In case you weren't aware it's November next month
A neuroscientist has explained exactly what happens to you when you quit watching porn, ahead of the fabled No Nut November.
We're just two weeks away from the beginning of November, which means only one thing (no, not putting up your Christmas tree) – the beginning of No Nut November (NNN).
No Nut November is a fad that emerged from the murky depths of the internet within the last decade and encourages people (typically men) to forego sex and masturbation for the entire month. Originally began as satire, others however have since claimed abstaining from earthly pleasures will bring you health benefits.
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So, have you ever wondered what would happen to your body if you were to give up on watching pornography and, more specifically, shaking hands with the milkman?
Dr Andrew Huberman touched on how pornography can impact the brain while appearing on Chris Williamson's Modern Wisdom podcast back in 2022, explaining how the brain is a 'learning prediction machine' which is moulded by the stimuli you expose it to.
Simply put, if you spend all of your time being aroused by watching pornography you're less likely to find yourself turned on when intimate with a partner.
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"I'm not trying to say that all pornography is bad but there are good data to support the idea that if your brain learns to be aroused by watching other people
have sex it is not necessarily going to carry over to the ability to get aroused when you're one-on-one with somebody else," he explained.
Huberman went on to explain how this is particularly damaging when you're brain is learning 'sexual arousal' as it will link the feeling to 'other people having sex'.
"So you're going to programme yourself into being a voyeur?" Williams asked, to which Huberman responded: "Yeah, or just create challenges with sexual interactions with a real partner."
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Huberman's comments aren't particularly groundbreaking, with Williamson bringing up an argument created by Mary Harrington which is called 'The Three Laws of Pornodynamics' with one of them being the idea of 'fap entropy' to which Williamson explained as: "Whatever you start out w**king to will get progressively more intense over time."
This argument was also shared by GP Dr Donald Grant who explained during an interview with MailOnline that while there is 'no strict rule' when it comes to masturbation but overconsumption of pornography can have a negative impact on sexual health and relationships.
"This unhealthy porn usage can lead to desensitisation, making it more difficult for men to achieve and maintain an erection — as they're used to more intense sexual activity seen on screen," he said.
However this isn't to say you have to practice strict abstinence for the entire month, with other health experts also highlighting how sexual activity also has a number of health benefits.
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Up to you really.
Topics: Health, Weird, Sex and Relationships
