Men all over the world are abstaining from self-pleasure as No Nut November begins

Not Nut November (NNN) has officially begun and men all over the world are embarking on a big mission.

NNN has grown in popularity over the years as blokes see if they can last the whole month without pleasuring themselves or watching pornography.

They believe the project can improve their wellbeing, however there isn't much evidence to support that.

Nevertheless, blokes have flocked to the NNN Reddit page to wish their fellow compatriots a good month ahead.

One said: "First time participating... How hard could it be?"

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Another had some words of encouragement for others: "Forget that girls even exist and don't edge. Focus on Roman Empire and whatnot. Don't let Romantic fantasies purge your concentrated mind. Stay strong, and we will make it together this year."

A third added: "Many of us will perish in these coming days, in times of struggle remember the effort you and your comrades made, remember the promise."

A fourth commented: "C*mrades, the long watch of No Nutting in November has officially begun. Regardless of where you are and when you started this war, it’s time to report for duty for this long and brutal war in November that is ahead of us as usual c*mrades."

NNN has been around since the early 2010s and initially started as a joke.

However, its popularity picked up over the years and people eventually took it very seriously.

The Reddit page had a little more than 16,000 members back in 2016 and now it boasts more than 146,000 people.

There's a new online reward system for people taking part in this year's NNN.

People who manage to last up to seven days won't receive anything, however those who survive from days eight to 14 will receive a Bronze NoNutter award.

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Silver goes to anyone who can stick to the mission between days 15 and 21 and gold goes to people who can last until day 30.

If you manage to complete NNN then you get the Diamond NoNutter award.

You would hate to lose out on the final day.

Dr Rena Malik explained last year that the benefits of not ejaculating could help boost your fertility when you finally do have sex, but overall there wasn't much of a reason to do it, especially not for 30 days.

She explained that while there wasn't really huge health penalties to participating in No Nut November, it didn't really help much either as you'll miss out on the benefits of masturbation.

She said: "There's a number of benefits to masturbation including better sleep, decreased heart rate, decreased stress and a lot of increase in feel good hormones."

"People can get a lot of pain and discomfort in their pelvic floor, or their testicles.

"A lot of you guys have heard of 'blue balls'."