Is alcohol good for your sex life?
While hitting that bottoms up may fuel you to go ask her out but it may not be a great idea to chug down a bottle of wine before getting under the sheets. Unlike the popular belief, alcohol can heavily dampen your sexual health and can degrade your performance in bed. Here’s how:
Temporary Erectile dysfunction
Research suggests that too much alcohol affects your brain functioning and your penis. This happens due to the decreased blood flow to your male sexual organs. According to a University of Washington study, sober men were found to achieve an erection more quickly than the ones under the influence of alcohol.
Dry Vagina
Alcohol can build up excitement but leave your lady bits parched. This happens because of the poor communication between your brain and sexual organs. While you may feel that the sex lasted longer after consuming alcohol, but it happens due to decreased sensation in the vagina. Less vaginal lubrication may lead to painful sex and can dampen your mood.
It’s a party pooper
This may raise many eyebrows but alcohol is a depressant. That’s because pre-sex boozing inhibits the happy hormone, oxytocin and prevents a consistent level of passion causing burn out. At one point, you’re going to feel sadness and guilt take over. However, when one indulges in sober sex, it often starts with long foreplay and ends with some mushy pillow talk which actually strengthens intimacy in relationships.
No orgasms
Pre-sex boozing results in decreased intensity of your orgasm. Alcohol leads to poor communication. When you’re not able to keep your love talks going, it becomes difficult to address the needs of your partner. On the other hand, lack of blood circulation in sexual organs may result in less sensations causing inability to reach orgasm.
Beer goggles
Alcohol gives you a hazy view and you may find anyone attractive. In modern terminology, alcohol gives you beer goggles which can lead you to decisions you’ll regret later. This is one of the reason why casual sex causes increased guilt afterwards. Drinking too much may lead women to take more sexual risks too.
Increased risk of STDs
Alcohol affects your decision making capabilities. Studies show that a person is more likely to indulge in unplanned and unprotected sex when drunk. Getting exposed to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) is a major risk of mixing sex and booze. Unprotected sex may cause sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and lead to more pregnancy terminations.