A Scottish scientist has found out that sex might be the best way to reduce stress before making a public speech.
Stuart Brody, a psychologist at the University of Paisley, monitored how various forms of sex affected blood pressure levels in a stressful situation, New Scientist magazine reports as cited by the BBC.
The experiment, including stress tests of 24 women and 22 men, proved that participants were the least stressed after having penetrative intercourses the night before.
Their blood pressure returned to normal faster than those who had engaged in other forms of sexual activity, such as masturbation, Brody has found out.
But the highest blood pressure response to stress was recorded to volunteers who had obtained from sex at all.
The calming effect was probably due to the stimulation of a wide variety of nerves, as well as to the release of the hormone oxytocin during sex, the researcher has told the BBC.