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sex-restriction and longevity


mccoy

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mccoy:  [in Raja Yoga] Absolute enlightenment entails absolute control of life energy and metabolism, so the real enlightened one, if he/she wants, can stop aging and even reverse it.

 

 

While there is some emphasis in Taoism on individual longevity (goal: 120 yrs.),  Yogic enlightenment is fundamentally focused on the realization of the radical unity of the individual spirit with absolute spirit, and thus doesn't put much focus on individual longevity for longevity's sake.

 

Cf.   Tat  Tvam Asi       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tat_Tvam_Asi

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mccoy:  [in Raja Yoga] Absolute enlightenment entails absolute control of life energy and metabolism, so the real enlightened one, if he/she wants, can stop aging and even reverse it.

 

 

While there is some emphasis in Taoism on individual longevity (goal: 120 yrs.),  Yogic enlightenment is fundamentally focused on the realization of the radical unity of the individual spirit with absolute spirit, and thus doesn't put much focus on individual longevity for longevity's sake.

 

Cf.   Tat  Tvam Asi       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tat_Tvam_Asi

 

 

Sibiriak I sure agree, the ultimate purpose of Yoga is to attain the forgotten unity with the Absolute Spirit, everything else is subordinate. More precisely, the school of Raja Yoga is based upon the concepts expounded in the well known Bhagavad Gita, a part of the Mahabarata which many regard as an executive synthesis of the Hindu philosophy.

 

Along the path, though, when some high degree of advancement is reached, there come (according to the Gita) the so called siddhis, or supernatural powers, one of which is to be able to retain one's body for an indefinite length of time.

 

On a more attainable level, Yoga is a philosophy which entails a lifestyle conducive to health and longevity: proper diet, meditation, regular sleep, exercise, breathing control (pranayama) heart-rate control (pratahyara) and so on. If the practitioner is able to slow down and even to stop the heartbeat, entering a suspended animation state, the aging processes are halted.

 

The metaphysical part of course cannot be subject of physical science, whereas Luigi Fontana in his presentations and in his recent book cites some of the metabolic benefits of Yoga practice.  

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  • 1 month later...

 

Researchers quizzed 129 women aged between 20 and 50 about their love lives.

They then carried out blood tests to determine their long-term health prospects.

 

That's basically an epidemiological research, based on a questionnaire and a tiny sample (as far as epidemiological research goes).

 

Not the best material to draw conclusions from.

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Thanks ras, the article is interesting although a little qualitative. It speaks of a greater 'metabolic burden' from greater muscle and bone mass. Testosterone is thought of as the cause of lesser longevity, I wonder to what extent this has been investigated by medical literature.

 

Sure there are threads in this forum where this issue (Testosterone and optimal concentrations for longevity) has been discussed

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Gonna go ahead and put my bias out there and say that I practice sexual continence (or Celibacy, not sure) have only had a few ejaculations in the past two and a half years with nocturnal emissions every 1-3 months. I practice self tantra.

Personal experience I feel great. Holding onto that energy forced me to let go of a bunch of repressed feelings, memories, and beliefs that weren't serving me.

I also fast regularly, diet is generally low carb/high fat/moderate protein, avoid omega 6 & seed oils, practice tantra/meditation everyday, and do exercise for work. So there are other reasons for my level of well being. But I feel so much … lighter and harmonius since I started letting go of the blockages and what not.

With all that said.

found some old science ...

https://selfdefinition.org/celibacy/bernard/physiological-value-of-continence-part-1-opinion-vs-evidence.htm

It basically found that your reproductive system competes with your nervous system for energy and nutrients. In particular, Choline.

Choline is very important for DNA repair/methylation. It seems fairly difficult to come by. Have to eat meat or supplement to get it.  If I was orgasming frequently, I would supplement with it to ensure your body gets enough ...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3319504/

In addition, I theorize that since your nervous system is closely linked to your reproductive system, what you do has a large effect on the rest of the body.

We are here as a consequence of millions of years of organisms reproducing themselves, it only makes sense our reproductive behavior will affect growth/aging pathways like MTor and probably others.

Lastly, I think creating sperm is much more intensive than we think, consider …

Yes, this last part doesn't have to do with longevity and certainly doesn't represent what the actual cost of an orgasm (much cheaper, considering 300 million cells die every minute) is in terms of what it takes for the Human body to produce an orgasm. It's fun to think about

So, 134 million sperm per an average ejaculation today - was 2x this 50 years ago (cant find study for this, going off memory) -

110,000,000,000 MB per an ejaculation, or 13,800 Terabytes.

DxwzIpTWoAARtzE.jpghttps://t.co/oEr11FpU4E

In terms of cost to produce a GB of data on the internet

"Our major finding is that the Internet uses an average of about 5 kWh to support the utilization of every GB of data, which equates to about $0.51 of energy costs."

That would be 7 million dollar orgasm.

https://aceee.org/files/proceedings/2012/data/papers/0193-000409.pdf

Or, another way to measure it ...

2000 calories is equal to about 2.325 KwH

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I think the big benefit of sexual continence is using the Choline and other nutrients important to methylation for cellular repair and maintenance, instead of getting your rocks of.

