16 Unexpected Health And Beauty
Benefits Of Sex
Who knew a healthy sex life was this good for you?
There are a few things most of us women have in common: we appreciate a decadent dessert, we love a clearance sale at our favorite store and we all wouldn't mind looking and feeling younger and healthier.
Some of us are so devoted to our personal fountain of youth, we invest small fortunes into overflowing bathrooms filled with lotions and potions, visits to trainers, doctors, nutritionists and healers… whatever it takes to find the miracles that will give us smoother skin, fuller hair, less aches and pains, reduce terminal illness risk and just overall, make us feel awesome. Well as it turns out, the secret to youth, might just be right between the sheets: sex!
That's right. Sure, sex feels good, can make you fall more deeply in love, sometimes makes you want to wear a naughty nurse's outfit, you get the picture. But sex is also proven to be good for you, physically. An active sex regimen, a prescription of 2-3 times per week, has fascinating and evidenced-based benefits. Therefore if sex has become a non-priority in your life, you may want to reconsider putting at the top of your "to do" list, because not only could sexcapading result in stronger teeth, it could actually save your life.
Here are 16 health and beauty benefits we reap from having sex:
1. Keeps our skin young and healthy. Sex increases blood circulation, which helps pump oxygen to our skin resulting in a brighter appearance—which explains that after-sex glow. Regular sexual engagement has prolonged effects in this regard and can actually make us look younger. Sex boosts our natural collagen production, which staves off age spots and sagging. So simply put, more wrinkles in the bed = fewer wrinkles on your face!
2. Boosts immunity. You know the old saying, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away"? Turns out there was a typo in that medical journal. It should have said, "Having sex once or twice a week increases levels of an antibody called immunoglobin A (that's the stuff that fights off colds and other infections), which really keeps the doctor away!" Deduction: more sex means a stronger immune system. And with all of those unused sick days, we can cash them out and use them as sex days. Now we're talking!
3. Gives us great hair. Hormones not only control our sex drives, but also the condition of our hair. Research has shown that a satisfying sex life results in healthy, lush hair due to the body's increased ability to receive and metabolize nutrients efficiently. Proof positive that Angelina Jolie and Catherina Zeta-Jones have healthy sex lives!
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To really make this advice work, you need to follow these action steps to complete today's challenge.
Right now, I want you to:
Increase your sexcapades!
I get it. Sex can easily get deprioritized in your life when your life is overtaken by seemingly more important stuff like your fabulous job, a packed social calendar, raising superstar kids, arms length errand lists and so on and so on. But, to take advantage of all of the health and beauty benefits that come with sex, you can't just be thinking about it, you have to be doing it!
Thus, it is time to reprioritize your busy life and start putting sex at the tippity top of your to do list. Get creative—consider morning sex if you are zonked in the evenings, remember that quickies totally count, try putting sex right smack dab in the middle of your fave weekly Tivo'd TV show. If need be, pull out your calendar and schedule a couple times a week to get you started. And remember, the more you do it, the more you will likely want it.
Within 7 days I want you to:
Create a seduction sanctuary.
To make sex a routine activity in your life, you need a space that inspires the act. Start with the basics:
1. Get rid of all the clutter in your bedroom. Think a Zen-like haven here—a grown-ups only environment where you can retreat to unwind and relax. Clutter creates anxiety; an uncluttered space will help create the relaxation that precedes passion and seduction.
2. Get a lock for your door if you have kids.
3. Buy a set of luscious linens—high quality thread count and a color that is appealing to you and your spouse.
4. Swap out harsh reading light for soft lighting that helps you look amazing in the flesh.
5. Scatter scented candles around in easy to reach places. Scents such as basil, jasmine, lavender and vanilla all ignite sexual senses.
6. Invest in an iPod dock and create a variety of in-the-mood playlists.
7. Stock your nightstand with massage oils, lotions and other goodies that excite you.
By the end of the challenge I want you to:
Invest in your sex life.
Like all health and beauty regimens, maintaining a happy, healthy sex life is a lifelong commitment, not a one-time quick-fix program. And just like the others, this one to has to stay interesting so we don't lose steam. To ensure you don't hit a sexpiration date, don't be scared to consider purchasing sex toys, from everyday vibrators to silly games to exotic role playing toys like wigs or costumes. Invest in books that teach you new styles of lovemaking. Experiment with new oils, scents and textures to enhance your experiences. Be as creative as you can be to keep your routine as alive and energized as possible. After all, since you are going to be having so much more sex, you need to ensure that it is going to stay spicy!
How Sex Can Make You More Beautiful
MC's resident dermatologist and psychiatrist on the beauty of getting booty
Put more sex in your life: It slows aging. A Scottish study found that thrice-weekly action stripped at least four years off participants' faces, and getting busy even boosts immunity and reduces heart disease. There are beauty bonuses, too — sex perks up your appearance instantaneously. Just remember to do it safely.
