Some people believe that sexual desire is an intrinsic thing that people either come with or they don’t. By that logic, some will experience great sexual arousal, some will experience sexual dysfunction, some will experience blood flow challenges, and there’s nothing anyone could hope to do about it.
If that were true, it would be regrettable since people are willing to take extra steps to increase sexual desire. Thankfully, that line of thinking couldn’t be further from the truth. Don’t believe anyone who tells you that!
Sometimes, a lack of sexual health is the problem, and by adjusting the diet to include important nutrients such as nitric oxide, B vitamins, and others, you can see your sex life turn right around for the better!
What are these food? Great question! Before we get there though, let’s look at some important details first.
A Quick Look at What Food Can Do for Sexual Function
You’ve already heard that food can improve your sexual health, but how exactly is it doing that? While you could technically consider a lot of benefits, these three tend to account for a lot of the hormonal and other chances that lead to your desired outcome.
Stamina Improvement
I don’t need to tell you that stamina is super important for sex. However, you probably only think about it in terms of having the required energy for the act. What if I told you that stamina is a requirement for reaching a climax? It’s also important to fight erectile dysfunction too since more stamina prolongs the erection!
Blood Flow and Heart Health
I like to call this one the “circle of sex.” Why? Well, good heart health is essential for great sex. An improved blood flow will lead to better erections, more oxygen flow (for more energy), and a greater hormonal balance. On the flip side, a good sex life is also great for your heart health.
After all, it doubles as an amazing workout and one that will help you keep your heart healthy!
Libido Booster
This is the one we’ll zero in on for today. Put simply, your libido is your sexual desire. Both female and male sexual health will factor in your libido since it’s the thing that will encourage you to even want to take part in sex.
Additionally, it will spark the required changes to make sex more pleasurable and satisfying. That’s why when people who have no desire choose to have sex, they find it to be a lot less fulfilling than those who are feeling a little more up to it.
Why Might Someone Have Low Sexual Desire?
Your sex drive can be off for a myriad of reasons, and unfortunately, since so many of them will manifest in the same way, it’s often hard to identify exactly which one is at play. Nevertheless, here are some of the things that may hamper your sexual function and drive:
- Pregnancy
- Low self-esteem
- Drug use
- Less than desirable mental state
- Undesirable hormone levels
- Stress
- High blood pressure
- Fatigue
- Antidepressants
- Mental state challenges
Nutrients That Are Great for Sexual Health
Whether you’re trying to achieve better women’s sexual health or the same for their male counterparts, the foods that help out are great because of the underlying nutrients that are beneficial for your sexual arousal, sexual desire, and sexual function.
Don’t get the wrong idea that I’m covering all the helpful nutrients here, because the list is longer than this. However, these are some of the more helpful ones in the set.
Zinc
If you’ve ever done any research on zinc and sexual activity, you’ll know that zinc is highly regarded for its aphrodisiac properties. Why is this? Well, there’s increasing blood flow to the sexual organs, which is great for both the sex drive, as well as improving sexual quality and performance.
For example, you have walnuts, which are known to be a great source of zinc. If your goal is fertility, then you want them in your life. They are great for improving the vitality, movement, and shape of sperm, which you definitely want if you’re trying to conceive.
On the more sex drive-focused side of things, there are oysters that are great for testosterone levels. Sex hormones must be factored in if you want to boost libido and satisfaction.
You’ll often find zinc in natural male enhancement pills as it’s a proven ingredient to help stimulate sexual health.
Omega 3 Fatty Acids
The importance of these comes where the circulatory system is concerned. Again, you need good blood flow if everything is meant to work as it should. Boosting blood flow will lead to a better sex drive, more enjoyment, greater performance, and more stimulation after arousal.
Flavonoids
Flavonoids improve your sex life by taking care of your overall health. For example, apples will help to manage erectile dysfunction and prostatitis. On the other side, it helps to relax blood vessels, which is important for women’s sexual arousal since it heightens the response to sexual activity.
Nitrates
Vasolidaton and expansion of blood vessels are where nitrates come into the mix. These processes are great for blood flow improvements. Additionally, muscle contraction is improved, which you definitely want to be happening while you’re having sex.
Protein
Certain meats tend to be pretty effective if you’re looking to increase libido. Animal proteins are also essential in assisting with erectile dysfunction challenges, as well as improving the sexual response across both genders.
Alcohol Is Terrible for Your Sex Life
You and other drinkers may not want to hear this part, but I think it’s important that you do. Alcohol is not good for your sex life. It can decrease your stamina and your performance.
Since it can lead to a temporary increase in sex drive, people often believe that it’s great for your overall sexual health but this is not true. That’s because it tends to often block important signals that travel between the brain and the genitals and this yields a diminished experience.
