There are many benefits that come from making love: it burns calories, boosts your immune system, encourages intimacy, and of course, releases dopamine in your brain.
So it's no surprise that sex helps you feel young.
Sex can actually help slow down aging
According to a 2017 study published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology, having sex at least once a week is associated with longer telomeres – the protective cap on DNA that determines the lifespan of cells.
Longer telomeres are associated with slower cell aging and longer lifespans, it says The Healthy, and transfers N1 Zagreb.
Researchers followed the sex lives of 129 mothers in relationships.
Women reported daily on their satisfaction with their relationship, as well as how often they were intimate with their partners.
The researchers also took blood samples from the women, analyzing cells and markers of aging.
They found that women who had sex with their partners in the previous week had longer telomeres compared to those who did not, writes The Healthy.
This type of research only shows an association and cannot prove that sexual activity was the cause of longer telomere length.
However, telomere length is thought to be important for health.
Over time, telomeres degrade as cells divide, becoming a little shorter with each cell division.
Certain factors are thought to promote their faster breakdown, such as poor diet, excessive alcohol consumption and the natural aging process, according to the researchers.
Their findings show that sex could be beneficial when it comes to protecting telomeres, meaning cells can live longer. Researchers have linked shorter telomeres to serious health problems such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes; longer telomeres appear to help prevent disease.
Sex affects happiness
While there is no magic formula for couples' sexual happiness, a 2017 study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior looked at how often people have sex. The study found that the average adult has sex 54 times a year – about once a week – based on data from 1989 to 2014.
Although that number has declined slightly since the 1990s, another study, published in Social Psychological and Personality Science, followed more than 30.000 Americans for 40 years or more. Researchers found that couples who had sex more than once a week were no happier than those who only had sex once a week. Researchers suggest that the old adage "less is more" may apply to sex — but that doesn't mean you have to follow a strict schedule.
In general, it's important for couples to maintain an intimate relationship, but you don't need to have sex every day to maintain a relationship.
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