared to those who had only other types of sexual activity or abstained. Maybe these cardiovascular benefits also derive from the fact that sex burns calories and can be considered exercise. It is estimated that sexual intercourse burns about as many calories as walking slowly (at about 2 mph).
Prostate Issues
Prostate cancer was once thought to be linked to frequent sexual intercourse. But a large prospective study with 29,342 men ages 46-81 with eight years of follow-up reported in the April 2004 Journal of the American Medical Association found that high frequency of ejaculations (21 or more per month compared to fewer than 4-7 per month) is associated with lower prostate cancer risk. For high frequency of ejaculations during the ages of 20-29 (from subjects’ recall), researchers found an 11 percent lowered risk of total cancer. For high frequency of ejaculations during their former ages of 40-49, subjects experienced a 32 percent lowered risk of cancer.[4]
Sex helps reduce pain, too; the bliss of sex alone is enough to block pain. Some researchers postulate that the hormone oxytocin is released with sex while endorphins, natural analgesic chemicals, also increase. A study published in the Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine shows that oxytocin has a strong potential as a pain reliever.[5]
Sex improves sleep almost universally. It certainly does for me. The wonderful sense of well-being is the perfect thing to eliminate your worries or feelings of stress. Sex also improves your confidence for overcoming life’s challenges.
Sex Fuels Creativity
The fact that a healthy sex life can enhance your focus, concentration and creativity is another reason why sexual energy is so powerful — for more than just enjoying those moments of bliss. Frequent sex keeps you feeling good, which opens the channels of inspiration for new creative thinking.
I believe the creative power that all men and women have is somehow related to attractive and joyful sexual energy. In my column next week I’ll begin a discussion of sex hormones.
To your best health,
Michael Cutler, M.D.
Easy Health Options
[1] Chen X, Zhang Q, Tan X. “Cardiovascular effects of sexual activity.” Indian J Med Res. 2009 Dec;130(6):681-8.
[2] Ebrahim S, May M, Ben Shlomo Y, McCarron P, Frankel S, Yarnell J, Davey Smith G. “Sexual intercourse and risk of ischaemic stroke and coronary heart disease: the Caerphilly study”. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2002 Feb;56(2):99-102.
[3] Brody S, Veit R, Rau H. “A preliminary report relating frequency of vaginal intercourse to heart rate variability, Valsalva ratio, blood pressure, and cohabitation status.” Biol Psychol. 2000 Apr;52(3):251-7.
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