The Benefits of Celibacy and Chastity

[Psycheinaboat]

Semen consists of almost the exact same chemical constituion as the brain. It is mostly lechitin, and the grey matter in the brain is composed of 20% lechitin.

This thread is fascinating! The above is my favorite quote, though.

Celibacy and chastity are more valued in the east but people are mostly hypocrites and they want to prove what they cannot do. These are highly valued human characteristics but people cannot be so strong to be celibate as they have to be as their religions and books of ethics demand of them.

I do not want to argue that celibacy is really a good virtue, and many people become celibates to show off but in reality they are not.

You bring up a good point. Fasting is best done, in my opinion, privately. I believe my Christian religion supports that we are not to be like the hypocrites who pray and fast very publically for man's praise. Celibacy is really just a form of fasting.

[blazeofglory]

I have come across packs of Gurus, Pundits, sages who preach and draw attention to the significance of celibacy in life. The innocent and the gullible can be indoctrinated into their ideologies, the ideologies of the ones who preach what they do not keep to in point of fact. I do not really choose to be a celibate and to be so is to go against nature and to go against nature means to be what you are not and to be what you are not is likened to be a hypocrite. You have stomachs; stuff it with foods and water or die; you have sexual glands that secrete hormones that regenerate and the world keeps ongoing or species will be extinct. I agree balance is a better word than celibacy. Only hypocrites argue for it. I apologize if it hurts anyone here. But this is not meant to do so.

[soundofmusic]

I have come across packs of Gurus, Pundits, sages who preach and draw attention to the significance of celibacy in life. The innocent and the gullible can be indoctrinated into their ideologies, the ideologies of the ones who preach what they do not keep to in point of fact. I do not really choose to be a celibate and to be so is to go against nature and to go against nature means to be what you are not and to be what you are not is likened to be a hypocrite. You have stomachs; stuff it with foods and water or die; you have sexual glands that secrete hormones that regenerate and the world keeps ongoing or species will be extinct. I agree balance is a better word than celibacy. Only hypocrites argue for it. I apologize if it hurts anyone here. But this is not meant to do so.

What do you suppose it means when one only has sex with people they are physically and intellectually attracted to; and that occurs so seldom together; that several years of celibacy may take place in the interim

[Rozzy]

Celibacy is neither natural nor healthy, it is a form of stasis that is at the root of neurosis in otherwise healthy people. Religion has used it to control people and hit them over the head with the biggy "SIN" and to put people at a psychological disadvantage of shame and not being able to overcome the flesh. This form of stasis is harmful to physical, mental and spiritual health.
Forget the quackery and be normal, sex is quite normal and healthy too!

[blazeofglory]

What do you suppose it means when one only has sex with people they are physically and intellectually attracted to; and that occurs so seldom together; that several years of celibacy may take place in the interim

You failed to comprehend the idea I jotted down. All I meant therein was celibacy is something people or particularly the people of religions advocate but the preacher or the advocate themselves do not go along with their own teachings.

[soundofmusic]

Those who would like to reap the absolute benefits of celibacy should give married life a try!

I hear it is the sure path to "Celibate Town".

Brilliant I'm afraid you're right; but I took up alot of hobbies like:
pastries, and midnight crime movies, and chocolate...

You failed to comprehend the idea I jotted down. All I meant therein was celibacy is something people or particularly the people of religions advocate but the preacher or the advocate themselves do not go along with their own teachings.

Yes, I do see your point and I am afraid I look upon many ideas suspiciously because of the hypocrisy of the advocates. Giving it a second thought, however, who would know the benefits of celibacy better than someone who cannot be celibate?

[glover7]

I have to disagree with everything the first post of this thread espouses. I understand that you read this in a book, but the idea is still ridiculous. A lack of orgasm accounts, in the long term, for hormonal imbalance and thus a generally unhealthy physical reaction.

Beyond the physiological response to celibacy, which is negative in case I wasn't explicit, the whole idea that it promotes creativity and intellect...what?? Unless there's some sort of suddenly renowned gauge of creativity that I'm unaware of, I don't think you can say that. And the "case studies" of various celibate thinkers through the ages, I reiterate...what??

My boyfriend is one of the most creative people I know, and we masturbate one to two times daily. Just sayin'.

With that, I leave you with the perfect emoticon to embody my post: The dancing banana.

[The Atheist]

With that, I leave you with the perfect emoticon to embody my post: The dancing banana.

I drop lines and read stuff around a few forums on the internet, and I quite often wonder why I bother, when I see the levels of ignorance, plain stupidity and bloody-mindedness about. (not much of any of that in this forum, fortunately)

Then, every now and then, I find a post which is original, entertaining, honest, and just brilliant from every perspective.

Yours is one of those.

Magnificent.

(and if there were an emoticon which embodied how much I laughed at your last sentence, I'd use it)

[OrphanPip]

I have to disagree with everything the first post of this thread espouses. I understand that you read this in a book, but the idea is still ridiculous. A lack of orgasm accounts, in the long term, for hormonal imbalance and thus a generally unhealthy physical reaction.

Haha, I doubt the validity of this though. Even without sex or masturbation, ejaculation will happen spontaneously eventually (usually during a dream). There are also people with medical conditions that prevent them from ejaculating and they don't become hormonally imbalanced.

