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In a recent study, getting just one extra hour of sleep increased a woman’s likelihood of having sex with her partner the next day by 14 percent.
At first blush, that doesn’t sound like breaking news: Women who don’t get enough shuteye may simply be too tired for sex (and for some women, a lack of sleep and a loss of interest in sex may be related to depression).
Yet that didn’t seem to be the whole story in this study. The relationship between sleep and sex persisted even after researchers took mood and fatigue into account. And so the results of this study and other recent research in the same area, suggest that it is sleep itself that appears to play a major role in women’s sex lives.
Longer Sleep, Better Sex
The study, led by Dr. David Kalmbach of the University of Michigan Medical School, included 171 healthy young women. Every day for two weeks, the women filled out questionnaires asking about their mood, sleep, and sexual function over the previous 24 hours. The women averaged about seven-and-a-half hours of snoozing per night—within the seven-to-nine hour range recommended for young adults in new guidelines from the National Sleep Foundation. However, some got as little as six-and-a half hours.
The research found that women who slept longer on a given night reported having greater sexual desire the next day. In addition, women with longer average sleep times said they experienced fewer problems with vaginal lubrication, compared with those who routinely got less sleep.
The Sexy Side of Snoozing
Based on this study, sleep may be a key factor in a satisfying sex life for women.
But why?
Previous research suggests a couple of possible explanations:
- Testosterone. Testosterone is usually thought of as a male sex hormone, but women make small amounts of it too, and the hormone promotes a healthy sex drive in both sexes. For men, sleep loss can lower testosterone levels, decreasing libido. Some researchers believe a similar effect may occur in women.
- REM sleep. During REM sleep, men experience erections and women experience increased blood flow to the vagina, just as they do during sexual excitement. This helps ensure that genital tissues get plenty of oxygen-rich blood all night long. It’s conceivable that habitually shortchanging REM sleep might eventually reduce a woman’s ability to become sexually aroused when she’s awake.
Generally, a good night’s sleep helps anyone, male or female, feel more upbeat and energized the next day—and that’s definitely a sexier feeling than exhaustion.
Linda Wasmer Andrews is a longtime health journalist with a master’s degree in psychology. Follow her on Twitter or Facebook.
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