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Can Sex Help You Lose Weight? (VIDEO)

Popular Sex Myth Debunked
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It's a common belief that having sex can help you lose weight. You're working up a sweat and burning tons of calories, right? In reality, sex is not the intense cardio workout you think it is, says OB-GYN Dr. Lauren Streicher, author of Love Sex Again.

"I wish it was true too, but the reality is that having sex only burns about 5 calories a minute, and most people only have sex for maybe 10 or 15 minutes," Streicher tells #OWNSHOW in the above video. "So it's about the same number of calories you're going to burn going up a couple flights of stairs."

Unless you're having sex 10 times a day, Streicher says sex is sadly not a great weight loss technique. "On average, most couples have sex one, two, at best three times a week," she says.

In short: Your session between the sheets does not replace your daily workout (but it doesn't hurt, either).

Next sex myth: Can sex cure depression?

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Before You Go

7 Fascinating Facts About The Female Body
Vaginas And Sharks Have Something In Common (No, It's Not Teeth)(01 of07)
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Natural vaginal lubricant is composed of sweat, sebum, cervical mucus, exfoliated cells, urea, acetic and lactic acids, complex alcohols, ketones and (here's the kicker) squalene. Ever heard of it? This organic compound isn't exclusive to humans -- it's also found in the liver of sharks, says Lissa Rankin, MD, author of What's Up Down There? And now for something you didn't know about sharks' bodies: Squalene derived from shark liver oil is sometimes added to moisturizers and skin creams, where it acts as an emollient. What's more, recent studies cited by the American Cancer Society have found that in the lab, shark-derived squalene seemed to protect normal human cells from the detrimental effects of chemotherapy drugs without inhibiting the drugs' effect on cancer cells. (credit:Thinkstock)
You Listen With Both Sides Of Your Brain (02 of07)
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Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine used fMRI machines to monitor brain activity while men and women listened to a passage from a John Grisham novel. While most of the men showed activity exclusively on the left side of the brain (typically associated with listening and speech), most of the women showed additional activity on the right side (associated with creativity and expressiveness). This could be why women are usually credited with "hearing" what's left unsaid in a conversation. (credit:Thinkstock)
In Photos, We Tend To Look Younger Than Men(03 of07)
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Bad news first: Because of hormonal changes, menopausal women lose collagen in the skin much faster than men. But take heart: Regardless of how rapidly women's skin ages, men still tend to look older, says Patricia Barnes-Svarney, the author of Why Do Women Crave More Sex in the Summer? This is because men's skin is thicker and more likely to show facial lines and age spots and also because they subject it to the often-daily trauma of shaving as well as chemical baths of aftershave and astringent, she says. On top of that, men have their own epidermal challenges to contend with: Testosterone can make their complexions look slick and oily. (credit:Thinkstock)
Our Hormones Can Help Us Schedule Our Dentist Appointments(04 of07)
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If you need to get a tooth pulled, pull out your calendar. Estrogen makes us prone to dry sockets in the mouth, which is when a blood clot becomes dislodged from the hole where a tooth has been pulled, exposing the bones and nerves underneath. When a dry socket becomes infected, it hurts like crazy. To avoid ever experiencing this kind of pain, Barnes-Svarney suggests scheduling your extraction during the last week of your menstrual cycle (days 23 through 28), when estrogen levels are lowest. If you're pregnant (or planning on being), you should be aware that surges of estrogen can also cause gums to swell and increase the risk of gingivitis, so it's important for pregnant women to get their teeth cleaned at least once before the baby arrives.CORRECTION: A previous version of this slide suggested that a root canal can lead to a dry socket. That's not the case; dry sockets occur only after a tooth has been removed. (credit:Thinkstock)
Your Aversion To Spiders May Be Genetic(05 of07)
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Do spiders make your skin crawl, despite your fondness for Charlotte's Web? This may be out of your control. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University measured our instinctual reactions to insects by showing 11-month-old babies separate photos of spiders and illustrations of smiling faces and fearful faces. They found that the female infants learned more quickly to associate the spiders with the negative facial expressions. Barnes-Svarney says the researchers hypothesized that women evolved to be wary of spiders, snakes and other venomous creatures so that they could protect their vulnerable children at home while the men were out hunting and gathering. (credit:Thinkstock)
You Have A Lot Of Guts(06 of07)
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While women and men have the same basic digestive plumbing (stomach, liver, gallbladder, colon), the lower portion of the colon, called the sigmoid, tends to be longer in women. And of course, women's lower bodies are practically bulging with reproductive organs. All of this means that women have more stuff squeezed into a smaller space, says Cynthia M. Yoshida, MD, a gastroenterologist and the author of No More Digestive Problems. Our digestive systems don't have as much room to expand when troubled by excess gas, air or food, says Yoshida, which is why we are likely to experience distress in our midsections. (It's also another justification for why women deserve more bathrooms, with more privacy.) (credit:Thinkstock)
Your Nether Region Is Unlikely To Become Tangled Or Braidable(07 of07)
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Pubic hair tends to fall out after about three weeks, says Rankin. That's just a fraction of the life expectancy of the hair on your head, says Rankin, which can hang around for up to seven years. (credit:Thinkstock)
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