Sex is an activity that’s not only good for your relationship, it’s also good for your health. The prevention of cancer, stress relief, and improvement of moods and sleep patterns are all factors that have a positive correlation to sex. A now, a new study adds an additional benefit to this list:Â sex is a great way to prevent heart attacks.
The longitudinal study tracked 1,165 men between the ages of 40 and 70 for a period of 16 years, analyzing their health history and other factors in order to determine the relationship that exists between sexual activity and cardiovascular health. The thing that distinguishes this study from the rest is the fact that researchers took note of the participants’ health, blood pressure, and outside factors such as smoking, accounting for all things in order to make the study as accurate as possible.
The study found that men who had the most sex were at the lowest risk of developing heart conditions. Men who had sex three times a week had a 45 percent lower risk of developing heart disease than participants who had sex once a month. The study concluded that even if men were smokers or suffered from other health conditions, sex helped reduce their chances of heart disease.
Dr. E. Dean Nukta explained to Everyday Health why sex is so important for heart health, and how the relationship between the two is one that serves multiple purposes and goes both ways, saying, “If you have a healthy heart, you are more likely to have frequent sex, and a healthy sex life may also decrease your heart attack risk factors.”
Sex is good for the heart because it provides a ton of things that are great for cardiovascular health, such as an aerobic workout, the reduction of stress, and a boost to your emotional health.
