Some foods are sexier than others…or at least increase your sex drive.
And no, it’s not hype. It’s science.
I gave a talk on “Manly Dieting” to the National Wellness Association at #IHRSA in LA on Culinary Medicine and Manly Dieting, and was overwhelmed with the response: 10% of the audience spoke with me afterwards, to ask if they could be in my beta test for men (and bring 9 other men), which we plan to run online later this year. This beta test will study which foods can boosts your sex drive. I loved it, and plan to include them.
Meanwhile, scientific consensus has concluded certain foods can boost your sex drive–check out three below.
1. Walnuts
Especially after a fatty (read salami and cheese) meal: walnuts keep your arteries from constricting in response and responding abnormally to exercise and exertion. Walnuts are also high in the amino acid arginine, which you need to make nitric oxide, to keep arteries flexible, and according to JACC, improve your blood flow.
For more on healthy foods like this, check out our free weekly email, in which I write about favorite foods, how they work, getting outside, and more.
Unlike the other two foods on this list, walnuts actually improve your sexual performance, not your drive.
Dosage: 8 walnuts, with your meal, 4 hours before sex. Take with Viagra/Cialis/Levitra, or HisSynergy. For the entire REFUEL plan, see this page, including REFUEL freebies. For arginine, add bioavailable folate, so they work together, as in arginine plus.
2. Beans, legumes and seeds
These foods are richest in arginine, an amino acid which precedes nitric oxide in the body. And nitric oxide allow vessels to dilate. In particular, kidney beans, peanuts, sunflower, and pumpkin seeds have been linked to a higher sex drive.
An excellent study showed that a supplement high in arginine improved female desire, satisfaction and frequency of sex, regardless of menopausal status. Note: watermelon, which generates arginine indirectly, probably only makes you pee more. Add the best citrulline supplement to it, and they work together.
3. Mediterranean foods
Mediterranean foods are especially useful if you have a big belly and metabolic syndrome. Olives, tomatoes, beans are at the center of nearly every Mediterranean diet. The diet works to help you burn belly (visceral) fat…which blocks insulin so you store more fat, squeeze your kidney and poison your liver. You can get some of these foods in supplements that anecdotally boost sex drive (like Testralin), but why not eat them?
If you’re a guy, you should know that belly fat turns the testosterone your testes make into estrogen. And drops your ability to make muscle, get lean and strong, and other negative effects. And it makes it 35% more likely, at least, that any prostate cancer you get will kill you.
The diet also helps men overcome erectile dysfunction (ED), also known as impotence. One-third of obese men with ED cure their disease after 2 years of a Mediterranean-style diet and exercise.
The Mediterranean diet as a whole helps women with metabolic syndrome have better sex: better overall desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, pain. Women also have had case-by-case success with foods packaged as supplements, like fenugreek, in HerSynergy, boosting drive and libido. Women can also benefit from balanced estrogen, which the diet helps with naturally, and which supplements can supplement, such as Estrovera, which may also help with hot flashes, sleep disturbances, mood swings, irritability and anxiety, all of which can worsen and even cause sexual problems.
Dosage: It’s a meal! Three times daily.
Another solution to metabolic syndrome is to get outside more often in nature. Time in nature has been linked to a happier, longer life, yet many people today spend a dangerous amount of time indoors. Are you one of them? Take my free quiz to discover if you are and get customized solutions delivered to your inbox.
For more on sex drive and testosterone, see my NY Times op-ed on low T.