I was a Wall Street analyst before becoming a sex expert – here’s why I think self-pleasure makes you live longer
A FORMER Wall Street analyst-turned-sex therapist has shared the secret to leading a longer and healthier life: regular masturbation.
Dr. Gloria Brame told The Sun that pleasuring yourself at least three times a week can do wonders for the body and mind in the long term for both men and women.
That's because achieving orgasm through masturbation sends a rush of "feel-good" hormones around the body that can have a myriad of positive effects, according to Brame.
Those hormones include oxytocin, otherwise known as the love hormone; serotonin, the happiness hormone; and dopamine, the pleasure hormone.
In fact, Brame says having an orgasm is the biggest non-drug-induced blast of dopamine one can experience.
Just like brushing your teeth, the doctor recommends making masturbation a regular part of your personal care routine.
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"Masturbation sends you a drug cocktail of really happy drugs - the kind that you actually cannot buy from a dealer, nor can your doctor prescribe them, because some chemicals we cannot yet pharmaceutically reproduce," said Dr. Brame.
"So when it comes to psychological things like stress, anxiety, even trauma, depression, and low-energy moods, an orgasm really fills you with this self-produced lovely combination of chemicals that make it feel as though life is worth living."
BOOSTING YOUR IMMUNITY
According to Dr. Brame, a former English teacher and Wall Street analyst, ejaculation decreases levels of cortisol in the body, which is otherwise well known as the stress-inducing hormone.
Off-setting cortisol levels by increasing oxytocin and dopamine in the body actually helps to boost your immune system, because cortisol helps maintain your immune system when released in small doses.
Masturbation can also produce the right kind of environment for a strengthened immune system to thrive, studies show.
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A 2004 study conducted by the Department of Medical Psychology at the University Clinic of Essen found that masturbation boosted white blood cell levels post-orgasm.
As part of the study, a group of 11 men had their white blood cell counts analyzed five minutes before and 45 minutes after reaching a self-induced orgasm.
The results supposedly confirmed that our immune system is positively affected by sexual arousal and masturbation, for white blood cells help to fight off infections, illnesses, and diseases.
Orgasms have also been found to prevent or mitigate pain, which boosts the immune system and helps to stave off cold and flu symptoms.
Stefan Evers, a neurologist and headache specialist, conducted a study with 800 migraine patients to investigate how their sexual activity impacted their levels of pain.
Evers found that 60 percent of migraine sufferers experienced pain relief after participating in sexual activity that resulted in orgasm.
CANCER AND HEART HEALTH
Masturbation, or frequent sex, can also help to lower the risks of prostate cancer among men, studies have found.
One study from 2004 found that men who ejaculated more than 21 times a month reduced their risk of contracting prostate cancer by roughly 33 percent when compared to those who achieved orgasms between only four to seven times each month.
Twelve years later, the researchers followed up with the same group of men and found that those who ejaculated 12 times per month reduced their prostate cancer risk by 10 percent.
Dr. Brame says that masturbation, in addition to being good for the soul, is also good for the heart, dramatically reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
"Numerous studies have found that regular orgasms might actually be a key to leading longer and happier lives," she said.
"And there are absolutely correlations between heart health and frequent orgasms - and by frequent, I mean at least three times a week."
A report from the Massachusetts Aging Study found that men who had sex once a month or less were 45% more likely to die of cardiovascular disease than men who had two or more orgasms per week.
Dr. Brame said that frequent orgasms also lower the risk of stroke by around 60 percent, and helps to prevent endometriosis - a gynecological condition - among women.
"The heart and the genitals work hand-in-hand," she said. "So do the genitals with the lungs and many other organs."
STAY LOOKING YOUNG
In addition to extending your life span, Dr. Brame believes that masturbation or regular orgasms can help keep you look younger for longer.
"There are an abundance of studies about who fares better in life and people who have regular orgasms tend to do better on many fronts.
"If you have regular orgasms, you'll notice one reason why people get so upset when they can't have orgasms is that they think everyone else is having them. I think the brain tells you you're no longer in the game of life, I really do.
"That's why I think it's the key to healthy aging. I think one reason we see older people in poor health who don't have a critical illness but appear fragile or whatever, is that it isn't just enough to keep fit and go walk in the mall or whatever it is that they do.
"Orgasms contribute to the overall full-body health of a human being," Dr. Brame added.
"I'm a lifelong smoker and 65 years old, and I don't have anything wrong with me, my doctors are shocked. But I have orgasms and I maintain my weight - that's all I do for myself."
Research suggests that either masturbating or having sex on a regular basis can also improve your skin.
Having an orgasm increases blood flow to the skin, making your blood vessels open up. For some people, this can result in rosy cheeks, which is commonly referred to as a post-sex glow.
Additionally, oxytocin, one of the main hormones released into the body after ejaculation, can reduce inflammation, making spots, pimples and rashes less noticeable.
One study in the Journal of Sexual Medicine found having an orgasm increases your body's estrogen levels, which is known to help skin and hair appear more healthy.
IMPROVING PERFORMANCE
As well as the various health benefits orgasms may offer, Dr. Brame notes that frequent masturbation may also help enhance your performance in the bedroom.
Masturbating regularly can not only help you last longer in bed, she says, but also make your genitals harder in a state of arousal.
As people age, they lose muscle tone all over their bodies, including around their genitalia.
Regularly having sex or masturbating helps maintain muscle by working out your pelvic floor, helping to prevent erectile dysfunction and incontinence.
It can additionally help to increase your libido, with Brame explaining that the more orgasms any individual has, the more they will crave them.
"The ecstasy you experience from an orgasm - considering the boost of serotonin it gives you - can give you feelings of greater sexual connectedness," she said.
"So frequent masturbation will help regulate how your entire body feels, and so once that chemistry starts going through you, it will produce an erection, and not just a normal erection, but if you have the right chemistry combination, it'll be rock-hard.
"The same goes for women who regularly masturbate. They'll experience a greater rush of blood to their groin, which is known as a clitoral erection."
THE SWEET SPOT
Dr. Brame said, within reason, there's no such thing as too much masturbation, calling it a healthy part of any sex life that is completely "safe and harmless."
She advises practicing self-pleasure at least three times each week, but insists there's nothing wrong with masturbating multiple times per day.
"When you're aged 17 to 21, or maybe even up to the age of 26, you may not have a lot of control over your urge to masturbate, so may do so five times a day," said Brame. "But it's perfectly normal to masturbate five times a day when you're 65 and jaded.
"Even if you don't have the same level of urge when you were, say, 20, you should still be doing it maybe once or twice a week.
"The point is to still keep doing it."
Only when masturbation becomes a compulsion or addiction does Brame think someone may need to cut back on their self-pleasuring habits.
"If you're using masturbation to self-medicate problems by staying online and jerking off all night on the internet, and getting up late for work and being a b**ch at work, that's a problem," she said.
"If you're in control of it and just want to spend the whole night trying to see how many times you can ejaculate then there's nothing wrong with that.
"As long as it doesn't interfere with your duties and responsibilities and your relationships."
Dr. Brame added: "Masturbation is required for people who don't have sex partners and is a healthy supplement even when you do so.
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"There is no downside to masturbation from a medical point of view or from a physiologic physiological point of view.
"The downside to masturbation is that people are so guilty about it - and that guilt causes stress."
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