WRITE OFF WRINKLES Stress hormones and antistress hormones are like a seesaw in your body, and sex — specifically orgasm — gives that seesaw a giant push in the right direction thanks to a trifecta of hormones: beta-endorphin, an opiate and painkiller; prolactin, a relaxation inducer; and oxytocin, which makes you want to cuddle. Endorphins and growth hormones flood the body after orgasm, healing damage from the sun, smoking, and cortisol, which destroy collagen and create wrinkles. In a fun few minutes, sex wipes out the inflammatory molecules that age skin.
SOFTEN SKIN Think of how you look right after sex: dewy cheeks, pink lips, and shining eyes. The bright-eyed look lasts for days, as does sex's other skin-friendly side effect: When you sweat, natural oils, like linoleic acid — a moisturizer also found in safflower and olive oil — are released, lubricating cells and hydrating skin.
LOOK ALIVE Sleep is free cosmetic medicine, and sex is an amazing sleep inducer. Those feel-good chemicals linger after orgasm, helping you fall asleep more quickly. Post-sex sleep is restorative, so you'll wake up refreshed, with reduced under-eye circles and puffiness. Adding sex to your bedtime routine can also help resolve sleep issues.
FEEL THE BURN Even without a climax, sex and kissing work wonders: heart rate and circulation increase, and blood floods your organs and skin. Deep breathing controls stress and sends oxygen throughout your system. Sex burns about as many calories as the same amount of time spent weight training or walking; even a measly smooch stimulates 30 facial muscles. You burn eight to 12 calories per minute of kissing (more than you burn in a minute of walking). That exercise improves everything from cholesterol levels to mood — without your going anywhere near a Spin class.
FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT Orgasm is key to attaining sex's benefits. If you don't have one, you release fewer good-for-you hormones. Single or celibate? Masturbate or exercise — a half hour of vigorous walking, jogging, or weight lifting triggers healing endorphins. A quick downward-dog stretch brings blood from your core to your head for that flushed, pink-cheeked look. Or go the makeup route. Blush is key, and so is moisturizer, mascara, and lip gloss. But nothing beats the real thing.
A series of papers in the Journal of Theoretical
Biology has found evidence that beautiful parents
have more daughters, violent men have more sons,
and other sex-ratio patterns (Kanazawa, 2005, 2006,
2007, 2008). These papers have been shown to have
statistical errors, but the question remains how to
interpret findings that are intriguing, potentially
important, but not statistically significant. From a classical statistical
perspective, these studies have insufficient power to detect the
magnitudes of effects (on the order of 1 percentage point) that could be
expected based on earlier studies of sex ratios. The anticipated small
effects can also be handled using a Bayesian prior distribution. These
concerns are relevant to other studies of small effects and also to the
reporting of such studies.
Effects of Partner Beauty on Opposite-Sex Attractiveness Judgments
Abstract
Many studies show mate choice copying effects on mate preferences in non-human species in which individuals follow or copy the mate choices of same-sex conspecifics. Recent studies suggest that social learning also influences mate preferences in humans. Studies on heterosexual humans have focused on rating the attractiveness of potential mates (targets) presented alongside individuals of the opposite sex to the target (models). Here, we examined several different types of pairing to examine how specific social learning is to mate preferences. In Study 1, we replicated a previous effect whereby target faces of the opposite sex to the subject were rated as more attractive when paired with attractive than unattractive partner models of the same sex as the subject. Using the same paired stimuli, Study 2 demonstrated no effect of a paired model if subjects were asked to rate targets who were the same sex as themselves. In Study 3, we used pairs of the same sex, stating the pair were friends, and subjects rated targets of the opposite sex to themselves. Attractive models decreased targets’ attractiveness, opposite to the effect in Study 1. Finally, Study 4 examined if attractive versus unattractive non-face stimuli might influence attraction. Unlike in Study 1, pairing with attractive stimuli either had no effect or decreased the attractiveness of paired target face images. These data suggest that social transmission of preferences via pairing with attractive/unattractive images is relatively specific to learning about mate preferences but does not influence attractiveness judgments more generally.
FEATURE ARTICLE
Of Beauty, Sex and Power
Too little attention has been paid to the statistical
challenges in estimating small effects
challenges in estimating small effects
A series of papers in the Journal of Theoretical Biology has found evidence that beautiful parents
have more daughters, violent men have more sons,
and other sex-ratio patterns (Kanazawa, 2005, 2006,
2007, 2008). These papers have been shown to have
statistical errors, but the question remains how to
interpret findings that are intriguing, potentially
important, but not statistically significant. From a classical statistical
perspective, these studies have insufficient power to detect the
magnitudes of effects (on the order of 1 percentage point) that could be
expected based on earlier studies of sex ratios. The anticipated small
effects can also be handled using a Bayesian prior distribution. These
concerns are relevant to other studies of small effects and also to the
reporting of such studies.
