はじめに
良質な睡眠と性生活の関係について説明します。睡眠は私たちの健康に大きな影響を与え、性生活もまた私たちの生活の一部です。この記事では、良質な睡眠が女性の性生活に与えるプラスの影響について解説します。
睡眠と性欲の関係
良質な睡眠は、性欲の向上につながることが研究で示されています。具体的には、女性が十分な睡眠を取ることで、次の日の性欲が高まることがわかっています[4][18]。たとえば、一晩で1時間の睡眠が増えると、翌日の性行為の可能性が14%増加するとされています[18]。
睡眠と性的興奮の関係
十分な睡眠を取ることは、女性の性的興奮を高めることにもつながります[18]。研究では、良質な睡眠が取れた女性は、性的な刺激に対してより敏感になることが示されています。これは、良質な睡眠によって体内のホルモンバランスが整い、性的興奮が促進されるためと考えられています。
オーガズム後のリラクゼーション効果
オーガズム後には、オキシトシンやプロラクチンといったホルモンが放出され、心地よいリラックス感を得ることができます[1]。また、性行為によってストレスホルモンであるコルチゾルが減少し、リラックスして眠りやすくなります[1]。つまり、性行為が良質な睡眠につながることもあります。
女性ホル## 女性ホルモンと睡眠の関係
女性ホルモンは、睡眠にも影響を与えます。生理周期や妊娠、更年期など、女性の人生の様々な段階でホルモンバランスが変化し、これが睡眠にも影響を及ぼします[8]。特に、プロゲステロンは睡眠を促す効果があり、エストロゲンは睡眠の質を向上させるとされています。したがって、女性ホルモンのバランスが整っていると、良質な睡眠が得られることが期待できます。
睡眠不足と性機能障害のリスク
逆に、睡眠不足は性機能障害のリスクを高めることが示されています[20]。3,400人以上の女性を対象とした研究では、睡眠の質が悪い女性は性機能障害のリスクが約2倍になることがわかりました。十分な睡眠が得られると、性生活の質も向上することが期待できます。
睡眠と性生活の改善方法
良質な睡眠と性生活の質を向上させるためには、以下の方法が役立ちます。
- 規則正しい生活リズムを保つ：毎日同じ時間に起床・就寝することで、体内時計が整い、良質な睡眠が得られます。
- リラックスできる環境を整える：寝室を快適な環境に整えることで、睡眠の質が向上し、性生活にも良い影響が出ます。
- ストレスを軽減する：ストレスが睡眠や性生活に悪影響を与えるため、リラクセーション方法や適度な運動でストレスを軽減しましょう。
- カフェインやアルコールの摂取を控える：カフェインやアルコールは、睡眠の質を低下させるため、就寝前の摂取は避けましょう。
まとめ
良質な睡眠は、女性の性生活にも重要な役割を果たします。十分な睡眠をとることで、リラックス効果や女性ホルモンのバランスが整い、性生活の質が向上することが期待できます。日常生活でストレスを軽減し、リラックスできる環境を整えることが、良質な睡眠と性生活の向上に繋がります。
参考資料
[1] “After an orgasm, the body releases hormones , like oxytocin and prolactin, that can induce pleasant and relaxing feelings. Sex also reduces levels of the hormone cortisol, which is associated with stress. Studies indicate that these hormonal changes can cause drowsiness and make it easier to fall asleep.”
URL: https://www.sleepfoundation.org/physical-health/sex-sleep
[2] “Find a sleep counsellor near me. Sleep and sex are connected in other ways as well; not only does sleep facilitate sex, but sex also leads to deeper sleep. There are two main reasons for this …”
URL: https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/everyone-top/202207/the-surprising-connection-between-sleep-and-sex
[3] “The original study sought to explore the relationship between demographic characteristics (age, race, gender, SES) and sleep attitudes in predicting overall sleep hygiene and sleep outcomes (A. R. Ruggiero et al., Citation 2019”
URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311908.2021.1979713
[4] “HealthDay Reporter. WEDNESDAY, March 18, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Women looking to jump-start their sex life may want to spend more time in bed. Sleeping. That’s the conclusion of a new study that …”
URL: https://www.webmd.com/women/news/20150318/good-sleep-is-key-to-good-sex
[5] “Objective: Distress and dysfunction in sleep and sex are both very common, and have been found to be separately related to anxiety, depression, and stress. Even so, and despite evidence linking obstructive sleep apnea and erectile disfunction, the connections between sleep and sex are largely understudied. Method: A large (N = 703) survey of …”
URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30097137/
[6] “Scientists describe the relationship between biological sex, memory, sleep, and hormones in relation to the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and related dimentias.”
