We all know that we must eat healthier and exercise to help prevent disease and live long lives. But you may not be aware that the foods you eat not only influence your health in old age, but also lead to vitality today in ways that are simply attractive. And we're not talking about getting a perfect abdomen or thighs, but about something that people of all ages and body types can appreciate: we are talking about improving intimacy and libido.
Emerging data on nutrition is showing that what we eat influences every element of human health, including things like sexual desire that is not typically associated with diet.
To understand how diet can help you improve intimacy and libido, first consider these recent discoveries: For men, a decrease in calorie and fat consumption (along with an increase in exercise) has shown an increase of almost the 50 percent in testosterone production. And a two-year study of women showed that the Mediterranean diet (rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and olive oil) significantly increased scores on the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), a measure that includes evaluation of arousal, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain.
It is proven that everything in health is multifactorial. Eating the right foods must be combined with exercise and mental health to achieve the greatest benefit. And if you want to keep it simple, the Mediterranean diet and moderate exercise, almost daily, will do more for your libido (and health in general) than any single food alone.
However, if you suffer from sexual dysfunction or are a particularly low libido person, you may want to consider increasing your consumption of specific foods that have been shown to support the hormonal and vascular systems associated with these functions.
Foods to improve intimate life and libido
Everyone has heard that oysters are an aphrodisiac, but a single serving of oysters is probably as effective in improving low libido as a single anti-inflammatory is in healing a broken leg. A better approach is to add the following foods to your everyday lifestyle:
1. Avocado
Spanish priests forbade the Aztecs to eat avocado due to the native use of the fruit, that is, as a libido enhancer. Modern science has shown that the folic acid and potassium in avocados support stamina and energy, so perhaps the Aztecs were right.
2. Wild salmon
Omega-3 fatty acids found in wild salmon support vascular health and improve circulation for sexual function. They also increase blood flow to the brain, support the feeling of well-being and relaxation, the mood most conducive to intimacy.
3. Red Wine
This may not surprise you, but now we really have proof of the intimate benefits of red wine. In a study conducted in 2009, a group of Italian women were divided into three groups based on their daily drinking habits: moderate (one to two glasses of red wine), abstainers, and alcohol consumers (more than two glasses or consumption of other types of alcohol). The results showed that the group that consumed one or two glasses of red wine performed better on the standard FSFI indicators of arousal, orgasm, satisfaction and pain, as well as desire and lubrication.
4. Dark chocolate
Sugar, in the amounts consumed by the Western diet, is a metabolic and hormonal disaster. If you had to write an article on how to kill your libido, sugar would be the first place on the list.
That's why even though chocolate can increase serotonin and dopamine levels in the brain, the benefits of chocolate must be carefully weighed against the sugar content. To receive the libido-enhancing effects of chocolate, it is recommended that you drastically reduce sugar intake in the rest of your diet and only eat dark chocolate.
5. Tomatoes to improve intimate life
Call it nature's Viagra. Lycopene is a more powerful antioxidant and twice as effective as the famous beta-carotene that is produced in high levels in tomatoes. Lycopene relaxes blood vessels and improves circulation. For maximum lycopene content, buy only high-quality tomatoes and ideally organic tomatoes, and choose fresh tomatoes over the processed variety because the nutrients are lost in the oxidation that accompanies even simple mechanical processing.
These five libidos boosting foods are a great example of an emerging school of health. This makes the argument that lifestyle factors that reduce the risk of chronic diseases later in life will also improve the quality of your life today.
Blood vessel damage from high blood pressure (HBP or hypertension) reduces blood flow throughout your body. Lower blood flow to the pelvis can affect the sex lives of both men and women. In a man, the effects of high blood pressure on sexual function are more physically apparent than they are with women. Erectile dysfunction happens when there’s not enough blood flow to the penis to allow for an erection.