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Spending time between the sheets isn't just about orgasms. Sex can unleash a host of benefits for your mind and body beyond just simple pleasure.
Should you need any extra convincing to get your freak on, we've found 14 Unexpected Benefits of Sex which are sure to inspire you knock boots much more often. You're welome.
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Sex Helps Build Trust Between Partners
During sex, "feel-good" hormones oxytocin and endorphin are released, says psychology professor James Coan, Ph.D. Having sex helps build trust and connection between partners because they come to associate one another with these positive feelings.
13. Sex Helps Relieve Stress
Daily intercourse led to increased cell growth in the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for regulating stress, according to a study conducted at Yale. More sex also means lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the body, which means more peace of mind, and a calmer, less frenzied you.
12. Frequent Sex Prevents Erectile Dysfunction
Turns out there's truth to the old adage, "If you don't use it, you lose it." A study published in the American Journal of Medicine found that men who had sex more than once a week were less likely to experience erectile dysfunction as they aged. If that's not motivation to bump uglies more often, we don't know what is.
11. Oral Sex Helps Cure Morning Sickness
A psychologist at the University at Albany-SUNY discovered that consuming semen helps prevent morning sickness in pregnant women. Researcher Gordon Gallup asserted that morning sickness is a reaction to a foreign substance, among other things, and that regular consumption of semen will build the body's tolerance, therefore diminishing the effects of morning sickness.
10. Sex Increases Prostate Health
Men who have more orgasms reduce their risk of prostate cancer by a third, according toresearchers at the National Cancer Institute. A possible explanation for this is that ejaculation may expels the carcinogens that accumulate in the prostate. Masturbation also reaps the same benefits (albeit in a less exciting way).
9. Sex Makes Your Skin Look Better
Sex increases dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), a hormone secreted by the adrenal gland which is said to give the skin a more youthful appearance. Expensive mosturizers, be damned.
8. Sex Helps You Lose Weight
Dr. Amy Wechsler contends that "Sex burns about as many calories as the same amount of time spent weight training or walking." Get physical rather than sleeping or watching television—it's what your body wants. All of it.
7. Sex Helps You Sleep Better
This may seem like a no-brainer, but it's not just the (sometimes) strenuous physical activity that helps you sleep so soundly. Post sex a chemical called oxytocin is released, which helps promote a restful sleep, according to Dr. Laura Berman. Next time she shakes her fist at you for passing out rather than cuddling, tell her it's not lack of love, but science that inspires you to snooze.
6. Sex Boosts Self-Confidence
It takes a level of confidence to have sex, but sex can also return the favor. According to research from the University of Texas, having sex often can help boost self-confidence and develop a more better positive attitude about yourself.
5. Sex Prevents Heart Attack
Though a fast heartbeat is one of the signs of a heart attack, a faster heartbeat during sex may actually lower the risk of a heart attack. According to Dr. Andrew Scheinfeld, having sex at least twice a week reduces stress and blood pressure, cutting the chances of heart diseases in almost half.
4. Sex Enhances Sense of Smell
According to research from the University of Calgary, the surge of the hormone prolactin that occurs after sex helps to develop new nerve cells in the brain that are responsible for creating more cells in your olfactory bulb. Meaning, more sex could lead to a heightened sense of smell.
3. Sex Reduces Risk of Cancer
Studies have shown that the risk of certain types of cancer can be reduced by increasing sexual activity. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, men who ejaculate at least 12 times a month are less likely to develop prostate cancer.
2. Sex Fights Against Common Cold
According to a study done at Wilkes University, people who have sex two times a week are likely to have a higher amount of antibody immunoglobin, the main defense against colds and the flu.
1. Sex Cures Headaches
According to a study from the University of Munster in Germany, sexual activity can lead to "partial or complete relief" from migraines. They attribute this to the release of endorphins during sex, which act as natural painkillers.