Dr. Archana Rahul Mayekar

Intimacy with your loved ones is always preferred and is a wonderful experience, however, at times your bodily needs are not aligned with your partner's need, in such cases you can easily explore your body through masturbation. Masturbation is a wonderful way to explore your desires, which is healthy as well as beneficial. Here are some of the most common misconceptions and the truths behind masturbation.

Myth: Masturbation doesn't provide any long term health benefits.
Fact: Many experts believe that masturbation can be good for your health. Some of the health benefits that it provides include improved concentration levels and better sleep. It also helps in relieving stress and headaches as your body releases endorphins (brain chemicals), which give you a sense of well-being. Apart from that, masturbating regularly ensures better fitness levels and a youthful appearance in men. For women, it offers certain sexual health benefits such as less pain during sexual intercourse. This happens due to the interaction between brain receptors and the endorphins, which help in reducing your perception of pain. Furthermore, it can even reduce vaginal dryness.

Myth: There's no limit to how much you can masturbate.
Fact: According to the American Psychological Association, you should stop masturbating if it affects your daily life; causes emotional problems or physical soreness; disrupts your relationship with your partner or makes you unable to have orgasms from the stimulation that you experience with your partner. Otherwise, the frequency of masturbating can vary from individual to individual. If you masturbate a number of times in a day and still lead a healthy and satisfying life, you have nothing to worry about.

Myth: Masturbation makes you go blind.
Fact: Masturbation cannot make you blind. Studies conducted on this point of contention haven't been able to find a link between masturbation and blindness. On the contrary, these researches have gone on to reveal that individuals who masturbate 4 times daily or more for years haven't been found to suffer from any diseases attributed to masturbation, including blindness.

Myth: People in relationships do not masturbate.
Fact: Whether you're single or in a relationship, masturbation is a healthy sexual activity that you can engage in to fulfil your sexual desires. Studies show that masturbation is a very common behaviour; about 92% of men and 62% of women masturbate. Sometimes, couples also engage in masturbation together as part of their sexual activity. 

As the New Year begins, the one fruit which is available in abundance are grapes. The black/purple and the green variety, seeded and seedless, are all over the place. Given the weather slowly changing from winter, they seem like the best thing to beat the summer heat. And yes, they are. Not just for overall health, they are also great for the skin and hair. Read on to know more.

Benefits of grapes for skin:

1. When the sunscreen lotion does not help much and sunburn happens, the one of the best home remedies is to apply mashed grapes for about 30 minutes. The grapes are rich in antioxidants (proanthocyanidins and resveratrol). They reduce the damage caused by ultraviolet radiation and also reduces cell damage caused by excessive skin exposure.
2. Rubbing the grape pulp on the face for about 20 minutes can help reverse and control antiaging better than any chemical treatment. It reduces the effect of free radicals which lead to fine wrinkles and dark spots.
3. Grapes are also rich in vitamins C and E which helps in making the skin supple and improves skin tone and reduces scars.

Benefits for hair:

1. If hair loss scares you, apply a paste of seeded grapes. The linoleic acid and grape seed oil can add strength and prevent hair fall.
2. Grapes can also be mixed with fenugreek and chickpeas for use on hair to improve life and lustre of the hair and add volume.
3. The vitamin E and antioxidants also help improve scalp blood circulation, fight dandruff, reduce itchiness, and improved hair health.

Benefits on overall health:

1. Relieves headache: The various antioxidants in the grapes help in relieving the headache almost instantaneously. Eat them up or drink if you have a headache, even migraines.
2. Improves digestion: They improve digestion and reduce digestive problems, thereby curing indigestion. They also are shown to help in controlling colon cancer.
3. Good in diabetes: Diabetic patients need not be worried about the sweet grapes. The pterostilbene in them helps lower sugar levels, and in the long run, it can also prevent the onset of diabetes.
4. Cholesterol control: The polyphenols help in controlling heart disease by reducing plaque formation.
5. Eye health: The reduced oxidation process and controlled inflammatory process helps in improving eye health, especially in the retina, which is full of proteins.
6. Potassium in Plenty: 100 g of grapes contains about 200 mg of potassium, which is a treasure. It improves blood pressure (by countering sodium), and also controls cholesterol and reduces salt intake.
7. Brain health: The antioxidants like revasterol help in improving blood flow and helps in controlling Alzheimer’s and improving memory. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a dietitian-nutritionist.