It’s also why men who consume alcohol are more likely to struggle with erectile dysfunction, alongside other sexual function challenges.
Note, however, that there are a few exceptions. For example, red wine is one of the best things to increase libido in females. Sexual function and lubrication also get a boost! Don’t think that this is a reason for you to go wild with the red wine though as too much of it will have the opposite effect and harm the sexual function that you’re looking to boost!
18 Foods That Can Help Increase Libido
Now, we’ve gotten to the meat of the matter. You’re here because you want to learn how to increase libido. You want to learn how to improve all of the other elements of sex that come with a better sex drive.
Bear in mind that there are a host of other foods out there that can help, but these are pretty reliable especially when you start to combine some of the ones that serve different purposes.
Maca Root
This is a Peruvian root vegetable that happens to be pretty popular. Researchers have concluded that it is particularly helpful to improve the sex drive, especially for people who may be on SSRI antidepressants. These are known to lower the libido by default, so having a food that can help to reverse such an effect is all but crucial.
Additionally, testosterone levels can see an improvement from maca since it contains arginine.
Watermelon
Watermelons can increase libido because of their citrulline and lycopene content. These are both important phytonutrients that are essential to help relax blood vessels and increase the nitric oxide levels in the body. Put simply, its effect is not too far off from that of Viagra.
The best part though is that this isn’t a limited version. Young women and slightly less young counterparts can also see an improved sex drive from eating more watermelons.
Bananas
Bananas make the list because of their potassium content. Remember I said earlier that sex hormones are super important to helping with both your libido and sexual function? Well, potassium is particularly great for testosterone levels, which are going to be essential to get men ready, and also to help them perform well.
Beets
Beets have a pretty considerable amount of nitric oxide floating around in them, which, as you know by now, is going to be super important to help your blood flow be where it needs to be for your sex organs to be ready to go.
Additionally, they contain boron, which stimulates greater production of the sex hormones estrogen and testosterone, which is great news for both genders!
Saffron
I know that you probably wished this wasn’t here because it’s not the cheapest spice in the world. Even so, how could I deny its effect on the sex drive? Here’s the thing. Some people need to take antidepressants just to be able to function properly in the world.
Unfortunately, this kind of medication is known to have some less-than-desirable effects on the libido, which often means that some countermeasure needs to be put in place to stabilize things again.
Men who bring saffron into the mix can see their erectile function return to desirable levels, while women can see an improvement in both lubrication and the amount of sexual arousal that they experience.
Honey
This one may make you a bit more excited since honey happens to be pretty tasty. What many people don’t know is that bees have been giving them what is considered a natural libido booster for centuries now.
Boron is present in its structure, which is great for the adequate regulation of sexual hormones. Additionally, there’s nitric oxide, which helps with blood flow regulation, especially when it’s needed for arousal.
Asparagus
What if I told you that asparagus is a pretty potent libido booster? That’s because it’s laced with both folate and vitamin B6. Typically, you’ll find that a woman’s sex drive, when it’s not working as intended, is being impacted by some level of hormonal imbalance.
Vitamin B6 is a great counter to this since it works on a series of hormones including estrogen and progesterone. Prolactin is a hormone that tends to take away from the sex drive in women, and asparagus helps to decrease it. The vegetable even helps with the regulation of testosterone levels in men.
Since asparagus also contains folate, it’s great for increasing the amount of histamine in your body. Histamine happens to be yet another compound that can help with the maintenance of a healthy sex drive.
Apples
Remember when you were a kid and they told you that “an apple a day keeps the doctor away?” Well, it most certainly doesn’t keep your sex drive away. In fact, if you want to increase libido, apples can be a big part of your strategy to do so.
Why does it do this? Well, it’s thought to be linked to phloridzin, a phytoestrogen known for its lubrication, arousal, and other sexual function benefits.
Avocado
So, why don’t I start this one off with a bit of trivia for you? Did you know that the ancient Aztecs called avocado “ahuacatl?” You probably didn’t, and now you’re also probably wondering what that has to do with anything. Well, my friend, the literal translation of the word is “testicle,” so do what you will with that information.
There’s also a rumor that Spanish priests in the Catholic fold weren’t allowed to eat it. Why? Well, it was thought to make them sexually active, and that was the complete opposite of what they wanted.
Alright, so to transition from the history lesson, eating avocados, will boost both your sex drive and your overall sexual energy. Folic acid, vitamin B6, and monounsaturated fats make it up, alongside vitamin E, which you may know that people have nicknamed “the sex vitamin.”
It happens to be an antioxidant, which increases blood and oxygen flow to the sex organs and even slows down aging. How’s that for a sexual superfood?
