Escape from Egypt 🐪🗻 moment on the Coconut Whisperer: Man claims not masturbating, having sex improves health - is he right?

 

Man claims not masturbating, having sex improves health - is he right?

No Nut November has raised the question of whether this abstinence has health benefits. A Reddit user claims it changed his life for the better — but research may not back him up.

By WALLA!, DECEMBER 23, 2022 

https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-725662

 Are there health benefits to abstaining from sex and masturbation? (Illustrative)

(photo credit: Deon Black/Pexels)

You might not have heard of the "No Nut November" challenge, whose participants abstain from sex, masturbation and orgasms during the entire month of November. 

However, one participant sparked a new discussion as to whether complete abstinence has any health benefits and if it is worth continuing No Nut November into December.

Since there is a Reddit group (or subreddit) for almost anything (even one dedicated to sticking bread onto trees), IFLScience decided to look at one such group, r/NoFap, which acts as a sort of support group for people who, for one reason or another, have chosen to stop masturbating and/or have sex.

Regardless of No Fap November, people in the subreddit take extended breaks from masturbating and report to their friends how it feels.

One of these subreddit members' "success stories" was published last month and received a surprising amount of attention online.

"Today marks day 90. I had no idea that I was 3 months in because I didn't check my streak often, maybe once every 1-2 weeks which I think was key in my abstinence," wrote Reddit user u/Vyxize.

He claimed that abstaining from masturbating has a number of health benefits, though he admitted that it could just be due to the placebo effect.

"During these 90 days, I have experienced more energy, my brain stopped sexualizing normal things and my brain fog is basically gone. I find it easier to socialize, and start conversations. I have also experienced a huge energy boost in the gym, and have seen tremendous progress during these 3 months," he wrote.

"I personally will not go back to masturbating, as I believe not doing it has helped me more than doing it has. Some people may call this placebo, and even if it was just placebo, all these success stories have actually helped with other people's mental health."

Does science support No Nut November?! A Urologist explains semen retention

Is there really any benefit in avoiding masturbating and sex?

People on r/NoFap tend to cite health benefits such as more energy and increased levels of testosterone. But is any of this true?

Well, any evidence for this is weak, and there is other evidence that contradicts it.

One claim is that if we stop masturbating, it will boost testosterone levels.

However, as Australia's Healthy Male notes, this is based on a small and not very reliable study, which claimed that men's testosterone levels increased after not masturbating or having sex for seven days.

However, another study discovered that masturbation actually increases testosterone levels, and another study saw that there isn't really any difference either way.

Others claim that avoiding sex and masturbation results in higher levels of energy.

Despite this, a study on what effect masturbation and sex will have the night before an athletic test saw that there wasn't any statistically significant difference in the physical performance between those who masturbated, had sex or abstained.

In fact, there are a number of studies that show tangible benefits to masturbating.

According to one study, achieving orgasm 21 or more times a month can reduce one's risk of developing prostate cancer by nearly a third.

Another study found that sex and masturbation can boost serotonin levels, which is a good way for those with insomnia to fall asleep.

The study concluded that engaging in safe and satisfying sexual activity, whether alone or with a partner, alongside other sleep routine strategies can offer the general public a healthy approach to improving sleep quality.

Abstaining from masturbating may be cited by some Reddit users (some of whom confess to being sex addicts) as being beneficial. However, any benefits for the general public are either not clear or unsupported by medical research.

The side effects of not masturbating

People participating in No Nut November should think twice after a doctor in the UK's NHS revealed some of the potential side effects on TikTok.

Dr. Karan Rajan explained that one very distinct side effect of No Nut November is wet dreams.

"These nocturnal emissions are not always about sexual arousal," Rajan said.

"It's a chance for your body to clear out old sperm. You see, your sperm have an expiration date, so if you haven't fired your gooey cannon in a while, it's a chance for your body to clear out the old stuff while you sleep so the sperm on tap is fresh."

"It's a chance for your body to clear out old sperm. You see, your sperm have an expiration date, so if you haven't fired your gooey cannon in a while, it's a chance for your body to clear out the old stuff while you sleep so the sperm on tap is fresh."

Dr. Karan Rajan

Rajan added that "You are basically a sperm recycling factory. Any sperm that reach their sell-by date or go unused get broken down and reabsorbed by the body. This is especially important for men that have had vasectomies, their tubes cut, because they still produce sperm. Unfun fact, if your body didn't reabsorb sperm, your dingleberries would swell up like a dongfish's horngus."

