Well, finally an excuse for why you only date ugly chicks. Now you can say, “No man, I could have easily pulled that girl. But haven’t you heard that beautiful women are bad for your health? It’s all about longevity, man.” 

One study stated that when men are around beautiful women (specifically ones that are “out of their league”)  they experience very high levels of cortisol, a hormone related to anxiety. In fact, they nearly reach the level one would encounter right before jumping out of a plane. Talk about stress, huh?! This spike can have long term repercussions, too –  over a long period of time they can lead to adult onset diabetes, hypertension, and impotence. So what’s the point of having an incredibly hot wife if you can’t even get it up?!

They paid 84 male students £10 each to take part in an experiment – approved by the Faculty of Psychology’s ethical committee – which measured their cortisol levels before and after they had been left alone with a stranger.

The men, who had been told to avoid alcohol and other stimulants for 24 hours, were led to a room and given a Sudoko puzzle to solve. Each one presumed the other two people in the room were a researcher and another student guinea pig.

When the researcher left the room –  on the pretense of getting another puzzle – the other two were left alone. The researchers discovered that cortisol levels stayed the same when two men were together but rose when a man was left alone with what was perceived as an attractive woman.

They measured cortisol, which is secreted by the adrenal glands, by taking mouth swabs and saliva samples from the volunteers.

The team concluded: ‘In this study we considered that for most men the presence of an attractive woman may induce the perception that there is an opportunity for courtship.

‘While some men might avoid attractive women since they might think they are “out of their league’’, the majority would respond with apprehension and a concurrent hormonal response.

‘This study showed that male cortisol levels increased after exposure to a five-minute short social contact with a young attractive woman. It provides evidence that interpersonal interaction can influence the secretion of cortisol.’

Read the full story at the Daily Mail