How Sleep Affects Your Sex Life

How can sleep affect your sex life?
Lack of sleep affects our health and wellness in so many ways: from brain fog and grumpiness to a lack of concentration, increased appetite, a better mood and it negatively affects libido (sex drive) too. Specifically in relation to women there was a study done in 2015 that showed that longer sleep related to greater sexual desire. Each additional hour of sleep meant a 14% increase in sexual arousal.

Link to study here

What impact do good sleeping habits have on your sex life?
Getting into a good evening routine and including sex as part of that can have multiple wellness benefits.

1) Although high intensity workouts make it harder to sleep, a relaxing exercise such as having sex, makes for a perfect evening workout. Sex burns on average 69-100 calories and improves circulation in the body, giving your organs a nice supply of fresh blood before you snooze.

2) It relieves stress and helps you relax : having an orgasm during sex increases the production of melatonin, the ‘sleep’ hormone, which your body produces to prepare itself for sleep. For men when they climax, this releases prolactin, a hormone linked with fatigue.

3) Sex also improves the quality of your sleep, specifically for women as having had sex leads to a spike in estrogen, a hormone which can enhance REM (rapid eye movement), which is the restorative part to our sleep cycle. When your REM is enriched it is linked to high concentration and creativity the next day.

4) Sex makes you feel safe as it releases oxytocin, the feel good hormone, increasing the sense of connection with your partner.

5) Sleeping naked is also great for a good night's sleep due to the lower body temperature and keeping your body cool during the night is wonderful for an uninterrupted sleep as it regulates hormones.

6) Couple Snuggles increase the feeling of security which makes it easier to drift off to sleep.

Part of this article appeared in my interview in The New York Post. View here.