A new study has found that if you want to have better sex, you need to try to get better sleep. According to the study, young women were more likely to desire sex and have it if they slept longer the previous night.
Women who got an extra hour of sleep were 14 per cent more likely to have sex with their partner the next day, according to the findings that were published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Sexual Medicine. The study also found that women who usually slept for longer reported better genital arousal than those who averaged shorter periods of sleep the nightly.
This did not necessarily mean "the more sleep the better", lead author David Kalmbach said. Rather, maintaining a healthy amount of nightly rest was important to sexual health.
"These findings indicate that insufficient sleep can decrease sexual desire and arousal for women," Dr Kalmbach said.
"I think the take-home message should not be that more sleep is better, but that it is important to allow ourselves to obtain the sleep that our mind and body needs."
The study asked 171 female college students with an average age of 20 with 50 per cent reporting to have a significant other to complete a daily, web-based questionnaire on their sexual mood, sexual function and sleeping patterns over a 14 day period. The authors said they controlled for other factors that can influence sexual desire, such as overall well being, menstruation and the use of oral contraceptives.
According to the results, sleep duration among the participants was seven hours and 22 minutes a night, with almost 20 per cent of the women surveyed reporting clinically significant levels of "sexual distress."
In a surprise, women experienced better vaginal lubrication and arousal a day after a shorter night's sleep but women with longer average sleep durations reported better genital arousal than those with shorter than average sleep durations.
The authors said these findings are not mutually exclusive. They believe it is likely that a single night of short sleep could boost libido whereas chronic sleep deprivation would have the opposite effect.
"Women with chronically insufficient sleep may be at greater risk for genital arousal difficulties, though one night of sleep loss appears to lead to short-term improvement in genital arousal the following day," the paper concluded."
Authors also noted the limitations of the participants subjective reporting and recommended further study. But the study supports previous findings, which found that men with poor and interrupted sleep patters had lower levels of testosterone resulting in decreased libido.
