Sexual Health

Sexual health can hardly be separated from your general physical and emotional well being. The healthier you are the fewer problems you have in sexual activities. Dieting, several changes of the lifestyle, exercising will help you to enjoy your life get pleasure from sexual intercourses.

Lifestyle
Reproductive health demands a careful maintenance. Some actions that are not paid attention to in everyday life can make harm to your reproductive systems as well as habits that are generally considered harmful. You will definitely benefit from elimination of the following habits:

Smoking
Regular smokers experience prolonged exposure to nicotine that not only dangerous to lungs and other tissues but also has a negative effect on the sperm count.
Drugs
Drugs especially marijuana have the same effect on the reproductive system as nicotine does. They lead to a low sperm count and modify sperm development.
Alcohol
Long-time addiction to alcohol severely influence the reproductive system and sperm cells produced by the reproductive system become defective.
Unbalanced nutrition
The nutrients you consume must be balanced in order to provide the body with the necessary amount of important substances. Otherwise the sperm count will be reduced.
Excessive exercise
Exercises are sufficient to maintain an excellent physical well-being. But when the man exercises too much the heat is gathered near the testicles and they can’t produce healthy sperms in proper amounts.

Exposure to environmental contaminants
Pesticides, lead, radiation, chemicals decrease the functioning of all main body systems.

And some more recommendations:

Be sure that your get enough Vitamin C. Otherwise the sperms stick to each other and can’t perform their function successfully.
Keep your scrotum cool enough. When the scrotum is exposed to excessive temperature it produces less sperms. Take care that your underwear is not too tight. Try to avoid hot water during bathing and avoid hot saunas.
Abstain from sex from time to time. Several day breaks will increase the potency and the amount of semen. But when you abstain for a long period old sperm with low mobility are accumulated.

Diet
Healthy balanced diet is not a freak but a necessity that guarantees effective functioning of the body. Even when you eat enough you may be undernourished as you do not get all the variety of nutrients vital for health maintenance.

Here’s the list of nutrients that directly influence the effectiveness of the reproductive system and the foods that contain these nutrients:

• Vitamin B1 - Beans, peas, lentils, raw nuts, yogurt, brown rice, whole grain flour, pork
• Niacin - Brewer's yeast, peanuts, beetroot, swordfish, salmon, tuna, pork
• Vitamin B6 - Sunflower seeds, lentils, bananas, carrots, avocados, eggs tuna, shrimp
• Folic acid - Chick peas, lentils, green leafy vegetables, citrus fruits, cheese, tuna, salmon
• Vitamin C - Citrus fruits, green leafy vegetables, tomatoes
• Vitamin E - Raw nuts, seeds, wheat germ, spinach, egg yolks, oils
• Beta carotene - Fruits and vegetables which are yellow and red in color
• Zinc - Beans, peas, lentils, sunflower seeds, spinach, pumpkin, molasses, oysters, turkey, beef, pork
• Selenium - Brewer's yeast, whole grains

One more substance that should be necessarily consumed in great amounts is water. Water is the basis of the healthy body as it’s involved in all the processes that happen inside and it removes toxins from our body.

At the same time some substances are undesirable:
Alcohol and caffeine damage the vascular system
Nicotine reduces the sperm count
Some medications decrease sexual performance.
Sugar, preservatives, processed food leads to changes of the sperm development.

Fitness
Active lifestyle in combination with exercises contributes both to emotional and physical well being. Deposits of fat are removed, muscles grow and generally you become more attractive to the opposite sex. But fitness also provides invisible changes – metabolism is intensified and your body generally performs better.
It’s difficult to start but those who are used to doing exercises are not going to stop as they get too many benefits.
20-30 minutes is not much to spend during the day in order to be much more healthy, attractive and self-assured.

Fitness implies the following things:

• Exercises (bicycling, jogging, doing sit-ups every morning, etc)
• Weight loss
• Proper food (Including fruit, vegetables and vitamins)
• Drinking water
• Boiling and baking, but not frying
• Eating breakfast every day
• Removal of salt from the menu

Contraception:
Sex is a source of energy for many people. Positive emotions, increased self-esteem, magnificent experience makes sex important and irreplaceable for many people. But to be able to continue a happy and healthy life without undesirable consequences contraception should be resorted to.

Every one can choose a form of contraception he/she finds more effective and suitable. But be responsible for contraception yourself and do not to blame your partner for unsafe sex.
Abstinence implies life without sexual intercourses. Notice that sexual contact is possible in this case but vaginal intercourse is forbidden.
Condoms are the most simple but still effective means of contraception. Both men and women can use condoms.
Choosing safe days for sexual intercourses means that your sexual activity happens during the week before and after the menstruation. On these days ovulation necessary for transporting of sperms and egg implantation is absent.
Birth Control Pills provide the body with hormones that make the uterus inhospitable for zygote formation.
The morning-after pills are taken after the intercourse in case of emergency. They include the combination of different female hormones and can’t be used very often.
Vaginal spermicides is a gel that kills sperms.
Withdrawal implies that the man takes out the penis just before the ejaculation. But this method is not effective if performed without care or too late.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Sexually transmitted diseases are also called venereal disease. The terms stand for the infections that are transmitted only through sexual contact. Venereal diseases are widely spread today that’s why a special attention should be paid to contraception.
A new partner is always suspicious as he/she may be infected with a sexually transmitted disease. If you feel that something goes wrong with you contact your physician immediately. The first stages of venereal disease often go unnoticed. But not treated in time sexually transmitted diseases develop severe forms and may result in impotence or inability to give birth to a child.

If you are infected with a venereal disease of even if you suspect you may have one please stop sexual relationships. You may infect other people and continue to spread the disease.

Symptoms of venereal diseases may be any of the following:

• Painful urination
• Dark Yellow Urine
• Cloudy urine
• Abnormal discharge from the penis
• Itching, tingling, pain, or burning of the genitals
• Sores, lumps, blisters, rashes, or warts on / around the genitals
• Crusting at the tip of the penis
• Epididymitis (pain, swelling/ tenderness in the scrotum)
• Prostatitis (deep pelvic ache)
• Fever