Fun_People Archive
10 Mar
Something we sorta knew....

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From: Peter Langston <psl>
Date: Wed, 10 Mar 99 09:16:43 -0800
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Subject: Something we sorta knew....

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	Survey Says Frequent Sex Helps Keep You Young
	By David Luhnow

EDINBURGH, Scotland (Reuters) - Sex at least three times a week can make
people look 10 years younger, according to a survey published Wednesday.

``It's not a case of these people having more sex because they look younger,
they actually look younger because they are having more sex in loving,
stable relationships,'' said Dr. David Weeks, a neuro-psychologist at the
Royal Edinburgh Hospital.

Weeks, whose survey took 10 years to complete, told Reuters: ``Because these
people are having a better sex life, they feel better about themselves and
actually look younger.''

Weeks, an American, interviewed some 3,500 people from Britain, Europe and
the United States after he placed an advertisement in New Scientist magazine
in 1988 which asked: ''Do you look and feel younger than you are?'' His
survey of young-looking participants, stretching from rain-swept Scotland to
sunny California, found that on average, they had sex at least four times a
week -- twice as often as the average person.

When the participants were ``rated'' by volunteers who tried to guess their
ages, the men were assumed to be 12 years younger and the women 10 years
younger than they actually were.

How does making love tap the fountain of youth? The human body produces
growth hormones and other chemicals like endorphins during sex that enhance
the body and mind, Weeks said.

A woman's body during orgasm releases the hormone oxytocin, which affects
emotional centers of her brain. Men who regularly stimulate their mate's
oxytocin are rewarded with warmer feelings of affection, Weeks' study
showed.

Weeks, who published his findings in a book ``Super-young: The Proven Way to
Stay Young Forever,'' stressed that a number of other factors such as diet
and exercise also affect whether or not people look younger.

And casual sex with different partners did not help prevent wrinkles. If
anything, Weeks said, the stress and pressure made for premature aging.

Masturbation was a healthy alternative to sex, Weeks said, but would not be
as beneficial as copulation.

For monogomous relationships, however, the instructions are clear: get out
the candles and romantic music.

© 1999 Peter Langston