The Heart is a Muscle that Needs Conditioning

Science can't seem to nail down if healthy people are more sexually active, or if sexual activity improves health? Happy Valentine's Day and let us know if you know the answer.

I promise you after Valentine’s Day I will not bore you any longer with more stories about the heart, heart health and sexual relationships. It’s just that this week the papers, magazine and internet can’t seem to get enough of abusing poor old Valentine for every sales effort in the Love Book. Especially when it comes to making dubious claims in the name of Valentine, I get a bit annoyed.

The story starts as follows:
Your heart swells, sings, skips a beat, races, goes pitter patter… oh yes, that feeling of effervescent love and its physical effects on the body. The month of February is used to teach us a lot about matters of the heart, how it feels to fall in love, and what to do to stay in love, as if we have not heard this already a thousand times, let alone experienced it ourselves.

So now there is a new angle introduced, albeit with very low scientific proof. The question is “what about the health of the heart and it’s effects on your ability to express that love? Viagra anyone?

The first pseudo scientific claim makes me shudder: “Studies have shown that happy relationships can improve heart health”. Not much new there when the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction announces that it has found a link between healthy people and their frequency in sexual activity. No kidding.

Wow, now it’s time to sit up and pay attention as the article continuous by stating the same old stuff about how sex:

-Boosts Cardiovascular Health by getting the heart beating, lowering blood pressure, and, I’m trying to be delicate here, Dutch scientists found that ingesting the result of oral sex has a strong protective effect on preventing preeclampsia (high blood pressure) in pregnant women.
-Minimizes Stress, both emotionally and physically;
-Relieves Pain, thanks to the oxytocin and endorphins released during orgasm;
-Decrease Prostate Cancer risk for men who regularly ejaculate;
-Healing Cuts and Wounds another effect of the oxytocin said to help heal wounds faster, helping to regenerate skin cells.

But the root for my annoyance stems from the fact that science can’t seem to nail down (no pun intended) if healthy people are more sexually active, or if sexual activity improves health? A bit like the chicken or the egg, but somewhat more personal.

Until science gives us a clear proven statement I can only suggest that your heart is a muscle, and like with any “muscle” in your body” the more conditioning it gets, the stronger it gets, the healthier it gets.
Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone.