6 Reasons Men Have Sex (Besides the Obvious)

So there's a new book out called Why Women Have Sex, because for years no one's been able to crack that tough nut of a question and it's been bugging all of mankind. While the authors continue researching the sequel ("Why Kids Are Short") we thought it would be helpful to delve into the whole aspect of this topic that they missed, namely why men have sex.

Obviously there's one pretty big reason why men and women have sex, but surely there are other reasons for doing the deed, at least once in a while.

Headache Relief
For ages, the popular hack comedy line of "not tonight, I have a headache" was all over the place as a reason the ladyfolk were not interested in coitus. Men never said that, the reason being if we have a headache, we still want sex. Research even supports the notion that sex can cure headaches. (One of our editors even swears by a good roll in the hay as a hangover cure.)

Stress Relief
Being a dude can be stressful. We're constantly bogged down by the fear that at any moment some stray football will hit us in the nuts. Plus there's work, money, family, friends, zombie apocalypses ... all kinds of things that cause undue amounts of stress. Fortunately, sex is here to fix that as well. Regular sex flushes your system with oxytocin, which tells your whole body just to chill out.

Sleep Aid
Some nights hitting the hay just isn't easy. The neighbor's dog is barking, the bathroom faucet is leaking, you're worried about how work is affecting your progress in "Halo" .... Fortunately, every guy learned sometime in their teen years that after you get off, taking a nap totally feels like a good idea. Sex really makes you sleepy; it's like nature's way of saying, "Good job, now rest up for next time."

Cancer Prevention
According to actual research done on the topic, guys who get off more than five times a week were a third less likely to develop prostate cancer later in life, and the benefits seem to be reaped from increased activity in your younger years. The research itself supports the idea of doing it yourself, as sex with a partner has the complication of potential STDs, but one has to assume that if precautions are taken, the same theory applies.

To End a Fight
By now we should all know about make-up sex. It's what happens when you're riding high on emotion and decide you need to bury the hatchet, so to speak, and simply end the argument. Sure, you may not be getting a "Star Wars"-themed bedroom set, but everyone's still happy. Expressing feelings is tough at the best of times, and whether you're wrong or you're right, sometimes it's just easier to say you're sorry by doing the deed than by, you know, actually saying it.

Focus
In an ironic twist of fate, sex distracts from many things and many things distract from sex. Nothing is more annoying than not being able to keep your mind on the task at hand simply because your pants are tenting. In cases like this, self-control is an option, but a superior option is to simply get the job done. Once you've had sex, you're relaxed, you're clearheaded, and you're ready to buckle down and do what you need to do. Kind of like a colonic for your brain.

What other unconventional reasons do you have for getting it on?