[soundofmusic]

I have to disagree with everything the first post of this thread espouses. I understand that you read this in a book, but the idea is still ridiculous. A lack of orgasm accounts, in the long term, for hormonal imbalance and thus a generally unhealthy physical reaction.

My boyfriend is one of the most creative people I know, and we masturbate one to two times daily. Just sayin'.

With that, I leave you with the perfect emoticon to embody my post: The dancing banana.

Yes, I agree with Atheist, you have incredible style and wit and leave the stage with a bang

Is there really evidence that a hormonal imbalance can be caused by a lack of orgasms

Intercourse or masturbation do not always insure orgasm; well, at least with a female...This is also true with a man, isn't it

Youth is wonderful, isn't it. Two orgasms every day and I would squelch my ability to be creative; I'd be in bed for 24 hours afterwards exhausted with a grin from ear to ear

[glover7]

About the evidence of hormonal imbalance thing, I ripped this off of a post in my bodybuilding forum (a place that is very interested in testosterone production for all the expected reasons). Insert [sic] where appropriate:

After sex/masturbation, there can be a cycle of both lowered and raised testosterone output compared to baseline without sex.
One factor to consider is the effect of ejaculation on the body's call for renewed sperm production. This results in a raise in testosterone.
However, in a period of hours, the testosterone output can actually drop to baseline or even slightly below.

I don't remember the study claiming to have studied this, but the theory is that if one ejaculates every four hours or less, the overall testosterone output will be raised above average for the entire day.
yikes....

There are many other factors in sexual behavior that affect testosterone.

If someone goes several days without ejaculation, overall testosterone levels generally increase, with some emphasis during specific times in the day. The theory I seem to remember for this was the anthropological perspective that a male primate that goes many days without sex needs the test boost to encourage more agressive mating behavior.
If the male does not ejaculate after a built up number of days, the testosterone levels could very likely trigger nocturnal emission (wet dream). This is a normal result of the body needing to cycle sperm through the system in order to function properly. It is the cumulative effect of raised testosterone during REM sleep.

But, don't go thinking that abstinence will raise testosterone either. Overall long term pattern of this behavior may actually lower the baseline production.

While I recognize that this deals only with male physiological response to orgasm, the original post concerns itself primarily with males. Plus, I'm a gay male, and so female exclusion is practically my birthright. That's irony, by the way. Go, reified idea of feminism. You rock.

Oh, and thanks for the props.

[Hurricane]

Haha, I doubt the validity of this though. Even without sex or masturbation, ejaculation will happen spontaneously eventually (usually during a dream). There are also people with medical conditions that prevent them from ejaculating and they don't become hormonally imbalanced.

Sorry, I came across that while doing research today and I had to.

In all seriousness though, is there any hard science going either way? Personally I don't understand why someone would choose to be celibate, but is there any evidence that celibacy is better/worse for you?

[OrphanPip]

Frequent ejaculation in your 20s and 30s apparently lowers the probability of getting prostate cancer later in life, but that's the only one I can think of.

[*Classic*Charm*]

In all seriousness though, is there any hard science going either way? Personally I don't understand why someone would choose to be celibate, but is there any evidence that celibacy is better/worse for you?

It's not so much evidence that celibacy is bad for your health, but that sex is good for it. Sex is very good for the health of your heart, and releases endorphins (hormones that generally put you in a good mood- the same ones you get from exercise and enjoying food). There have not really been studies on celibacy because there is nothing to study. Celibacy is just a lack of sex, and unlike, for example, a component of our diet, there is no way to measure a state of deficiency because what is lost in sex does not in any way affect one's health (see my earlier responses to the OP) and is quickly regenerated anyway.

[soundofmusic]

About the evidence of hormonal imbalance thing, I ripped this off of a post in my bodybuilding forum (a place that is very interested in testosterone production for all the expected reasons). Insert [sic] where appropriate:

After sex/masturbation, there can be a cycle of both lowered and raised testosterone output compared to baseline without sex.
One factor to consider is the effect of ejaculation on the body's call for renewed sperm production. This results in a raise in testosterone.
However, in a period of hours, the testosterone output can actually drop to baseline or even slightly below.

I don't remember the study claiming to have studied this, but the theory is that if one ejaculates every four hours or less, the overall testosterone output will be raised above average for the entire day.
yikes....

There are many other factors in sexual behavior that affect testosterone.

If someone goes several days without ejaculation, overall testosterone levels generally increase, with some emphasis during specific times in the day. The theory I seem to remember for this was the anthropological perspective that a male primate that goes many days without sex needs the test boost to encourage more agressive mating behavior.
If the male does not ejaculate after a built up number of days, the testosterone levels could very likely trigger nocturnal emission (wet dream). This is a normal result of the body needing to cycle sperm through the system in order to function properly. It is the cumulative effect of raised testosterone during REM sleep.

But, don't go thinking that abstinence will raise testosterone either. Overall long term pattern of this behavior may actually lower the baseline production.

While I recognize that this deals only with male physiological response to orgasm, the original post concerns itself primarily with males. Plus, I'm a gay male, and so female exclusion is practically my birthright. That's irony, by the way. Go, reified idea of feminism. You rock.

Oh, and thanks for the props.

Great article and very informative!
What, do you feel, are the advantages of increased testosterone production?
I believe it does help increase muscle definition and size with body building ; but it also increases acne, skin rashes, and hair loss (from your head, it increases everywhere else).

Thank you for answering the questions that were floating in mid-air, unasked, with humor and honesty