Is Masturbation Bad For You? Doctor FACT-CHECKS Masturbation Myths

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TikTok Tarot Card Reader & Internet Sleuth: Gay Rodeo Oral History Prof is Idaho Killer

University of Idaho professor sues TikTok internet sleuth who uses tarot cards to solve crimes for accusing her of taking part in the murders and having an affair with one of the victims - female prof says she never met any of them

• Ashley Guillard, a Texas-based internet sleuth and tarot card reader, alleged that a University of Idaho professor perpetrated the horrific murders of four students 
• The professor, Rebecca Scofield, is suing Guillard because she refuses to take the videos down from TikTok 
• Guillard said, with no evidence, that Scofield killed four students because she was in a relationship with one of them and didn't want it to become public
• Scofield is seeking a jury trial to decide what compensation is appropriate
• In a recent TikTok video, Guillard said: 'Rebeca Scofield will regret this lawsuit' 

A TikTok true crime sleuth is being sued by a University of Idaho professor of gender and sexuality over a wild allegation regarding the horrific murders of four students in November. 

The Texas-based sleuth, Ashley Guillard, who uses tarot cards and other readings to help her make assertions regarding true crimes, was named in the lawsuit filed in Idaho by Professor Rebecca Scofield.   

Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; and Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kernodle's boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20, were all stabbed to death inside the home they rented just off campus on November 13. The crime remains unsolved. In the lawsuit, Scofield said she never met any of the victims.

Scofield is suing Guillard for failing to remove the videos in which the sleuth alleges that the professor planned the murders because she was in a relationship with Kayla Goncalves. 

Guillard alleged, with no evidence, that Scofield perpetrated the killings with another student because Goncalves was trying to break up with her and to 'keep from making the relationship public.' She began mentioning Scofield in a video on November 24. 

Ashley Guillard, a Texas-based internet sleuth and tarot card reader, alleged that a University of Idaho professor perpetrated the horrific murders of four students

On her profile, Guillard says that she has also solved the murders of rappers Kirshnik Khari Ball, Takeoff as well as Shanquella Robinson and Kevin Samuels. 

In the lawsuit, Scofield says that none of the four victims of the horrific killing were in in any of her classes. 

On the day of the killings, Scofield wasn't even in Moscow but was in Oregon with her husband visiting friends and said that she doesn't even remember meeting any of the students.  

At one point, Guillard alleged: 'I don't care what y'all say, Rebeca Scofield killed [the victims] and she was the one to initiate the plan...'

Eventually, Scofield asked the fortune teller to remove the videos, only after they had been seen by thousands, but Guillard failed to act. 

University of Idaho Professor Rebecca Scofield, shown here, is suing Guillard because she refuses to take the videos down from TikTok

Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; and Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kernodle's boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20, were all stabbed to death inside the home they rented just off campus on November 13

The TikToker was relentless, alleging in another video: 'Rebecca Scofield is going to prison for the murder of the 4 University of Idaho students whether you like it or not.'

According to her TikTok profile, Guillard, who goes by the moniker Ashley Solves Mysteries, has over 105,000 followers and has achieved 2.6 million likes. She writes in her bio section: 'Ashley is God.' 

Scofield says in the lawsuit that as a result of Guillard's videos, she has received online threats and she fears for the safety of her family. 

In a video posted on December 22 titled: 'Rebeca Scofield will regret this lawsuit' she says: 'You just don't get it, I've been against people big and small, corporations and giants, systemic policies and racism and won.'

Guillard added: 'They all regret coming against me. All of them. Now Rebeca will be added to that list of regretful people.' 

The lawsuit seeks a jury trial to establish any compensation. 

Guillard said, with no evidence, that Scofield killed four students because she was in a relationship with one of them and didn't want it to become public

In a recent TikTok video, Guillard said: 'Rebeca Scofield will regret this lawsuit'

On her Facebook, Guillard says that she is an army veteran having served as an HR Sergeant in the US Army, serving between 2003 and 2007. She also says that she attended Troy University and Columbus State University. 

She is from Chicago and now lives in Houston having previously lived in Atlanta. 

Guillard has written books with titles such as Live in Fantasy Land and The War on Your Money. 

According to an online profile, Scofield is an assistant professor of history at the University Idaho. The bio says: 'She is interested in how popular ideas about the West play out in people's everyday lives.' 

At the time the profile was written, Scofield was working on the Gay Rodeo Oral History Project. Another section reads: 'Her other work covers topics such as country-western icons like Dolly Parton and mechanical bull riding.'

Scofield is also working on the book Slapping Leather: Sport and Performance at the Gay Rodeo. The professor has a doctorate in philosophy from Harvard. 

Leaning Tower of Pisa Creeping Upwards!

The Not So Leaning Tower of Pisa! Famous structure has crept upright by 1.6 INCHES over the last 20 years thanks to stabilisation works, study finds

• The Leaning Tower of Pisa was built upon soft soil which was weaker on one side
• It became increasingly tilted over the years, until in 1990 it was deemed unsafe
• An 11-year stabilisation project was started that reduced its lean by 15 inches
• In the 20 years since, the tower has straightened itself by another 1.6 inches 

Thousands of tourists visit the Leaning Tower of Pisa every year to pose as if they're resting up against it or holding it up.