And perhaps the lower stress level, since you maintain homeostasis instead of fluctuating constantly. For example, with regards to testosterone, it goes through a two week cycle once you have an orgasm, before it goes back to a steady baseline.

As an armchair doctor, that would be the max frequency that I would recommend people orgasm, unless you are trying to conceive.

 

 

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On 1/14/2017 at 1:40 PM, mccoy said:

I could find no specific literature article on the subject. Some religions like Taoism strongly suggest that preserving the vital fluid is conducive to longevity.

 

Is sex-restriction, practiced withouth CR, really favourable to longevity? Males? Females? Scientific literature?

 

Of course if we practice CR or downregulate mTOR anyhow, sex-restriction is a natural consequence because we exit the proliferation & growth mode, the set of genetic expressions favourable to mating, proliferation, growth to the expense of repair & manteinance.

 

It may be even be that we have the usual U-shaped curve, extremes of restriction (without CR) and indulgence are harmful, whereas being moderate and following the instinct without deliberate stimulation is all right.

 

 

Never having kids raises the risk of most types of "female" cancer independently of other factors.  So does not breastfeeding.

Married men live longer than never-married and divorced men, too.

Obesity is linked to having less sex and less satisfaction with sex, so any study that doesn't separate the two will be badly flawed, BTW.

But the idea that sex-restriction is good for longevity is a very goofy idea that belongs in the realms of mysticism and fraudsters.  It is also based on some INCREDIBLY, HIDEOUSLY sexist belief systems about the evils of women stealing vital male strength.  The two cannot be separated.  It actually angers me the amount of attention that some very ugly guru traditions have been given, with the link of this guruism to manipulation, scamming, exploitation of every sort, fake magical cures for people with REAL diseases, and all sorts of other awful things in India.  It gets dressed up it pretty crystal woo for Western audiences and credulously swallowed.

Edited by Genny
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  • 2 weeks later...
Quote

 I feel great. Holding onto that energy forced me to let go of a bunch of repressed feelings, memories, and beliefs that weren't serving me.

That sounds like guru-speak, there's a lot of woo there, but I'm glad you feel great.

Quote

Choline is very important for DNA repair/methylation. It seems fairly difficult to come by. Have to eat meat or supplement to get it

Some would beg to differ:

https://veganhealth.org/choline/

 

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  • 3 months later...
On 1/18/2017 at 6:13 PM, mccoy said:

can you have sex without sex drive? I cannot.

Opening the pandora's box. Tread carefully. http://www.actualfreedom.com.au/sundry/frequentquestions/FAQ24a.htm

RICHARD: Yes, the sex drive is an instinctual drive ... and, along with other instinctual urges, can be eliminated entirely. Then one is free to act appropriately according to the circumstances and not out of an instinctual reaction. Instincts are not set in stone, they are simply ‘blind nature’s’ way of ensuing survival. With our thinking, reflective brain we can improve on nature in this respect, as we have done in so many other ways. Any instinctual drive can be eradicated.

Then one is free to enjoy the sexual act as a physical, sensual pleasure (not as an emotional or passionate ‘solution’ to loneliness and sorrow via love) or free to enjoy celibacy as an idiosyncratic celebration of singularity (not as a dispassionate or detached way to dissolve the ego via craftiness). It is then an act of free choice to have sex, or not have sex, just as easily in either alternative. No drive means no urge. With no urge there is nothing to have to deny, nor anything to have to indulge. Thus it is neither ‘Asceticism’ nor ‘Hedonism’ ... this is an actual freedom.

 

Edited by srid
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I propose that any relation between sex and longevity is more due to sex's effect on stress (distress, specifically, as opposed to eustress) than sex per se. That is, if having sex makes one feel less stressed about life, then it would not be a surprise that having sex is correlated to longevity. It would be more accurate to say that being less stressed is associated with longevity. 

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"A low sperm count may do more than affect a man's ability to have children. It also may be linked to a number of health problems, new research suggests.

A study of nearly 5,200 Italian men found that those with low sperm counts were 1.2 times more likely to have more body fat, higher blood pressure, higher bad cholesterol and triglycerides, and lower levels of good cholesterol.

Men with low sperm counts also had higher rates of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of these and other risk factors that boost the odds of diabetesheart disease and stroke. They also had higher rates of insulin resistance, which can lead to diabetes. ...

Ferlin said the study associates low sperm count with metabolic changes, heart disease risk and low bone mass.

He added, however, that it does not prove that low sperm counts cause these problems. Instead, it shows sperm quality can reveal general health.

"Men of couples having difficulties achieving pregnancy should be correctly diagnosed and followed up by their fertility specialists and primary care doctor because they could have an increased chance of morbidity and mortality," Ferlin said in a society news release." https://www.webmd.com/infertility-and-reproduction/news/20180319/low-sperm-count-may-signal-serious-health-risks

I seem to recall that the study also found low testerone levels to have an adverse impact on health and longevity (which has been reported before).

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This makes sense. Semen contains high levels of spermidine which is a longevity molecule. If men are frequently ejaculating they are losing large quantities of this molecule and this could be a reason in favor of semen retention and sex restriction.

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