Why getting it on is just what the doctor ordered
Cast aside those fish oil capsules, says Rowan Pelling, it’s regular lovemaking that will stimulate your memory and brain
We have a catchphrase at The Amorist
magazine: having sex may not make you smarter, but smart people definitely have more sex. It seems the first part of our mantra was far too hesitant. Scientists from Oxford and Coventry Universities have just published research suggesting the brain-boosting effects of regular sexual activity on 50-somethings’ verbal fluency and visual memory. You can only assume champion Scrabble players go at the act of intimacy like crazed stoats.
None of these revelations come as a huge surprise. Poets have known for centuries that passion is the path to the most enthralling verse. No one walks away from the collected works of Shakespeare without knowing they’ve encountered a writer with extensive experience of physical rapture. It just took science a while to catch up.
Professors at Rutgers University in New Jersey, armed with a state-ofthe-art MRI scanner, have shown the brain floods with blood, oxygen and nutrients at the point of orgasm – activating key areas associated with neurological function. It’s not often I can boast this, but as far as I know I’m the only British woman to have donated an orgasm to science as part of Rutgers’ ongoing research project. (Yes, this did involve self-stimulation in a clanking metal tube in a sterile white room, but this is a family newspaper so I will not elaborate.)
My trip to New Jersey allowed me to talk to the boffins at some length about the physical, mental and emotional benefits of sex. Frequent exercise improves almost every aspect of human function, so it makes sense horizontal exercise is a universal panacea. Men who remain sexually active are less likely to suffer prostate cancer, while female enthusiasts enjoy cardiovascular benefits. There’s also evidence that people who maintain active sex lives live longer than those who don’t. And then there’s sex’s mood-enhancing properties: swifter and surer than any medication.
Although, we surely don’t need scientists to tell us people who enjoy a fulfilling love life tend to be more cheerful and relaxed than their more frustrated counterparts. Whenever I’ve encountered a particularly grumpy and obstructive person in the workplace, I’ve thought, “There’s an individual who could do with a little more loving.”
The fact we now know sex has brain-enhancing properties is just the cherry on the icing on the erotic cake. Although, admittedly, it does give sensualists an excellent excuse to disport themselves even more frequently. Finding The Daily
Telegraph crossword a bit tricky today? Simply grab your beloved and enjoy an instant boost to your neural connectivity. The producers of
Mastermind and University Challenge may find themselves having to install love cubicles in place of a green room, to allow contestants their best shot at success.
But surely this news is most cheering for the older section of the population, who live in dread of encroaching dementia. They can throw away the fish oil and take up good, old-fashioned knee-tremblers instead.
Five health benefits of having more sex in midlife
News that regular action in your fifties and beyond improves brain function will have had teenagers rolling their eyes in embarrassment the country over.
“People don’t like to think that older people have sex,” admits study author Dr Hayley Wright from Coventry University. “But we need to challenge this conception at a societal level.” “There are countless reasons to continue having sex in your fifties and older, from improved emotional health to the many physical benefits,” agrees Barbara Bloomfield, a Relate therapist and author of Couples Therapy: Dramas of Love and Sex.
So with that in mind, here’s why plenty of what you fancy is up there with sleep and exercise in benefiting mind, body and soul…
1. You’ll become smarter
As well as the Coventry and Oxford study, a 2016 study from Canada suggested that women who have regular sex have better memories. A team at Mcgill University found a link between regular sex and the growth of nervous tissue in the area of the brain that controls our emotions and memory.
2. You’ll look younger
Put down that £100 pot of eye cream: scientists at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital have found older couples having regular sex look five to seven years younger than those who rarely have sex. Dr David Weeks, who led the 10-year study, found that if the sex was “loving” and pleasure was derived from it, hormones were released that made the skin more elastic and youthful. Weeks found that casual sex didn’t have the same effects, as it could cause anxiety and feelings of insecurity.
3. You’ll get fewer colds
Having sex at least once a week has been found to raise your body’s levels of immunoglobulin A (known as IGA), which is a cold and flufighting antibody. “IGA is the first line of defence against colds and flu,” says Carl Chenetski from Wilkes University in Pennsylvania, whose study found that couples who have sex once or twice a week have 30 per cent higher levels of IGA.
4. You’ll feel happier
A study of 8,000 people over the age of 50 from Trinity College Dublin found that couples who maintain a healthy sex life in later life were less likely to feel depressed and were more positive about ageing.
5. Your heart health will improve
Forget the rumours about sixtysomethings having heart attacks mid-coitus. Research seems to suggest the opposite is true and that regular sex can reduce your risk of a heart attack. Researchers at Queen’s University in Belfast found a weekly roll in the sheets can halve the risk of a heart attack or stroke and another study found women who orgasm at least twice a week were 30 per cent less likely to develop heart disease.