While this photo op is a classic, the tower's tilt has been a cause for concern for engineers and historians for decades.

Fortunately, a recent survey has revealed that the bell tower in Italy is steadily moving upright thanks to stabilisation works.

An 11-year stabilisation project reduced its lean by 15 inches by 2001, and in the 21 years since, the tower has straightened itself by another 1.6 inches (4cm).

A recent survey has revealed that the Leaning Tower of Pisa (pictured) in Italy has moved upright by 1.6 inches (4 cm) since its last round of stabilisation work

WHY DOES THE TOWER LEAN? 

Theories suggest that the 57 metre (186-feet) tower, which has been a mystery to experts for hundreds of years, began to sink after construction - which began in 1173.

The cause was due to a flawed design which meant it had a foundation that was only three-metres deep and was set in weak, unstable subsoil.

This base was also softer on the southern side, resulting in the eponymous lean, so builders tried to compensate for it while they built its eight storeys upwards.

They did this by making the floors shorter on one side than the other, making the structure curved as well as tilting,

The recent study was funded by the preservation organisation Opera Primaziale della Pisana (OPA) to see if their predictions were correct.

While the tilt has been reduced, it still sways at an average of about 0.02 inches (0.5 mm) a year, according to professor of geotechnics Nunziante Squeglia from the the University of Pisa.

'Although what counts the most is the stability of the bell tower, which is better than expected,' he told Italy's National Associated Press Agency (ANSA).

An OPA spokesperson also told ANSA: 'Considering it is an 850-year-old patient with a tilt of around five meters and a subsidence of over three meters, the state of health of the Leaning Tower of Pisa is excellent.'

The medieval bell tower, a symbol of the power of the maritime republic of Pisa in the Middle Ages, has managed to survive, undamaged, at least four strong earthquakes that have hit the region since 1280.

A 2018 study found that it was the softness of the foundation soil, which was originally responsible for its lean, that protected it from the violent tremors.

Theories suggest that the 57 metre (186-feet) tower began to sink after construction, which started in 1173.

The cause was due to a flawed design which meant it had a foundation that was only three-metres deep and was set in weak, unstable subsoil.

This base was softer on the southern side, resulting in the eponymous lean, so builders tried to compensate for it while they built the eight storeys upwards.

They did this by making the floors shorter on one side than the other, causing the structure to curve as well as tilt.

The build wasn't completed until 1319 due to various battles between Pisa and Genoa, Lucca and Florence, but these pauses did give the underlying soil time to settle.

Pisa's leaning tower before the stabilisation works in 1992 (left) and at the end of the works in 2010 (right). Since the works, the tower's tilt has decreased even more

The tower's stabilising involved years of work, including emergency temporary steel cables, excavation of soil and digging wells to drain water

HOW DID THEY STRAIGHTEN THE TOWER IN 2001? 

In 1990, the Leaning Tower of Pisa was still tilting 5.5° southwards, and it was closed to the public in fear it would crumble.

After applying a few different failed strategies to attempt to straighten the structure, engineers decided to try out 'soil extraction'.

This involved digging out two lorry loads of earth from under the tower's north side before using steel cables to pull it upright.

While this was effective, the team found that the building leaned more during the winter rains, as the water table underneath the north side was higher.

They therefore also had to dig drains so that the water could flow into nearby wells and keep the foundation stable.

Fast forward to 1990, the tower was still tilting 5.5° southwards, and was closed to the public in fear it would crumble.

After applying a few different failed strategies to straighten the structure, engineers decided to try out 'soil extraction'.

This involved digging out two lorry loads of earth from under the tower's north side before using steel cables to pull it upright.

While this was effective, the team found that the building leaned more during the rains in winter, as the water table underneath its north side was higher.

They therefore also had to dig drains so that the water could flow into wells and keep the foundation stable.

The project was completed in 2001 after straightening the tower by 15 inches (38 cm), or 0.5°, and it has continued to correct itself ever since.

Experts pronounced it would be safe for the next 300 years during a health check in 2005, according to ANSA.

They also said that they thinks that advances in technology will mean the tower will one day straighten up completely.

In 2013, another check-up revealed that the Italian landmark had straightened up vertically by about an inch (2.5 cm) since 2001.

That year, an organisation called CyArk created a 3D reconstruction of the Leaning Tower of Pisa as well as some 500 other landmarks.

