A study has shed light on just how important sex is for your overall well-being.

Who knew… sex is actually good for you. That is, having a healthy relationship with one of humanity’s favorite pastimes.

A study conducted in the US found that women who had sex less than once a week could be more likely to die early compared to those who get ‘active’ more frequently.

The researchers looked at 2,267 people who gave details about their sex lives in a national health survey.

Of these people, 94.4 percent claimed they would have intercourse at least once a month, while 38.4 percent stated they get jiggy more than once a week.

Now, since most surveys don’t have the man-power to fact-check all of these participants you have to take them at their word.

The authors of the study, which was published in the Journal of Psychosexual Health last year, said: “Sexual activity is important for overall cardiovascular health possibly due to reduction of heart rate variability and blood flow increase.

“Using findings from our study, we can infer that sexual activity, broadly defined, may ameliorate loss of function that can occur with age and the progression of disease.”

Studies have previously stated that the average US citizen, who is of age, has sex 54 times annually, which roughly equates to about once a week.

So the 2,267 participants, aged 29-50, were split up into two groups – the people who have sex more than once a week and those that have sex less than once a week.

The study found that the women with a low sexual drive were 1.7 times more likely to have died from any cause by the end of 2015, compared to their female counterparts who would have sex more frequently.

And researchers also discovered a pattern – the less sex a woman had, the higher her risk of mortality was.

While they didn’t find the same response in men, the study revealed that sex had a ‘modifying relationship’ on depression in both sexes – and those suffering from depression were apparently around three times more likely to die during the follow-up period if they weren’t having frequent sex.

The researchers said ‘sexual activity is important for overall cardiovascular health’ (Getty Stock Image)

“Individuals with depression but high sexual frequency don’t feel harmful effects of depression as much,” Dr Srikanta Banerjee, lead author of the study, told DailyMail.com.

“Depression is something that leads to more increased mortality due to health outcomes. So perhaps sex is more effective because of the severity of how depression impacts females.”

However, the researcher noted ‘there are multiple theories’.

“For instance, sex releases endorphins that may prevent severe health outcomes,” Dr Banerjee added.