|
Sex Ed Corner!
What has your O done for you lately?
Hmm - how do orgasms help you? Let us count the ways! They make you feel amazing, alive, goddess-like, bonded to your man, and ready to conquer the world. But there are some more concrete benefits too, explains Arlene Goldman, Ph.D., coauthor of Secrets of Sexual Ecstasy...
Orgasms relieve tension
When you climax, your heart rate speed up, your blood flow increases, and your muscles contract. But then your entire body relaxes - and all the tensions pent up in your nervous system melt away.
Orgasms help you sleep
When you peak your body releases endorphins, which act as natural tranquilizers. That's why you get that drowsy feeling after lovemaking.
Orgasms help vaginal health
"They keep blood flowing to your vagina," says Goldman, "And they help keep you lubricated, which means vaginal muscles won't atrophy, so you'll have better sex and less incontinence later in life."
Orgasms burn calories
You burn as many as 200 calories by having an O after a half-hour lovemaking session. (If you don't climax, you'll burn roughly half that many calories. You all know Jessie Lee's orgasm rule by now, though!)
Orgasms relieve pain
The endorphins and oxytocin that are released during sex can increase your pain tolerance by as much as 70 percent. Studies have shown that having an O relieves menstrual cramps - even after the sex is over.
Orgasms calm sweets cravings
How? They activate the production of phenetylamine, a natural amphetamine that acts as an appetite suppressant.
|