Back in the 1940s, a renegade shrink named Wilhelm Reich recommended an
orgasm every day to stay healthy. It was part of this thing he called the
“sexual revolution.” Unfortunately, folks were strung pretty tight
back then, and they threw Reich’s ass in prison, where orgasms aren’t
nearly as much fun. But thinking this guy was onto something, we called
some of the planet’s most renowned M.D.’s to find out if he was right.
Guess what? He was. Unless you’re moving from girl to girl like Camryn
Manheim moves through a six-pack of cling peaches in heavy syrup, a daily
love session is just what the doctor ordered, for you and your partner in
crime. Here are eight reasons to never get out of bed.
The body you want
When you cut your finger, does Ragú ooze out? Does the idea of exercising
induce suicidal hollandaise binges? We can think of one way to have a
blast and get in shape simultaneously. “Sex is a vigorous form of
exercise,” says Dr. Michael Cirigliano of the University of
Pennsylvania. “The physiological changes in your body are consistent
with a normal workout. Your heart and respiratory rates rise, and you burn
calories.” How many? Screwing three times a week for 20 minutes a pop
for a year will burn some 7,500 calories (that’s the equivalent of a 4
1/2 pound wheel of brie). If you did it every day, you could shave off a
pound of lard in two weeks. Of course, the more athletic the sex, the
better the workout. See you in the emergency room.
In the mood
Ever lie back after a good screw and think, Damn, the world’s a pit
of misery. Why not end it all? Of course not. That’s because sex is
an antidepressant. During the act your body’s producing
pleasure-inducing fluids besides the ones that shoot out of your body.
“You’re releasing endogenous opioids. They’re like drugs, but
they’re manufactured internally,” says Dr. Alice Ladas, a psychologist
and one of the authors of The G Spot. In fact, studies show that
merely touching someone can raise the level of serotonin in his brain,
which is similar to what Prozac does. Just think what an orgy with a troop
of swimsuit models can do for you.
Hurt so good
So she’s got a headache, huh? Arthritis? A fresh chain-saw wound? No
excuse: Thanks to the endorphins released during sex, a rowdy belly dance
can actually ease her suffering. “Pain threshold in women is elevated 60
to 80 percent during pleasurable stimulation,” explains Dr. Beverly
Whipple, a professor of neuroscience and president of the American
Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists. In one recent
study, Gina Ogden, author of Women Who Love Sex, experimented by
attaching a clamp to a woman’s finger and squeezing, first while she was
at rest and later while she was getting some. As her subject climaxed,
Ogden pinched past the point at which the woman routinely howled, with no
response at all. “In the midst of orgasm,” Ogden noted, “she
apparently feels no pain.”
Daily injections
Want to help ease those nasty PMS symptoms? Studies show that a woman’s
overall reproductive system benefits from frequent penile insertions.
“Sexual activity helps strengthen the pubococcygeus muscles, which in
turn help keep the pelvic organs in shape and where they belong,”
explains Dr. Ladas. Regular love sessions can also postpone the onset of
menopause, stimulate fertility, and regulate the menstrual cycle.
Old Faithful
Fun fact: 52 percent of all men between the ages of 40 and 70 have trouble
getting wood. But having more sex can better your chances. Frequent
erections keep blood flowing through your capillaries, so the flesh in
your bone stays nourished. And more important, an erection is an athletic
reflex. “The more you train the coordination between nerve and muscle,
the easier it is to perform,” says Dr. Andre Guay, head of the sexual
function center at the Lahey Clinic in Peabody, Massachusetts.
The gland of milk and honey
Yeah, the prostate’s a funny little gland. Not only is it a key
component in your pleasure machine (and a male G spot, if you know how to
find it), it tends to swell as we get older, causing agony for lots of
guys. To keep it from bugging you, take saw palmetto (an over-the-counter
herb supplement that relieves symptoms of prostate enlargement), and keep
ejaculating. “Most of the fluid you ejaculate comes from the prostate
and the seminal vescles,” says Dr. Guay. “When someone stops having
orgasms, the fluids back up and the glands can become swollen.” When
prostatic congestion occurs, the gland squeezes your urinary tract; pain
shoots through your guts and you have a hard time taking a leak. Talk
about a spent fuel rod.
Chemical attraction
Bet you didn’t know that testosterone is responsible for sex drive in
women as well as men. Yup, a lady with no testosterone will be drier than
an AA meeting. Plus, testosterone is a steroid that regulates the body’s
metabolism, letting it use energy efficiently. And the more sex you have,
the more testosterone you’re producing. “A consequence is that your
body is able to stimulate tissue replacement and bone growth, which, among
other things, helps prevent osteoporosis,” says Dr. Susan Rako, author
of The Hormone of Desire. “Higher levels of testosterone can also
promote an overall feeling of well-being.”
Long time comin’
Want to live longer? Try adding a little spice to your diet. In 1997 an
inquisitive British doctor published a study that followed 918 men between
the ages of 45 and 59 for 10 long years to determine how sexual activity
affected their life spans. Here’s what he found: Men who had two or more
orgasms every week were half as likely to croak as those who averaged
fewer than one orgasm a month. And, hey, guys never lie about this kind of
stuff, so we’re sure the data’s right on the money.
