Getting More Sleep Can Lead to Better Sex, Research Finds

The next time you find yourself hitting snooze one-too-many times, you can tell yourself that it’s all in the name of good sex. Research from the North American Menopause Society (NAMS) reveals that the more sleep someone gets, the more likely they are to both want and enjoy sex.

Researchers from Harvard Medical School, the University of California Los Angeles and the Mayo Clinic in Arizona studied 93,668 women aged 50 to 79 enrolled in the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study.

Of those who had fewer than seven hours of sleep a night, only half reported having sex with their partner within the last year.

And only 56 percent of those said they were satisfied with their sexual activity.

Women who had six hours of sleep a night were 9 percent less likely to be sexually active, and those who had five hours a night were 17 percent less likely.

Those who slept nine or more hours each night were 20 percent more likely to be sexually satisfied. Those over 70 who slept fewer than five hours were 30 percent less likely to be sexually active than women the same age sleeping seven to eight hours.

“Seven hours of sleep per night will improve sexual satisfaction and has been shown to increase sexual responsiveness,” said Dr. JoAnn Pinkerton, executive director of The North American Menopause Society.

Technically this research focuses solely on women who are menopausal and postmenopausal — but your alarm clock doesn’t need to know that. No matter the age group, there’s nothing wrong with a little extra sleep.

Quick tips for a better night’s sleep

• Stick to a schedule. Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, as this will reinforce your body’s sleep-wake cycle and keep you from hitting the snooze button.
• Ditch the tech. Numerous studies have shown that looking at a smartphone or tablet before bed disrupts sleep.
• Relax. This means factoring in some time to unwind at the end of the day – take a long shower, read a book or listen to some soothing music. This promotes better sleep by easing the transition between wakefulness and drowsiness.

The study was published online Feb. 1 in the journal Menopause.