Sex is healthy! If you don't already know: sex can improve our mood and relieve pain. Understanding how sex affects our brains can improve not only our sexual interactions, but can also have other positive effects on our health. The research in development has thus already produced the first results. Here are 8 healing ways sex affects our well-being.
1. Sex is like a drug.
Sex makes you feel good. That's why we want him, we enjoy him, and that's why, among other things, we spend so much time looking for a suitable partner. The pleasure we experience in sex is largely due to the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that activates the part of the brain that is responsible for pleasure. Among other things, dopamine is one of the chemicals that also determines the limit of "hit" or pleasure when using drugs. Cocaine and sex are not the same, of course, but they both involve the same part of the brain to some extent.
2. Sex acts as an antidepressant.
A 2002 study at the University of Albany found in a sample of three hundred women that women who had sex without a condom had fewer symptoms of depression than women who had sex with a condom. Researchers hypothesized that various compounds in men's sperm, including estrogen and prostaglandins, have antidepressant properties that are then absorbed into the body after sex. This is good news for anyone who is in a serious and committed relationship, but if you are still looking for the right partner, don't give up the condom. There are other ways to improve your mood, but there are no other ways to prevent sexually transmitted diseases.
3. After sex, the mood can (sometimes) also drop.
Feel-good chemicals can be in full swing during intercourse itself. What about after? According to researchers, there is a so-called "post-coital blues" or PCT (post-coital tristesse), which causes a feeling of melancholy and sadness after sex. About one-third of the women who participated in the study were said to have experienced it.
4. Sex relieves pain.
Don't give up sex if you have a headache. Research shows that sex will ease symptoms. In one of the German studies, 60 % participants with migraine and 30 % participants with headache in bursts, having sex during the headache, at least partially, if not completely, alleviated the symptoms. Another study found that women who stimulated the G spot increased their pain threshold. Some researchers attribute this effect to oxytocin – the hormone of love, trust, relaxation and bonding, which, among other things, relieves pain.
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5. Sex can erase our memory.
Each year, fewer than 7 people per 100,000 experience so-called transient global amnesia, a sudden and temporary loss of memory that cannot be attributed to any other neurological condition. It can happen during more passionate sexual intercourse as well as during emotional stress, pain, minor head injuries, medical procedures and jumping into cold or hot water. A memory can be erased for a few minutes or a few hours. During this time, the person is unable to create new memories or recall recent events. Fortunately, there should be no lasting effects.
6. Sex can improve our memory.
Or they could if they were rodents. Indeed, a 2010 study found that rats that had sex at least once a day for fourteen consecutive days had an increase in the number of neurons in the hippocampus, the part of the brain associated with memories, compared to rats that had “ one-night stand”. The findings were supported by another study conducted on mice. Whether sex has the same effects on humans remains to be seen.
7. Sex soothes.
The same study, which demonstrated an improvement in the memory center of the brain in rats, found, among other things, that these rats were calmer. And it works in humans too. One study showed that people who had sex responded better to stressful situations, such as public speaking, than people who had no sex or engaged in other types of sexual activity. Sex lowers blood pressure.
8. Sex puts us to sleep.
It is very likely that men will be more sleepy after sex than women, and scientists think they know why: the activity of the frontal cortex is actually reduced after sex. ejaculation slows down. In combination with the release of oxytocin and serotonin, it is responsible for the feeling of tiredness and the strong desire to sleep.
