Want better sex? Count your
calories even if you don't need to! Cutting down by a quarter 'improves love
life, sleep and mood'
It's common knowledge
that losing weight is good for your health - but it can also improve your sex
life.
Cutting calories by a
quarter over two years improves your sex life, sleep and mood, a new study
found.
Restricting the intake
of calories can help many species live longer but there has also been concern
it can also have negative side effects.
It had been feared
cutting down on the calories could result in a loss in libido, lower stamina,
depressed mood and irritability.
Those who lost the most pounds had increased vigour, less mood disturbance, improved general health and better quality of sleep.
All on reduced calories
had improved health span - the length of time free of disease - compared to
those who ate a normal diet.
The findings suggested
calorie restriction should be seen as a vital tool in helping keep people
healthy and happy.
Associate Professor Dr
Corby Martin at Pennington Biomedical Research Centre said: 'Calorie
restriction among primarily overweight and obese persons has been found to
improve quality of life, sleep and sexual function.
The results of the present study indicate that two years of calorie restriction is unlikely to negatively affect these factors in healthy adults.
'Rather, calorie
restriction is likely to provide some improvement.'
The clinical trial
involved 218 men and women with body mass index of 22 to 28.
An ideal BMI is 18 to
24.9 while overweight is 25.2 to 29.9. Obese is over 30.
They were divided almost
two to one with the larger group assigned to two years of 25 percent calorie
restriction.
The others could eat
their normal diet.
The participants then
filled in questionnaires measure mood, quality of life, sleep and sexual
function at the start, after one year and after two.
The average age was
nearly 38 and 70 per cent were women.
While the calorie
restriction group lost an average of 16.7 pounds those on their normal diet
lost less than a pound after two years.
The study was published
by JAMA Internal Medicine.
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Credit: Mailonline
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