One of the most common complaints I hear from many of my over-45 age patients is that their love-battery seems to be permanently low and they just can’t seem to re-charge it. They’ve tried Viagra, sexy videos, devices, bought new wardrobes, but still their love life seems to be more fizzle than razzle dazzle. Imagine my patients surprise when I tell them that their diet could be to blame! That’s right.
If you’re like many of my patients, you’re living a busy life, juggling work, children, maybe even grandchildren, taking care of your home, worried about your finances in these tough times, and other social obligations. You likely don’t get enough sleep and your nutrition is probably deficient as well. Trust me; this kind of picture does not fuel the fires of desire! Besides telling my patients to get more rest, one of the most important things I recommend to create a healthy sex drive is optimal nutrition. Here’s how to do it.
Boost Your Nutrition – Boost Your Sex Life!
First of all, in order to have a healthy libido, your general overall health has to be good. If you’re eating foods with high fructose corn syrup or salty snacks instead of healthy fruits and vegetables, you’re not getting the vitamins and minerals a healthy sex drive requires. Also, when your insulin levels are elevated from eating too many high carbohydrate foods, your overall energy diminishes and so does your libido! Here are some general guidelines I offer my patients:
Eat a healthy breakfast: A good breakfast consists of high quality protein, a little carbohydrates, and moderate fat. Some examples would be:
➢ Cheese omelet with strawberries.
➢ Oatmeal with 2 tablespoons of protein powder, apple slices, cinnamon on top.
Bring your lunch: If you typically do the fast food thing for lunch, consider packing your own lunch and take it somewhere other than your job to eat it. A healthy lunch might look like:
➢ A peanut butter sandwich with a banana
➢ A tuna fish sandwich with some almonds (see libido boosting foods below)
If you must fast-food it, order a burger without the mayo, and ask for more pickles, tomato, mustard and lettuce. Forget the ketchup as it’s full of sugar. Remove one of the buns and eat it like an open face sandwich, or order one of the salads on the menu. Skip the soft drink and have water instead.
Dinner Done Right: Good dinner choices include:
➢ Protein, 4-6 ounces of fish, chicken, beef, pork
➢ Vegetable, 2 servings low sugar types like green beans, broccoli, spinach, kale, squash
➢ ½ cup of brown rice, barley, amaranth, and quinoa – all 0-low sugar carbohydrates, that don’t ratchet up insulin levels.
➢ Add a libido sparking food, see list below.
Specific Foods to Spark Your Libido
Most of the following foods act to boost testosterone which stimulates libido in both men and women. Add a few of these to your breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack time and watch the effect!
Almonds: A source of the good, essential fatty acids which are essential to build sex hormones, specifically testosterone, in men and women alike.
Avocado: High in vitamin B6 which helps to build testosterone and potassium that aids to regulate the thyroid gland.
Asparagus: High in Vitamin E which boosts fertility and sex drive in both male and female.
Bananas: High in potassium and B vitamins (overall energy) but also help build sex hormones.
Celery: Boosts androsterone (male hormone) production given off in sweat that acts as an aphrodisiac to women.
Maca: Used in the South Seas for centuries to boost fertility by increasing sperm count, libido and ease menopause, and effective in both men and women.
Pumpkin seeds/pie: Contain a lot of zinc which boosts sex hormone production, and also essential fatty acids which help create prostaglandins which are crucial to sexual health.
Spices: Cardamom, basil, hot chili pepper, and garlic can spice up more than your food. They act to stimulate circulation/blood flow to the lower body.
Sexy Supplements
In addition to the above foods, make sure you’re getting optimal levels of the following vitamins and minerals in your multivitamin, as they have a beneficial effect on libido and sexual health:
Vitamins A, B, C, E: Minerals zinc, calcium, magnesium, selenium, manganese; essential fatty acids, whole soy foods (no isolates) and antioxidants like resveratrol.
A healthy libido doesn’t have to diminish as you get older. If you pay attention to good nutritional support and get enough rest and exercise, you should have a vital and satisfying sex life for as long as you want!
