Yes, you heard right. Sexual activity isn’t just pleasurable. Having sex is good for heart health, and I’ll be the first to admit that, at first glance, the above headline just sounds like humorous marketing within a relationship:

“Not only that, sex is good for our heart health. We’d be stupid NOT to have it every day—like a multivitamin!”

All kidding aside, research proves that playing between the sheets really does boost heart health.

In a 17-year research project by the Massachusetts Male Aging Study, researchers found that men who had sex once a month or less were 45% more likely to develop heart disease than men who had sex two or more times a week.

In a separate 10-year British study, men who had sex three or more times a week enjoyed a 50% lower death rate than men who had sex less often.

So is sex just good for male heart health alone?

Not at all.

Sex works differently for women to improve heart health, and I’m going to tell you the key to making it all happen.

Before I do that, I do want to acknowledge that I know this subject area is uncomfortable for some people, which is why many doctors and nutritionists don’t talk about it. However, that only limits your options to improve your heart health naturally.

In other words, you’ve got more choices than drugs and weird green smoothies to improve your heart health, and I wanted to make sure you had this important information.

Sex and Women's Heart Health

So… back to sex and women’s heart health. Popular belief maintains that the way to a woman’s heart is through things like snappy clothes, unexpected gifts and a good body spray.

While some or none of those things may apply in any individual case, science shows that the way to boost a woman’s heart health through sex involves one word: quality.

In studies by Michigan State University (MSU), researchers found that regular pleasurable sex for women lowered their risk of heart disease caused by high blood pressure.

The key word for women and the heart-health benefits of sex appears to be “pleasurable.” Women in the MSU study who had satisfying sex had a lower risk of high blood pressure five years later than women who did not feel their sex lives were satisfying.

In other words, by improving the quality of a woman’s sexual pleasure, you’re not only strengthening the emotional bonds of relationship. You’re contributing to mutually beneficial heart health, which starts a larger self-sustaining cycle of overall health that’s especially important to men as they get older.

Men Should Take Extra Care

Despite similarities in the heart-health benefits of sex for men and women, research shows that men face a higher risk of stroke, heart attack and other cardiovascular problems during sex as they age and don’t maintain optimal heart health.

To avoid that, you can add more vegetables, fruits and whole grains to your diet. Plant foods are powerful protection against heart disease. And you can take up jogging or yoga to improve your cardio fitness. Those are all great. But here’s the thing:

Your idea of a full and satisfying life probably involves more than eating and exercise.

So just remember one simple thing when it comes to sex and its heart-health benefits: