Featured Image Credit: Anna Berkut/Alena Kravchenko/Alamy Stock Photo
Topics: Sex and Relationships, Science, Health
Daisy Phillipson
Topics: Sex and Relationships, Science, Health
Not all fun things are bad for your health, as demonstrated by a study revealing how often fellas should be ejaculating each month.
While there's a lot to be said about exercising regularly and eating well, it turns out that knocking one out or sleeping with a partner could be pretty important to maintaining prostate health in men.
Researchers at Harvard University made the discovery after studying 31,925 men, who filled out three questionnaires about ejaculation frequency between 1992 and 2010.
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The survey, published in European Urology in 2016, found that men who ejaculate at least 21 times a month could see their chances of getting prostate cancer slashed by a third.
Yes, you read the right – that's more than once every other day, so if you're not meeting these standards you might want to rethinking your schedule.
Although science is yet to explain why beating one's meat is good for the prostate, some have suggested it may be something to do with flushing toxins out of the system.
Either way, the findings are pretty damn significant, with those who ejaculated 21+ times a month discovered to be 33 percent less likely to develop the disease.
The study said: "We evaluated whether ejaculation frequency throughout adulthood is related to prostate cancer risk in a large US-based study.
"We found that men reporting higher compared to lower ejaculatory frequency in adulthood were less likely to be subsequently diagnosed with prostate cancer.
"These findings provide additional evidence of a beneficial role of more frequent ejaculation throughout adult life in the etiology of PCa [prostate cancer], particularly for low-risk disease."
And this isn't the only benefit – no matter what your gender, either enjoying a bit of sex or a self-love session can also help to promote better sleep.
This was highlighted by German health insurance provider Barmer Krankenkasse, which previously advised: "Masturbation helps you fall asleep.
"If you can’t sleep again, just use your hand to pleasure yourself, or use a toy, then sleep comes all by itself."
Adding to this, registered sex therapist Judith Golden told Reader’s Digest: Best Health how masturbation can be of great help to those who suffer from insomnia.
"Just as people fall into a deep sleep after sex with a partner, because blood pressure is lowered and relaxation is increased through the release of endorphins, masturbation is a good sleeping pill," she said. "It is relied on by many as a nightly occurrence."
So there you have it – if you want to look after your health or get a better night's sleep, you know what to do.
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