Good night's sleep 'fires up' women's sexual desire

Sleeping well does more than keep those dark circles and eye bags at bay, for a new study claims it also boosts your sexual desire.

In a study of 171 women, those who obtained more sleep on a given night experienced greater sexual desire the next day. Reflecting sleep's impact on sexual desire, each additional hour of sleep increased the likelihood of sexual activity with a partner by 14 percent. Sleep was also important for genital arousal, such that women who slept longer on average experienced fewer problems with vaginal arousal than women who obtained less sleep.

Lead author of the study, Dr. David Kalmbach, said that the influence of sleep on sexual desire and arousal has received little attention in the field, but these findings indicate that insufficient sleep can decrease sexual desire and arousal for women.

The take-home message should not be that more sleep is better, but that it was important to allow ourselves to obtain the sleep that the mind and body required, he added.

The study is published in Journal of Sexual Medicine.