Digestion & Sex: What?s the Relation?

The Sanskrit word for sex is ‘sambhoga’, which is made from two words - ‘samyaka’ (meaning ‘to maintain balance’) and ‘bhoga’ (meaning ‘sensual pleasure’). As you can see, in Ayurveda, sexual intercourse implies an activity that helps the individual achieve equilibrium while also enjoying sexual satisfaction.

While most people are familiar with sex and its advantages, they do not know that sexual performance and sexual satisfaction are linked to digestive health. Also, since digestion is such an important function of the body - one that demands a lot of energy (just like sex) - there are specific guidelines governing the time gap one should maintain between both activities.

Understanding the Ayurvedic Perspective:

There’s yet another reason why you shouldn’t allow sex to interfere with the digestive process. After you’ve had a meal, agni (or the digestive fire) will break down the food and assimilate it into the body. This creates the rasa dhatu (plasma) that affects the formation of all other dhatus, including the shukra dhatu, which controls the reproductive tissues. If your digestive process is strong, the shukra dhatu formed will be strong as well, and this will eventually translate to better sexual performance and satisfaction.

So, if you want a healthy sex life, keep the following recommendations in mind:

Abstain from sex when you’re hungry and thirsty:

Do not have sex when you are hungry or thirsty. Instead, you should have something nourishing to eat and drink. If you insist on having sex, you may experience the following side effects: headache, dizziness, tiredness, bloating, and extreme exhaustion while having sex or after it.

Do not have sex immediately after eating a big meal:

This can lead to indigestion, chest pain, heaviness in the area around the heart, and breathlessness during sex or after it. Ayurveda recommends that you wait at least two hours after a meal to have sex. This way, most of the digestion will be underway already, and you won’t experience any side effects

Following these guidelines will ensure that neither your digestive process nor your sexual life will interfere with each other. If you choose to ignore them, you may experience severe cramps, fatigue, and vomiting. The aim is to wait long enough after having a big meal so that the body frees up enough energy to allow you to have sex without any complication.