WE’VE all heard about how oysters and champagne can put us in the mood for passion – but budget-friendly supermarket essentials can help boost our sex lives too.
From mushrooms through to cabbage, and onions to avocado, a diet that is rich in the right nutrients can potentially boost your sexual health, and sex life, by feeding better performance, pleasure and libido.
Christine DeLozier, who is the author of Diet For Great Sex: Food For Male and Female Sexual Health, today explains how certain foods can strengthen nerve impulses to and from genitals, increase blood flow through the body to the places we need it during sex and balance sex hormones to make arousal and orgasm easier.
Christine, a sexual health therapist and researcher, explains: “Academics have for decades looked at the link between what we eat and how much sex we have — or want.
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“The food that we eat greatly affects sexual health, and there’s a tonne of science to prove it.
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“Great sex is certainly an experience of the mind but, within our bodies, it happens when our nerves, blood vessels and hormones operate in sync.
“Modern research has shown diet affects this, and choosing the right foods to eat can either increase or thwart pleasure in the bedroom.
“When our bodies are well-nourished, desire comes to us naturally, pleasure comes naturally and orgasm can be effortless.
“Every time you eat, you can improve your health and therefore sex life by nourishing with the correct foods.
“Zinc found in meat and fish, vitamin D in eggs, milk and mushrooms, and vitamin B12c in meat and dairy all play important parts in metabolism, hormone production and sexual health. And some foods, especially if we consume too much, have the opposite effect — such as bread and pastries, fatty foods, fizzy drinks and dairy products or sweet desserts because they reduce healthy blood flow and our hormone functions.”
Here Christine explains what you should be adding to your shopping list.
FOODS TO INCREASE PLEASURE
BERRIES of all kinds, including strawberries, blueberries and raspberries, are loaded up with polyphenols, which quickly help our blood vessels to deliver more blood flow to the genitals.
A clinical trial also discovered that couples who consume more vitamin C — which berries are packed with — will tend to have more sex.
CABBAGE might sound like a bit of a turn-off but it is high in sulphuric compounds, which are anti-inflammatory and protect nerves including those leading to and from the genitals, making them good for our health and sexual health.
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Researchers also discovered that the phytonutrients found in cabbage serve to increase both sperm count and sperm motility.
MUSHROOMS are loaded with antioxidants and micronutrients, which improve the speed and strength of nerve signals including those to and from the genitals — meaning you receive more pleasure at optimum moments during sex.
They don’t need to be fancy mushrooms — simple white or chestnut ones normalise sex hormones contributing to healthy sexual function.
AVOCADO contains polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are among the healthiest things we can consume for a good sex life and a long-lasting one, because they reduce damage to the blood vessels.
They also protect against cardiovascular disease, which reduces blood flow.
FOODS TO INCREASE DRIVE
ONIONS a study in 2019 found that onion and onion extract can support hormone production and increase antioxidant activity, and may raise overall testosterone levels, which men and women both need a healthy amount of for a strong libido.
They also boost nitric acid, which improves erectile function.
GINGER not only raises testosterone levels, meaning that people want more sex, it has also been found in studies to increase sperm count and sperm motility.
GREEN SALAD LEAVES, such as spinach or romaine lettuce, are probably the best thing we can eat for better sex.
They balance sex hormones, enhance libido and reduce cortisol levels, which contribute to stress and can disrupt testosterone production.
SWEET POTATOES were found, in another 2019 study, to act as an aphrodisiac, increasing both sexual desire and hormone balance.
They are also a great source of potassium and magnesium, which improves blood flow to the genitals.
