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By Rome Jorge, Lifestyle Editor
You don’t have to give a man any further
reasons for having sex: It feels good, and with good reason: without
it, there would be none of us. But to engage in sex only for
procreation is to debase us into animals. People are made to do it.
It is abstinence and guilt that are unnatural. Etcetera etcetera.
But here’s more.
According to the British Journal of Urology
International, men in their 20s can reduce their chance of getting
prostate cancer by ejaculating more than five times a week. Many
urologists opine that releasing seminal fluid helps free the body of
carcinogens. Producing seminal fluid requires calcium, zinc, citric
acid, potassium and other substances from the blood and
concentrating them up to 600 times. Keeping such a potent
concentration of substances in one’s body for extended periods may
increase the likelihood of cancer.
However, having unprotected sex, especially with
multiple partners, increases a man’s risk of cancer by 40 percent
due to his possible exposure to infections (not to mention the great
likelihood of heartache and headache that increased monetary
spending and complex time management—not to mention unwanted
pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases—may cause). Organisms
such as human papillomavirus can induce precancerous lesions.
Needless to say, sex is a good thing when done right.
Sex also has many other health benefits:
Sex reduces the risk of breast cancer, prevents
of endometriosis and regulates the menstrual cycles for women.
Researchers speculate that prostoglandin, a hormone found only in
semen, is absorbed in the female genital tract, which may modulate
female hormones and prevent depression. Since seminal fluid is rich
in calcium and other minerals, it also retards tooth decay. It
contains fructose, a sugar that nourishes sperm, as well as protein
from the sperm itself. Since etiquette requires partners to engage
in dental hygiene and bathing before and after sex, it further
promotes good health.
Sex, a form of exercise, leads to physical
fitness. Engaging in sex three or more times a week reduces the risk
of heart attack or stroke by 50 percent. Sex burns an average of 200
calories—even more on marathon bouts. Also, the aspiration to
perform better in bed is a great motivation for fitness. Regular
full body exercise greatly enhances one’s stamina, vigor and
appearance. Limbs and other extremities are more fully engorged with
blood during arousal when one has good circulation. Thus, to be
healthy, it helps that one’s primary motivation is sex is to
satisfy one’s partner and not one’s self.
Sex increases one’s immunity from diseases.
According to a study by the Wilkes University in Pennsylvania,
people who engaged in sex once or twice a week had 30-percent
increase of immunoglobulin A antibodies. However, these benefits are
negated by unprotected sex. Condoms are the only form of
contraception that protect from sexually transmitted diseases.
Sex—when done in the context of honest, equal
and emotionally satisfying engagements—relieves stress, prevents
depression and suppresses pain. The levels of the hormone oxytocin—which
signals the body to release endorphins, the body’s natural
painkiller—increase up to five times their normal level
immediately before each orgasm. This helps with headaches, cramps as
well as other aches associated with premenstrual syndrome. The
intimacy and tenderness associated with sex is also a great comfort.
Sex, as a form communication, can also lead to better relationships
and further one’s mental and emotional wellbeing.
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