Daily Sex Good for Sperm

For couples trying to conceive, they should have sex everyday. Aside from the obvious, a new study by Dr. David Greening of Sydney IVF, an Australian center for infertility and in vitro fertilization treatment, says daily sex improves the quality of the sperm. Dr. Greening studied 118 men with above-average damage to their sperm DNA. He found that after they ejaculated for seven consecutive days, the quality of sperm increased--dropping 8 percent in the amount of damaged sperm. His advice for those of you ready to do some baby making? "It seems safe to conclude that couples with relatively normal semen parameters should have sex daily for up to a week before the ovulation date," he says.

Public Servant Injustice to Marriage

Seriously, what's wrong with our government officials. Today it was revealed that South Carolina governor Mark Sanford had cheated on his wife with a woman from Argentina. Earlier this month Sen. John Ensign of Nevada admitted to having an affair with a woman who had worked for him. Oh, there's also Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa; former New York governor, Eliot Spitzer; his replacement David Paterson; presidential candidate John Edwards; and let's not forget former Idaho Senator Larry Craig who was caught soliciting sex in a bathroom stall at an airport. Of course the lineage goes on much further than that, but you get the point.

Why is this? And don't say it's the pressure, there are tens if not hundreds of thousands of people who work in jobs where life and death stare them in the face every day. Perhaps since it's okay for the government to meddle in military sexual behavior with the "don't ask, don't tell" rule, maybe the government should implement a new rule for all government officials that says if you can't stay faithful to your own spouse, how can the people you're supposed to govern trust you; therefore you will be immediately discharged from your government position if caught cheating? What are your thoughts?

Become a Sensuous Wife

We want to help out our friends over at Sensuous Wife who have just launched their new store (click here) with the slogan "pleasure for wives and the husbands who love them." Their store offers a little bit of everything including oils, music, edible paint, toys, furniture, books and much more. Not sure if this is just for the launch of the store, but most of their Liberator products, for example, are being discounted. The Equus is currently dicounted a whopping $111. While the current economy has many people budgeting, always remember that your spouse and your relationship is always worth investing in, whether that's through date nights, flowers or a new product to keep that spark alive. Once you've checked out the new store, follow Sensuous Wife on Twitter at @sensuouswife.

Our Experts are Busy

Today, Dr. Karen Sherman spoke about stress on Robin Hardy's show. The show aired 11:00PT/ 2:00ET. If you missed the show, be sure to listen online at www.BlogTalkRadio.com/Robin-Hardy. Also part of the conversation is another one of our regular contributors, Debbie Mandel.

In other news, Dr. Noelle Nelson in promotion of her new book, "Your Man is Wonderful," is running a contest. To enter, pick just one of her suggestions, put it into practice for a week in your life, and then share with us what happened. Submissions will be based on the follow criteria: originality 25%, attitude of contestant 25%, adherence to the contest theme & suggestions 25%, and the change that takes place by following the suggestions 25%. Every person who enters the “Toad to Prince” contest will receive a free PDF download of Dr. Noelle Nelson’s book "Everyday Miracles Vol. 1." The grand prize winner will receive a $1,000 travel voucher to use for a romantic getaway for 2 people. Visit, www.toadtoprince.com to enter.

Lastly, Dr. Trina Read sent me an interesting article the other day on male contreception from MSN. Click here to read the article. Dr. Read would like to add to this conversation and we'll have a podcast with her in the coming weeks speaking about this subject, so please check back often.

Sex Therapist Explains Men

AOL interviewed sex therapist Ian Kerner asking him many questions about men. For example, Ian explains how men do like to nonsexual physical affection, then dishes on why men, then, don't cuddle after sex. He reasons that while men would like to, it's that they have other things they'd rather be doing like checking e-mail. Ian also says men find relationship routines boring--even describing it as prison. In terms of men being into porn, Ian explains it's nothing to worry about, saying "We really prefer being with an actual woman." If you'd like to read the entire interview, click here.

Outdoor Lovin'

Are you looking to add some serious spice to your marriage? Check out this website called Outdoor Lovemap. It is what it sounds like, a map of places around the world to make love. Of course, you could get into legal trouble if you're in a spot you're not supposed to be in and this website doesn't seem like it takes any of that information into account. It's basically a user-generated map that grades sites on a five-star system of privacy, comfort and legality. Each site is also given a description of the location. Last month, the site cracked 100 locations. Click here to check out the map.