URL: https://www.news-medical.net/news/20220807/How-do-female-sex-hormones-affect-sleep-and-memory.aspx
[7] “Sleep problems and depression are both common and have a high impact on quality of life. They are also strongly associated and commonly occur together. During the reproductive age, both sleep problems and depression are almost twice as common in women than men. Epidemiological studies show that wome …”
URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32882313/
[8] “Introduction: There is a strong link between female sex hormones and sleep. This implies the existence of sex differences both in the structure of sleep as in the incidence of various sleep disorders. Aim: To review the changes in the pattern of sleep experienced by women along different stages of their life cycle (fertile period, menstruation, pregnancy, menopause and postmenopause), as well …”
URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19774533/
[9] “BackgroundAlcohol Use Disorder (AUD) and insomnia are highly comorbid; at least 40% of individuals with AUD suffer from insomnia. Women are more likely to report insomnia than men and have seen a concerning rise in rates of AUD in recent years. As such, the association between AUD and insomnia could be particularly pronounced in women. However, currently little is known regarding sex …”
URL: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2022.875168/full
[10] “Sleep, fish consumption, and depression have a close relationship; however, the role of sex differences in sleep, fish consumption, and depression research is not yet well-established. This study aimed to examine whether the impact of bedtime, sleep-onset latency, sleep duration, sleep quality, and …”
URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28708121/
[11] “The objective of this study was to identify the associations between trait energy and fatigue with state energy fatigue, as well as exploring if these relationships interacted with sex and/or sleep quality. The study population included a convenience sample of adults and college students (n ranges from 687 to 694). Key measures were state and trait mental and physical energy and fatigue scales …”
URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0227511
[12] “Current data cannot distinguish between a direct relationship between sex and sleep and another yet-to-be-identified confounding variable. Likewise, further scientific and clinical research is needed to discern the detailed biological …”
URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2050052120300822
[13] “Sex and Sleep: Perceptions of Sex as a Sleep Promoting Behavior in the General Adult Population Front Public Health . 2019 Mar 4;7:33. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2019.00033.”
URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30886838/
[14] “This in-between phase may make you act like you’re awake when you’re still asleep. People with sexsomnia experience sleep-related sexual behavior. These behaviors range from masturbation to …”
URL: https://www.healthline.com/health/sleep-sex
[15] “Abstract. Objective: The aim of this study was to review the available findings on sex-related differences for sleep disorders, dreams and nightmares. Materials and methods: We explored the PubMed, EMBASE and Google Scholar electronic databases, with regards to the searching terms ‘sleep’, ‘dreams’, and ‘nightmares’ associated with ‘sex’ and/or …”
URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33877669/
[16] “According to a systematic review by Morssinkhof et al., sex hormones, including estradiol, progesterone, luteinizing hormone (LH), and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), do not seem to have …”
URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343993536_Associations_between_sex_hormones_sleep_problems_and_depression_A_systematic_review
[17] “Nonetheless, it seemed shocking to me. Clothed or not, sharing a bed for sleep was then and still is in my mind an intimate act. I tried to normalize it by remembering my father’s stories of …”
URL: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/sex-sociability/201601/sleeping-together-the-intimacy-sharing-bed
[18] “A recent study found that the longer women slept, the more interested in sex they were the next day. Just one extra hour of sleep led to a 14 percent increase in the chances of having a sexual encounter the following day. Also, in this same study, more sleep was related to better genital arousal.”
URL: https://news.ufl.edu/articles/2018/03/want-better-sex-try-getting-more-sleep.html
[19] “Sexsomnia, also known as sleep sex, is a type of sleep disorder known as a parasomnia. Parasomnias refer to unusual sensations and behaviors, such as sleepwalking, that people may experience or exhibit while asleep, falling asleep, or waking up. In the case of sexsomnia, people engage in sexual behaviors such as masturbation, sexual movements …”
URL: https://www.sleepfoundation.org/parasomnias/sexsomnia
[20] “Women who regularly sleep badly have nearly double the risk of sexual dysfunction, a new study finds, while getting good sleep is linked to more sex. In the new study, over 3,400 women who visited …”
URL: https://edition.cnn.com/2021/04/21/health/sleep-sex-dysfunction-women-wellness/index.html