Winter Quarter will be the quarter most of us get sick. Really sick. We'll spend all our beer money on over-the-counter remedies, skip classes to wait in line for hours at Hudson Health Center and generally feel like poo.
Fortunately, there's a relatively enjoyable way to keep your immune system intact: sex. Research has proven that sex can be surprisingly good for you in more ways than one.
If you're already sick this quarter, you can try replacing the Sudafed with a rousing session in the sack. Endorphins and the hormone oxytocin are both released during sex and are mild pain relievers. They can aid anything from whiplash to headaches to the symptoms of PMS. We can state from experience that orgasms help alleviate menstrual cramps. Enough said.
Everyone experiences stress from time to time, and being that we're all in classes now, that level of stress is going to be notably higher. But having regular sex can help you reduce stress and sleep better. After an orgasm, you feel overcome by a sense of calm and relaxation (men, this is where you fall asleep). Studies have shown that being in this state can help you let go of your stresses and get a better night's rest.
Sex is also a great form of exercise. For every half hour you spend steeped in sexual intercourse, you burn 150 calories - roughly the same amount you would work off while weight training. If you're having sex regularly - at least three times a week for a year - you burn off the equivalent of six Big Macs. So if you're hoping to keep your New Year's resolutions, try sex as your new approach.
With the snow, the clouds and the cold, winter is definitely the season of depression. We all step a little slower when the weather is bad and hole up in our houses a little more often. But as long as you're trying to beat the cold, invite someone else to help warm you up. According to psychologist Gordon Gallup, a hormone found in semen can decrease your chances of depression.
Being sexually active can help you reach your 100th birthday, too! According to a 1997 study by Queens University researchers that was published in the British Medical Journal, those who had orgasms twice a week lived longer than their sexually frustrated counterparts.
But scientists acknowledge that, physical aspects aside, it's not just sex that keeps you healthy. It's having sex with someone for whom you genuinely care that does the trick. The touch of someone you love and who loves you can be healing in itself, whether it's sexual or otherwise.
If you're not sexually active, you don't have to worry about being the only one sick this quarter because you can stay healthy too. Just recruit someone to exchange massages with - erotic or not. They can have much the same effect.
So, the next time you're doped up on Nyquil and your friends sympathetically say, I wish I could do something to help you feel better
simply hand them today's edition of The Post ... then wink.
Get well soon!
Christy and Katie hope you stay healthy and active (wink wink) during Winter Quarter. Send them an e-mail at twototango@excite.com 17
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