Heather Bedard, C.H.E.
Moonlit nights, rose petals, and champagne…perhaps you think of these things when you think of a romantic evening with someone you love. What I bet most of us don’t think of is meditation, exercise, and avocados. While there is not one magical food or lifestyle change that results in an increase in libido, these factors do play a part in our body’s ability to function at its best. For both men and women, there are three main categories that are in your power to affect if you want to give your libido a little love.
1. Stress – Stress can influence libido in many different ways. When responding to stress, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis can interfere with the hormones that are secreted from the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis. The HPG is involved in reproduction and sexual response. While men and women respond to stressors differently, most people feel more of those romantic feelings when not under chronic stress or responding to it. If you feel like stress is putting a damper on your love life, exercising can help!
Researchers who authored a study done at the Maryland School of Public Health randomized college students to quiet rest or moderate intensity cycling for 30 minutes. The researchers assessed the student’s anxiety levels before this period, soon after this period, and then after showing them photographs that ranged in scale from pleasant to neutral to unpleasant. The results were surprising. In the short term, both exercise and a time of quiet resting were both just as good at reducing anxiety levels in the participants. However, when they were emotionally stimulated, those who just rested had anxiety levels just as high as when they began the study. Those who cycled maintained lower levels of anxiety.[1] Perhaps combining quiet resting practices as well as exercising can help to lower stress and anxiety levels over the long-term and give your libido a better chance at revving up.
2. Exercise – Many people do not know that one of the first symptoms of coronary artery disease (CAD) can be erectile dysfunction. This is because the vessels that supply blood to the penis are tiny and can easily be affected by narrowing and plaque. We’ll cover diet in the next point, however, combining an optimal diet with exercise can be very effective for preventing and treating sexual dysfunction because diets high in animal fat and protein contribute to coronary artery disease.[2] You don’t even have to do hard-core exercise to improve your health in this way.
In one study, patients who had had a heart attack, and were in the hospital, were randomized to two groups.[3] One group received standard care and the other participated in a walking program. Erectile dysfunction was measured in each group when they were discharged from the hospital and then again 30 days later. 30 days after discharge, the group that had received standard care had increased erectile dysfunction by 9%, while it had decreased by 71% in the walking group! It is interesting to note that 84% of the total number of patients reported that they had experienced erectile dysfunction before their heart attack. Conclusion? There is a relationship between functional exercise capacity and erectile dysfunction, and that walking decreases erectile dysfunction.
3. Diet – Converting to a low-fat, high-fiber, plant-based diet has been shown to improve sexual function. However, I had to laugh while doing my research on diet and libido. One article said that apples have quercetin and quercetin can promote good circulation.[4] They included a study that quercetin can lower blood pressure if you take 500mg per day. One apple has 4.4mg of quercetin. Anyone want to eat 113 apples a day to lower their blood pressure? Yeah…
That being said, the dietary pattern that you eat does play a vital role in the nutrients that you absorb and the ability of your body to produce the hormones necessary for a healthy libido. Women can be adversely affected by dairy products, which can raise estrogen levels and other hormones due to the higher levels of hormones present in pregnant or lactating cows.
A whole food, plant-based diet also plays an important role in keeping your heart healthy and blood flowing freely. As mentioned before, coronary artery disease can affect blood flow to the penis, for men, and greatly restrict sexual pleasure. The risk of this can be prevented by avoiding processed foods, red meat, and a high-fat diet. Red meat contains an amino acid called, leucine, which has a powerful effect in triggering mTOR, which is a protein in macrophages that keeps them from effectively removing debris out of plaque. This causes the plaque to grow and contributes to coronary artery disease.[5]
The great news is that the same diet that decreases your risk of disease (whole food, plant-based) also helps to keep your hormones balanced and gives your body the tools it needs to function optimally. Have an oyster if you must, or savor that bit of chocolate, but libido love more accurately begins with addressing your stress level, exercise consistency, and implementing an optimal diet.
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1. [1] Smith J. “Effects of emotional exposure on state anxiety after acute exercise.” Med Sci Sports Exerc August 14 2012
[2] Simon R, Howard L, Zapata D, Frank J, Freedland S, Vidal A. “The Association of Exercise with Both Erectile and Sexual Function in Black and White Men.” J Sex Med 2015 Article first published online: 20 MAR 2015 DOI: 10.1111/jsm.1286
[3] Begot I, Peixoto T, Gonzaga L et al. “A Home-Based Walking Program Improves Erectile Dysfunction in Men With an Acute Myocardial Infarction.” Am J Cardiol March 1 2015;115(5):571-575
[5] Zhang H, Reilly MP. “Novel mechanistic links between high-protein diets and atherosclerosis.” Nat Metab 2020 Jan;2;7-8