Dark Chocolate
Women are known to adore chocolate and there may be some benefit to that. It contains phenylethylamine (PEA), which is a chemical that is essentially an amphetamine for your brain. You know those memes that say “this is your brain on drugs?” Yeah, think about a more healthy version of that.
It releases a ton of norepinephrine and dopamine, both of which are feel-good hormones. What’s the result? Well, a bunch of euphoria will follow, which is never a bad thing as far as sex is concerned.
One of the drawbacks with dark chocolate though is that while it can boost your libido, the better sexual quality that you may experience isn’t going to last long considering it doesn’t stick around in the body too long itself.
So, if you were thinking that it can be a long-term solution to sexual dysfunction, prepare to be eating it every hour on the hour for years to come.
Chilli
Potency is one of the reasons that Italians love their chili peppers the way they do. If you have any kind of blood pressure challenges, then you’ll love the capsaicin in chili, since it’s great for heating up the body and helping you lower blood pressure with a better flow.
While it’s great for the female sex drive, males particularly benefit from the increased blood flow, since it’s where erections will come from.
Additionally, it will help the brain to produce endorphins, which help with relaxation and an overall positive feeling. I bet you never expected to hear that one of the keys to spicing up your sex life is spicing up your diet!
Steak
Steak is an incredibly tasty food, especially considering it can be cooked in different ways and to different levels of completeness to appeal to whoever may be eating it at a particular time. It doesn’t just taste good though, as the female sex drive can benefit quite a bit from its inclusion in a diet.
Lean red meat helps with the boosting of norepinephrine and dopamine, and there’s also the fact that it contains a ton of zinc. So men may just get the same kind of boost that women do from steak.
Eggs
History will tell you that eggs have garnered quite the reputation for being a sexual stimulant. I’ll take it one step further. What if I told you that eggs are a fertility symbol in ancient history?
First, there are the ridiculous amounts of vitamins B5 and B6 that you’ll find in them. These are great for fighting stress, which is the enemy of good sex. Additionally, they help to balance sex hormones.
Additionally, eggs are great for boosting testosterone production and it even contains the good kind of cholesterol. Apart from the production, it also maintains sex hormones quite well thanks to the sheer amount of protein that you can find in the yolk.
Almonds
L-arginine is the reason that almonds are great if you want to boost your libido. This is an essential amino acid, which helps with better blood circulation and relaxed blood vessels. I’ve gone on multiple times about how important improving blood flow is to sex. So you already know, that it’s great for helping men maintain a strong erection during the act.
Garlic
Garlic has so many benefits in so many areas that there’s no surprise that it found itself on this list too. In fact, it was seen as a miracle herb of sexuality in ancient times.
The reason for its prowess is the way it improves blood flow, especially to the genitals. Greater blood circulation will increase the penis size and the sexual power that it can generate.
This is great news for men who don’t have the highest libido in the world, though its pungent smell can make people a bit hesitant to use it.
We both know there are ways to get around that though. All you need to do is crush it or incorporate it into some of your recipes and that should do!
Sweet Potatoes
You’ve probably heard that sweet potatoes are french fries’ healthier cousins, but it would be for more reasons than you probably initially thought. They are packed with vitamin A, which is great for sex hormones that contribute to the male and female libido.
Additionally, vitamin A is known for its ability to help keep both the uterus and the vagina healthy. Sweet potatoes are also blood pressure regulators, which means that they prevent having an erection from being a problem.
You may even find that sweet potatoes are the keys to greater sexual prowess than you had previously been capable of.
Celery
Imagine celery having the same kind of pheromones as truffles. Well, there’s no need to imagine since it’s true. You’ll find both androstenol and androstenone in the stalks. By chewing on celery, you may find that your arousal gets an ever-so-subtle boost.
It’s at least worth a try, don’t you think? Who doesn’t want to be more appealing to their prospects?
Figs
The last stop we’re going to make is at figs. They seem to have quite a connection with sexuality. There’s even a rumor that figs are Cleopatra’s favorite fruit. If you’re looking to conceive, then they may even help on the fertility side of things!
Ancient Greeks used figs as a symbol of love and even tended to use them in sexual rituals. Of course, the sexual ritual you want to carry out is a different flavor but the intention is the same.
Figs are full of fiber, potassium, flavonoids, antioxidants, and amino acids. Having them in the diet is a great way to boost libido and sexual function. You may even find that it helps with stamina too!
The Bottom Line
Whether it’s B vitamins, flavonoids, proteins, antioxidants, nitric acid, or other nutrients, there’s a lot your diet could potentially do to help if you have a low libido. Both men and women can see improved results with better blood flow, hormone regulation, and other benefits that the foods above can help with.