Recent research has shown that only one additional hour of sleep made a woman 14% more likely to have sex with her partner the next day.
This in itself is not that surprising, considering that women who are sleep deprived could be too tired for sexual activity, or depressed and thus sleep deprived. However, this didn’t seem to fully account for the results. Even when researchers took into account fatigue and mood, the same findings resulted.
Dr. David Kalmbach of the University of Michigan Medical School was the lead author of the study. For two weeks, 171 healthy young women, would complete questionnaires that focused on sleep, mood, and sexual functioning within the past 24 hours. The women got about 7 1/2 hours of sleep per night on average, though some only got 6 1/2.
The women who got more sleep on a given night would have more sexual desire on the following day. They also had less frequent problems with vaginal lubrication.
There are a few potential explanations for this phenomenon. One involves testosterone, which posters a healthy sex drive in both men and women. Sleep loss is known to diminish the male libido, and it seems like the same may be true in women.
Additionally, during REM sleep, men have erections and women have higher blood flow to the vagina. As such, in women who are well rested, genital tissue is supplied with oxygen rich blood throughout the night. It makes sense then that being deprived of sleep could diminished a woman’s sexual appetite.
In general, sleep will help a person feel happy and energetic, which is definitely sexier than fatigue.