1) May be A Mood Enhancer
In a survey of 293 college women at SUNY Albany about intercourse with and without condoms, it was found that those who didn’t use condoms had lower levels of depression and better moods.
This is surprising because risky sex (i.e., without condoms) is usually associated with negative self-esteem and depressed mood.
Among women who “always” or “usually” used condoms, about 20% reported suicidal thoughts, but among those who used condoms only “sometimes,” the figure was much lower at 7%. Among women who “never” used condoms, only 5% reported suicidal thoughts [1, 2].
Now it’s important to remember that correlation is not causation. So this does not necessarily imply eating semen will improve your mood. Further research is needed before we make any firm conclusions.
Semen contains many ingredients that could be responsible for this effect.
Probably the most significant one is Nerve Growth Factor (NGF), which has potent antidepressant and cognitive-enhancing effects.
Semen also includes mood enhancers such as:
Oxytocin
Progesterone
Endorphins
Prolactin
TRH
Serotonin
Semen contains mood-enhancing hormones and compounds. Women who don’t use condoms tend to be less depressed.
2) May Reduce Anxiety
Semen includes anti-anxiety hormones such as oxytocin and progesterone. It also has serotonin.
Few people realize that a strong driving force of anxiety comes from oxidative stress, which is why it often goes along with “brain fog” and fatigue issues [3].
Semen contains a lot of antioxidants to combat oxidative stress.
Semen is rich in hormones and antioxidants that may protect against anxiety.
3) Combats Oxidative Stress
Semen contains a number of antioxidants such as [4, 4]:
Melatonin
SOD
Catalase
Glutathione peroxidase (GPx)
Glutathione
Vitamin C
Vitamin E
Pyruvate
Carnitine
It also includes antioxidant hormones/peptides, such as NGF, oxytocin, and progesterone 5,6.
Semen contains uric acid, which is also an antioxidant, but I don’t know if it’s in a meaningful concentration to be medically useful.
Semen contains many antioxidants that may combat oxidative stress in your body.
4) May Reduce Inflammation
Semen contains anti-inflammatories/immunosuppressants so that it’s not attacked when it enters the woman.
Nerve Growth Factor, oxytocin, progesterone, testosterone, and cortisol, and certain prostaglandins are anti-inflammatory. TGF-beta in semen helps create tolerance to proteins.
Proteins and hormones in semen may lower inflammation.
5) Contains Many Healthy Hormones
Semen has many good hormones that people are often low in:
Oxytocin – has anti-anxiety properties and helps with wound healing [5]
Progesterone – has anti-anxiety properties [6]
Pregnenolone [6]
Melatonin [6]
Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) [6]
Luteinizing hormone (LH) [6]
Testosterone – women can have too low or too high testosterone [6]
TRH – an anti-inflammatory and mood enhancer
Cortisol – can reduce inflammation and can be good in pulses [6]
Estrone, estrone sulfate – good if levels are too low [6]
Estrogen, Estradiol, Estriol [6]
DHEA [6]
DHT [6]
6) Contains Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) — a Cognitive Enhancer
Nerve growth factor (NGF) is important for the growth, maintenance, and survival of neurons, including the axons (the part where the electrical signal passes). It also promotes myelin repair, which is the coating around the axons.
Rita Levi-Montalcini won a Nobel Prize for discovering nerve growth factor and she used NGF eye drops to increase her lifespan and health.
NGF is abundant in semen. Recent studies have found that it induces ovulation (the release of the egg from ovaries) in some mammals, which can help with fertility.
Stress and anxiety decrease NGF. Low NGF levels are also found in atherosclerosis, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome [7].
NGF is an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant and may be helpful for a variety of conditions including depression, multiple sclerosis, and schizophrenia, among others.
In case you aren’t in the mood for swallowing cum, other good ways to enhance NGF include yoga (even a single 20-minute session) and falling in love [8, 9].
For the supplement junkies such as myself, my favorite substances to increase NGF include butyrate, zinc, lithium, berberine, PQQ, vitamin D, and melatonin.
Semen is rich in nerve growth factor (NGF), which protects your brain cells and boosts your cognition and mental health.
7) May Keep Infections at Bay
Semen contains many proteins with potent antimicrobial activity against bacteria, fungi, and viruses.
8) May Increase Lifespan
Semen contains spermidine, which has been found to increase lifespan. Spermidine also combats aging in yeast, flies, worms, and human immune cells by inducing autophagy.
Spermidine is a longevity agent due to its ability to regulate gene expression.
Other good sources of spermidine include grapefruit juice and tempeh.
Spermidine from semen may increase lifespan, but no clinical trials have confirmed this.
9) May Prevent Hair Loss
If the men haven’t been paying attention, I believe I now have your listening ears.
Spermidine has been tested and discovered to encourage hair shaft elongation and lengthen hair growth. It also boosts stem cells that lead to hair growth.
10) May Increase Sex Drive
Semen contains testosterone [6].
Testosterone increases libido in both men and women.
Testosterone gets absorbed through a woman’s vaginal walls as well as through the digestive tract from the act of swallowing semen.
11) May Prevent Preeclampsia
Ingredients in semen such as TGF-beta can help induce oral tolerance.
When a woman swallows her partner’s semen, she will become tolerant to the proteins that are found in his sperm. This is thought to reduce the risk of preeclampsia [12].
A study shows that oral sex and swallowing semen may help make a woman’s pregnancy safer and more successful [12].
TGF-beta might also enhance brain function. High blood levels of TGF-beta are associated with increased thickness in certain brain regions in healthy subjects [13].
TGF-beta and other semen ingredients help lower the risk of pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia.
12) May Increase Fertility
Semen contains NGF, which increases fertility in mammals by increasing ovulation.
14) Contains Essential Nutrients
I’d like to mention that most of the nutrients aren’t in meaningful concentrations when you look at each nutrient alone, but on the whole (no pun intended), it’s pretty good.
For example, a normal semen ejaculate contains 0.56 mg of zinc, whereas the average person gets probably 20 times that in their daily diet.
However, since the body only absorbs 20% of dietary zinc, the requirements for zinc should theoretically increase by approximately 2.5 mg after each ejaculation. However, if you are injaculating or swallowing semen, you are able to reabsorb some of that zinc.
Zinc serves to help to stabilize the DNA-containing chromatin in the sperm cells. A zinc deficiency may result in lowered fertility because of increased sperm fragility. Zinc deficiency can also adversely affect sperm production.