The last round of stabilisation works was a 11-year long project that concluded in 2001. Pictured: Tourists visit the Leaning Tower of Pisa, free of scaffoldings for the first time after 20 years of stabilization and restoration works in 2011

In 2013, an organisation called CyArk created a 3D reconstruction of the Leaning Tower of Pisa capturing details that could be damaged by weathering. The resulting reconstructions could be used if the tower ever needs repairing

The project used laser scanning and other reality-capture technologies to create digital models of the sites that are accurate to just two to six millimetres

This enabled details to be captured that could otherwise be damaged by weathering, and the resulting reconstructions could be used if the tower ever needs repairing.

In 2018, another survey was conducted by OPA to measure how far the tower had straightened since 2001, and found that it had by 1.6 inches (4 cm).

While this hasn't been improved upon since then, its angle is only 3.99° off straight, but this is twice as large as the tilt it started with in 1350.

THE BATTLE TO PRESERVE THE LEANING TOWER OF PISA 

In 1987 the Tower of Pisa was declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nation's cultural organisation Unesco, but as fears grew that it would topple over it was closed to the public in 1990 and engineers worked to stabilise it for the next 11 years. 

'The tower was on the verge of collapse, but we managed to stop the tilt and secure it,' said Giuseppe Bentivoglio, from the Opera Primaziale organisation that preserves the tower.

The tower was reopened to the public in 2001 and remained open throughout a restoration costing almost £6million - partly to keep tourists happy, but partly because the revenue from ticket sales helped pay for the upkeep. The tower attracts over one million visitors a year.

In 2010 restorers made the tower even more stable by removing soil from beneath one side of its foundations. Its angle was previously 5.5 degrees from the perpendicular, but is now only 3.99 degrees off straight. 

Experts say the seven-storey bell tower should now be safe from further intervention for at least the next 200 years. 

But how did the tower achieve its lean? The most respected theory suggests the tower began to sink after construction - which began in 1173 - had progressed to the third floor after five years.

The cause was a flawed design - it had a foundation that was only three-metres deep set in weak, unstable subsoil.

Back then that area of Italy was very belligerent, with various local land-grabbing factions jostling for position.

Because of the battles between Pisa and nearby Genoa, Lucca and Florence, the construction of the tower was put on hold for almost a century.

Thankfully this allowed enough time for the soil to settle - had there not been that length of break, many believe the tower would have toppled over centuries ago.

When tools were picked up once more, under architect Giovanni di Simone (who had built the Camposanto Monumentale, the fourth and last building to be erected in Cathedral Square) in 1272, the engineers built upper floors with one side taller than the other, in an effort to compensate for the tilt.

Because of this, the tower is actually curved. Construction was halted again in 1284, when the Pisans were defeated by the Genoans in the Battle of Meloria, and the seventh floor was not completed until 1319. Its stewardship at that point had passed to Tommaso di Andrea Pisano. 

Just seven miles from the Mediterranean Sea on the west coast of Italy, the tower, which weighs some 14,500 metric tonnes, is frequently battered by storms that have eroded and discoloured it.

The distinctive, yellowish stone came from the quarries of San Giuliano, visible from the top of the tower on the green hills behind Pisa.

The Benefits of Four-Paw Drive

WATCH – Dog Helps Owner Climb Icy Slope: ‘Benefits of 4-Paw Drive’

Getty Images/Timbicus

AMY FURR

20 Dec 20221

1:57

A pit bull took action when he saw his owner struggling to get up an icy driveway earlier this month in Kearney, Nebraska.

According to Hunter Kramer, his four-year-old rescue pup’s name is Jameson but also goes by the name Jim Bob, Storyful reported Monday.

In the clip, the dog was in front of Kramer as they walked up the driveway, but the man soon realized he was not going to make it without some help:

“I can’t get up this slope, Jim!” he told the dog as he slid back down the hill. “No!” he said, laughing as he went.

Kramer tried again to make it up the hill but had no success.

Moments later, his companion walked back down the incline towards him with his tail wagging.

“Help me, carry me up, okay?” Kramer told Jameson who turned his body around and allowed Kramer to hold onto him.

“Go go go! Carry me, carry me!” the man told his helpful pet as he slowly helped him up the incline and toward the stairs.

Kramer grabbed onto the railing when he made it to the stairs and said to his dog, “Good boy! You stayed with me!”

Social media users commented on the video, one person writing, “the benefits of 4-paw drive.”

“That is so cool. What a good dog,” another replied.

According to the Animal Humane Society, the name pit bull usually does not refer to one breed but used as a broad description.

Some dogs classified as pit bulls are American Staffordshire terriers, American bull terriers, American pit bull terriers, and American bulldogs.

Their bodies are usually muscular and stocky with deep chests and square heads, the Spruce Pets website said.

“They’re notoriously determined dogs. When given a task, whether it be learning a new trick or digging a hole, they won’t give up easily,” the site read.