Sex Patch for Women Doesn't Work

Procter & Gamble has created a patch called Intrinsa that increases testosterone levels in women. The patches were denied use in the U.S. back in 2004, but have been used in London. A review released on Tuesday found that the patches appear to not do much to boost a woman's sex drive after menopause and their long-term safety is unclear. The trials were conducted on 4,000 women and only lasted for six months, which is why long-term effects are still unknown. Some women did report small improvements in their sex drive, but so did others who were recieving a placebo. I guess to boost the sex drive it's back to Marvin Gaye. Click here to read the complete article.

What Kills Sex in a Marriage?

Two recent books address this issue, "The Sex-Starved Wife" by Michele Weiner Davis (which we excerpt here), and "He's Just Not Up for It Anymore," by Bob Berkowitz and Susan Yager-Berkowitz and the authors were interviewed by USA Today. Here's what they said:

Q: You surveyed more than 4,000 men and women online who identified themselves as currently or in the past being in a sexless marriage (sex 10 times a year or less). What findings surprised you the most?
Berkowitz: It shocked me that 68% of men said the reason for their slumping sex drive is that "she's not sexually adventurous enough." That's a lot of finger-pointing. So many used "not adventurous" as an excuse.

Yager-Berkowitz: A number of men in our survey said the wife had gained too much weight — 38% of men said she "gained a significant amount of weight." Also, it surprised me that 30% of men admitted they had ED (erectile dysfunction). Even 15 years ago, I don't think that would have happened. Now that there are some solutions and some hope, that's allowed a conversation to open up.

Q: You and Redbook magazine surveyed 1,004 women online about their husbands' low sexual desire; you say that low desire is often mistaken for erectile dysfunction. Why?

Weiner Davis: So many people in the general public think low sexual desire is synonymous with ED. He doesn't want sex because he can't have sex. There is some truth to that, in that ED can turn into a problem of low sexual desire, but it is vastly overrated as the only reason men turn off to sex. A man who has erectile dysfunction does not always have low sexual desire. In fact, he will only get low sexual desire if he can't find some effective way or means to remedy the situation because then it becomes an ordeal rather than pleasure. But if a man learns how to manage and overcome it, he might have very high sexual desire.

Click here to read the complete interview.

Socioemotional Meanings In Sweat

A new study from Rice University says socioemotional meanings, including sexual ones, are conveyed in human sweat and that women are able to smell and recognize them. That essentially means that humans can communicate through smell, much like animals do.

The press release says, "Denise Chen, assistant professor of psychology at Rice, looked at how the brains of female volunteers processed and encoded the smell of sexual sweat from men. The results of the experiment indicated the brain recognizes chemosensory communication, including human sexual sweat." The release goes on to say, "Nineteen healthy female subjects inhaled olfactory stimuli from four sources, one of which was sweat gathered from sexually aroused males. The research showed that several parts of the brain are involved in processing the emotional value of the olfactory information."

This kind of report doesn't seem all that surprising, but since this is weight loss season it makes you want to keep your spouse at home instead of watching them head off to the gym.

Relieve Stress With Sex

This isn't new, but Self magazine recently published an article stating that sex relieves stress among other things. "Being in an intimate relationship correlates to healing faster, getting sick less often and living longer," says James Coan, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. "Good relationships offset tension in daily life." The article further says that anxiety spikes blood pressure, which hobbles the immune system. "But when you have sex, you release feel-good hormones, including oxytocin and endorphins," Coan adds. So do you need sex to relieve stress? Nope. At least according to Coan's research. Coan says kissing, hugging, cuddling and holding hands will help relieve stress.

To read the complete article click here.

Sex Toy Recycling Program

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How to Green Your Sex Life

You recycle cans and bottles, use reusable bags at the grocery store and drive a hybrid car. So what's the next step to saving the planet? Greening up your sex life! Planet Green offers many tips on turning your sex life green. For example, many sex toys contain chemicals and materials that are harmful to the environment. So instead, they recommend using sex toys made of glass, metal, silicone, hard plastics, or elastomers. If your toy uses power, look for one that is rechargeable or use your own rechargeable batteries. For lubes, they say to avoid petroleum products, artificial scents, flavors, and colors, and instead look for organic lubes. Other quick tips include showering together, bamboo bed sheets, and lingerie that's made of earth-friendly materials that you'll wear more than once, such as organic cotton, hemp silk, bamboo.

