A study from the University of Tel Aviv has found that exposing your skin to the sun can actually increase your libido!
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Possible treatment for sex hormone disorders?
The study suggests that the more you sunbathe the higher the levels of sexual hormones you'll release. To conduct the study, researchers looked into the physical reactions of 32 people who were exposed to UV radiation from sunlight in relation to how aroused they became.
What they found was that once participants avoided contact with the sun for a minimum of 48 hours only to sunbathe for approximately 25 minutes, all respondents became more sexually excited. These results extended to both men and women, but the former, in particular, showed that their levels of testosterone increased the more UV sunlight exposure they got. Interestingly, this often translated into the men become more aggressive.
Similarly, in some animals, parallel research found that greater exposure to sunlight was conducive to higher release of the female sexual hormone. With this, scientists are now trying to figure out a way to utilize this science to produce treatments for sexual hormone disorders.
Skin cancer precaution
However, researchers say that even though there is abundant evidence showing sunlight to increase sexual libido, people should still take precaution in the amount of sun they take in. Study author, Professor Carmit Levy, explained that:
We are only beginning to understand what this exposure does to us, and the key roles it might play in various physiological and behavioural processes. It's only the tip of the iceberg.
Before adding:
We must remember that exposure to UV is dangerous, and can damage the DNA, as in the case of skin cancer.