Sure you can still wear short sleeves now (with a light leather jacket on hand, of course), but as the days get shorter and the leaves turn, cold and flu season rides in on the crest of a pumpkin-spiced autumnal wave, ready to crash your Halloween parties and turn your fall fantasies into sniffling, feverish nightmares. But while these October nights that foreshadow the dreary march towards winter might bring on sickness, they also bring on more time indoors, and, arguably, more time for sex — and all the benefits of sex.
Fall sex is a particularly wonderful kind of copulation unto itself — and doesn't require a fall boy/girlfriend. You can enjoy a NSA roll in the hay, or even use the time to connect with yourself and dig into some spooky solo sex. (Just trying to keep with the theme here, there's actually nothing scary at all about masturbation.) And while you might not connect the seasonal increase in sex with a seasonal increase in feeling under the weather, you probably should. According to science (and common sense), sex can actually help fight cold and flu season. So if you're trying to stave off the inevitable sore throat or you're already sick and hoping for some sexual healing, here are five ways that getting it on can combat seasonal sickness.
1. Sex Boosts Your Immune System
Countless studies have proven that some time between the sheets strengthens your immune system, and you'll need to be a strong as you can be to battle it out against seasonal germs.
2. Sex Decreases Stress
Along with increasing immunity, sex also decreases stress, and your stress levels are known to be a major factor in determining whether you'll catch the cold that's been making the rounds.
3. Sex Relieves Pain
Despite all your health-improving habits, you can't stop a stranger from coughing in your face during your morning commute. So if you do get sick, don't stop doing it! Sex has been proven to reduce pain, and that's exactly what you need when your head is pounding and your sinuses are oozing. (But you'll probably need a partner-in-crime that's already sick so you don't have to worry about spreading your germs or your grossness.)
4. Sex Improves Your Mood
It's kind of a downer to know that any moment you could catch a nasty bug, so what's the perfect antidote? Yep, sex again. The flood of happy hormones that gettin' busy brings will help you battle the sinking feeling that you'll be spending the next few months dodging flu-infested zombies.
5. Sex Improves Fitness
It's no treadmill but sex is certainly form of exercise, which has been shown to help prevent both colds and the flu. According to WebMd, if you're having sex on the reg, it boosts your heart rate and uses various muscles.
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