Check out their article, which includes specific brands that are eco-friendly, plus it has many more tips. Do you have any tips?

Contradictory Marriage Satisfaction Survey

Parade magazine released a marriage survey of 1,001 married Americans aged 18 and over. The results showed 88 percent of participants reported being either happy or reasonably content in their marriages. Seventy percent of men say they never think about leaving their wife. What's surprising is that 19 percent of men said they'd had sex outside the marriage. Eleven percent of women also admitted to cheating. So what keeps married people together? According to the survey, 71 percent of couples said they've stayed married because of deep love while 73 percent cited companionship. To read all the results, click here.

Husband Sues Wife for Giving Him Herpes

A Manhattan lawyer is suing his wife after discovering she was having an affair when he found her herpes-treatment prescription in their medicine cabinet. He's also suing her lover and her father--a doctor who prescribed the medicine and he claims withheld the affair and knowledge of the infection. The father claims he prescribed the medicine to cure a sore on his daughter's lip. The husband has since also contracted genital herpes, which is treatable, but not curable. The lawyer in the suit also claims that the wife and father violated NY state law requiring people knowingly infected with venereal disease to tell their sexual partner. It's also not surprising that he submitted another file to the courts--for a divorce. Click here to read the complete article from the NY Post. What would you have done?

Reasons to Have Sex

If you're not feeling motivated to have sex, AOL has put together a list of 34 reasons to have sex. For example, according to a study at Queens University in Belfast, men who have sex three or more times a week can cut their risk of heart attack in half and will also reduce risks of stroke. Another reason to have sex according to the article is that 30 minutes of sex will burn roughly 200 calories. With the winter flu just around the corner, you'd also like to know that sex twice a week will boost your immune system by 30 percent. To read the complete list, click here.

Unconsummated Marriages Not Uncommon?

Nobody knows for certain how many married couples haven't consummated their marriage, but Dr. Domeena Renshaw, a psychiatry professor at Loyola University Health System outside of Chicago, says he has treated 202 unconsummated unions. The guess is that 1 percent of marriages remain unconsummated. Dr. Renshaw says she has treated one couple who had been married 23 years without the bedroom magic. This article from MSNBC offers many reasons why a couple would not have intercourse. A couple reasons include erectile disfunction; vulvodynia, an often unbearable pain when the genitals are touched; or social identity within cultures that comes with virginity.

Private Names

A while back we published an article on "Naming Private Parts." Included are some common names for men and women. We recently came across a new website that asks people to submit their "thingy" names and then vote on the most popular submissions. The site is called ThingyNames and we have to warn you that some of the names are not G-rated. At the time of this post, just shy of 40% of Hitched readers say they have a name for both his and her private parts while 35% don't have a name for either, according to the article poll. Furthermore, 18% just have a name for his and 8% just have a name for hers.

You Know What Gets Better With Age?

Sex! That's what a study by the University of Gothenburg in Sweden show. The study tracked the sex lives of four groups for 30 years and showed an increase in sex as they got older. The subjects of the study are now in their 70s and 68 percent of married men said they were having sex in 2001, up from 52 percent in the early 1970s. Married women having sex rose to 54 percent in the group interviewed in 2000-2001, up from 30 percent in the early 70s. This article on MSNBC also says that more men are expressing their low sexual satisfaction, which they think may be a result of more men being open about their sexual failure.

That's Probably A Sin

An Italian couple in Rome were caught having sex in a confessional box while the morning mass was taking place. They were arrested for obscene acts after they had been drinking all night and taken their love a little too far. The couple later met with the local bishop to repent and were given forgiveness for their act. After the incident was behind them, the bishop celebrated a "mass of reparation" in the cathedral where the confessional box incident took place to make up for the sacrilege. Click here to read the full AP report.

Why We Divorce

We know that budgets are getting pinched tighter every day in this economy with food prices rising, gas prices rising, the dollar value depreciating and so on. That's why it's more important than ever for you and your spouse to bond together and don't start a blame game for any financial hardship that may be rearing its head. A study by divorce360.com found that financial woes were the second most common reason for divorce behind only abuse. Just behind financial issues were sexual issues. Now may be a good time to make an appointment with your financial advisor to help weather the current economic conditions. It's better to see a financial advisor than a judge in divorce court.