Relationship

How to replace sex

To begin with, let’s try to understand what sex actually gives us. Why does it feel good, and why is it, to put it bluntly, addictive?

 

Some people say that no one has ever died without sex, and they do fine without it for many months. Others, after a week of abstinence, climb on the wall, and say that without sex life is not nice. Why is it so? And what can replace sex, if such a need arises?

 

To begin with, let’s try to understand what, in fact, gives us sex. Why do they feel good, and why a person falls from it, frankly, in dependence?

 

Scientists say that sex triggers in our body a powerful and diverse biochemical processes. We produce a lot of hormones that provide pleasure (dopamine) and improve mood (serotonin), and during orgasm endorphins (the so-called “happy hormones”) are released into the blood, causing a sense of euphoria. Because of this set of psychotropic substances sex is called a cure for depression and the safest tranquilizer in the world.

 

Fortunately, these hormones are not only released during sex. Masturbation helps relieve sexual tension. And it’s not the only one.

 

How to increase serotonin levels

    Go on a special diet. To get your serotonin levels up, you need the amino acid tryptophan, which is rich in bread, bananas, chocolate, figs, regular sugar, as well as milk, oily fish and broccoli.

 

    Listen to a fun song. Anyone who is afraid of getting better on the tryptophan diet can benefit from the insights of English psychologist Thomas Camorro-Premusik. This inquisitive scientist studied how music changes the serotonin levels in listeners’ blood and even derived a formula: S (serotonin level) = P (pitch) + Pos (positive) + T (pitch) + BPM (tempo) + I (pleasant associations). The title of the most serotoninous song went to the song “Wake Up Boo! However, Camorro-Premusic somehow did not care about the opinion of Russian music lovers.

 

    Straighten Up. In 1994, scientists proved that serotonin levels elevate high social status and pride. A boss has more of this hormone than a subordinate. The Russian national soccer team’s participation in the European Championship has caused an increase in serotonin levels in the blood of our compatriots, while in the British, on the contrary, it has decreased. And the easiest way to evoke a sense of pride, and therefore to increase serotonin levels, is to always walk with a straight back. After all, pride is associated with good posture, so by straightening, we automatically become more confident.

 

    Take a pill. As a last resort, you can increase serotonin blood levels with medications: 5-hydroxytryptophan, which is involved in the formation of the hormone, or its reuptake inhibitors like Prozac. In addition, serotonin levels increase, albeit briefly, with alcohol.

How to increase dopamine levels

    Eat a good meal. Dopamine is unpretentious; its levels rise from the very fact of eating, and rise as much as from having sex.

    Smoke. If you smoke, know that nicotine also contributes to dopamine production.

    Go shopping. In 1995, scientists at the University of Kentucky studied, using lab rats as examples, how shopping affects women. It turns out that in rodents, as they settle into an interesting new cage, their dopamine levels in their blood rise – they get pleasure. The same thing happens during shopping. And the amount of the hormone depends not on the number of purchases, but on their anticipation.

    Get into the game. It does not matter what it will be: preference, paintball, or participation in the program “Who wants to be a millionaire. The main thing is to have some sort of prize looming ahead.

 

How to increase the level of endorphins

As for endorphins, in addition to sex, there are plenty of other things that contribute to their release.

 

    Sweets, especially chocolate. Not without reason in France there is even a brand of chocolate, which is advertised as “Sex Substitute”.

    Opiates – heroin and morphine, synthetic endorphins – are the most dangerous substitutes for sex, and you should not experiment with them. In addition, the body receives endorphins from outside, ceases to produce them itself. Therefore, if you stop taking drugs, there will be a period of depression.

    Sports. The amount of endorphins released during sports is comparable with their amount after sexual intercourse. First of all, this applies to bodybuilding and martial arts, during which the physical load is the maximum.

    Stress. After the resolution of a stressful situation, the body also produces endorphins. Stress can be anything: a stressful job, passing a difficult level computer game, hunting … or, for example, a flogging. According to Novosibirsk biologist Sergei Speransky, the level of endorphins after 30-60 strokes of the rod in the buttock area increases several times.

    Art. Watching a movie, visiting an exhibition, listening to music and even your own creativity leads to the release of endorphins.

    Money. On one forum, a girl said that she would agree to give up sex if she would be paid for it. For every day of abstinence. Why? Money, it’s euphoric too…

    And finally, with meh – a simple, cheap and safe way to get “happy hormones”.

Myths about the benefits of sex

Myth 1: Having sex is the best sport, it trains all your muscle groups.

 

Strangely, why then is sex still not included in training programs in fitness centers? Well, that’s easy. Sports exercise complexes train all major muscle groups, rolling in bed, of course, also gives a load, but not on all muscles and not enough. In short, in terms of strengthening all sorts of biceps-quadriceps fitness will be more effective than sex.

 

Myth 2: Sex is the best tool for losing weight. During intercourse the body mobilizes all of its reserves: burns more than a hundred kilocalories.

 

Sex can be different. During one (with a long foreplay upside down and on the chandelier) probably burns thousands of kilocalories, during the other (back and forth in a quick way) – 15. As many as when reading this article.

 

According to many studies, the kilocalorie expenditure in traditional sex is low, about the same as in walking. The calculations could be as follows. On average, while having sex a person loses about 300 kcal per hour, during orgasm – about 400. And now we time it, add it up, and… we get a measly 100 kcal. Like a chicken egg or a glass of milk. Any other questions?

 

Myth 3: When a woman makes love, her body produces a large amount of the hormone oestrogen, which makes her hair shiny, her skin smooth, and the sweat it produces clears her pores

 

On the one hand, this sounds true, but on the other hand, cosmetic products (cream, shampoo, shower gel, etc.) have a similar effect. Now imagine a woman who doesn’t take care of herself at all, relying solely on sex…

 

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Conclusion. For a while sex can be painlessly replaced by a lot of other things and things to do. But it’s hard to do without it altogether. Because, no matter how you look at it, sex isn’t just about exercise, hormonal release, and making your hair shiny and your skin smooth. It’s something else, just as important, that can’t be completely made up for with bananas and chocolate.