It may seem superfluous to belabour the fact that it’s good for you – it feels really, really nice, right? – but there are some benefits to masturbation you may not have thought of before:
- Unlike sex with a partner, you can’t contract a sexually transmitted disease and nobody falls pregnant.
- It’s a great reliever of stress and sexual tension and for many a pleasurable cure for insomnia.
- It increases the flow of testosterone through the body which can help to strengthen muscles and bones. Testosterone also helps to transport a hormone called DHEA which is important in the functioning of the immune system.
- It helps you to learn how your body and penis respond to various stimuli – what feels good and what doesn’t – a basic requirement for a fulfilling sex life. It also teaches you to recognise that point-of-no-return moment just before orgasm and can teach you to avoid premature ejaculation.
- Since the body releases endorphins – natural feel-good chemicals – during masturbation, it can improve your mood and may help to fight depression.
- It can help you build stronger pelvic floor muscles which lead to better sex – women have long know about this, of course.
- According to a pamphlet aimed at teenagers and distributed by the UK’s National Health Service in 2009: “Health promotion experts advocate five portions of fruit and veg a day and 30 minutes physical activity three times a week. What about sex or masturbation twice a week?” The pamphlet’s punch line says it all: “An orgasm a day keeps the doctor away.”
Source: Health24.com
