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Spice up your love life with the great sex diet
15:04 // 0 comments // Unknown // Category: //Which foods enhance your mojo in the bedroom? Read on
Food
is love. Food is comfort. What Grandma didn’t tell us and probably
didn’t know: Food is also sex. Certain consumables can light up your
lovemaking. For the record, I’m not talking about the so-called
aphrodisiacs that resemble human genitalia, such as oysters and figs.
The way a food looks might be visually arousing or psychologically
compelling — bonbons and Champagne no doubt conjure up thoughts of
seduction and romance. But for your body to respond to sex like a
well-oiled, orgasm-primed machine, none of them does a hell of a lot.
So what foods will help you have mind-blowing sex?
Like
you, I craved such information. Sex with my husband, Steve, was still
good after six years. But once you’ve done it with the same person a
few thousand times, you need a little extra something to go beyond a
run-of-the-mill encounter. I knew that many women — as many as 30
percent, actually — don’t experience orgasms at all, so I considered
myself lucky. Yet I was also keenly aware of the difference between the
exhilarating sex Steve and I had during our first year and the kind we
have now. Sure, we’ve tried to keep things hot, but toys (mine) and reading erotic texts
(his) aloud haven’t revived that early excitement. I longed for the
instant arousal, nonstop passion and physical blastoffs that once made
my head spin. Wouldn’t it be awesome to get that back simply by picking
the right meals? Because I had to eat to survive, I figured eating for
kicks would kill two birds with one bite.
Taking it from the top
The
journey from lifting a fork to increased gratification begins in the
brain. “From a psychological standpoint, if you take care of your body
by eating well, you’ll have a better attitude about sharing it. You’ll
be more open to sensations and experiences,” says Lou Paget, author of
several best-selling sex guides, including “The Great Lover Playbook”
(Gotham). No doubt we all know women — heck, we may have even been such
a woman — whose sex life went down the tubes when scarfing nachos
during “Lost” became a substitute for healthy meals. But if a woman
eats well, she’ll feel better about herself and, Paget says, “Her
sexual attitude can improve immediately.”
But
that’s not the only benefit of eating well. Certain nutrients can
enhance your mojo, says Lynn Edlen-Nezin, Ph.D., a clinical health
psychologist who co-wrote “Great Food, Great Sex: The Three Food
Factors for Sexual Fitness” (Ballantine Books). “You can absolutely eat
your way to better sex. As a rule of thumb, what’s good for the heart
is good for the genitals,” she explains. “If your plumbing — your heart
— is clear above the waist, you’ll also have better blood flow and more
sensation below.”
First item on the menu? Nitric oxide.
“NO is a two-atom gas made by the endothelium tissue in blood vessels
in the lining of sex organs,” Edlen-Nezin says. “When you become
sexually aroused, a neurotransmitter sends a message to the lining of
the genitals to release NO, which causes blood vessels to expand.”
Without an adequate amount of it, guys can’t get erections and women
can’t become engorged and lubricated. Ergo, Edlen-Nezin suggests that
you say yes to arginine, an amino acid the body uses to create NO.
Ingesting additional arginine has beneficial effects on blood flow,
which, in turn, can improve your cardiovascular health, according to
two studies done in the 1990s. The International Journal of
Cardiovascular Interventions published a report noting that
supplemental arginine may improve blood flow in coronary arteries, and
an article in The Journal of Clinical Investigation showed arginine
significantly improved circulation in young adults with high
cholesterol.
Although
this research is not the definitive word on dietary arginine,
Edlen-Nezin claims that adding it to your diet will improve your sex
life. “I call foods high in arginine the Staminators,” she explains.
“It can contribute to prolonged arousal.” To find arginine in the
supermarket (sadly, not among the cupcakes), swing by the nut aisle and
toss bags of almonds and walnuts into your cart, then cast your eyes
toward the seafood counter for salmon, cod and halibut. An added
benefit to fish: Omega-3 fatty acids, which can improve cardiovascular
health and lower triglycerides and may increase dopamine production and
reduce the risk for depression — all pluses for the libido and orgasm potential. Edlen-Nezin recommends salmon and herring. (Non–fish lovers can have omega-3-fortified eggs.)
Fuel up on healthful foods
The other major ingredients in a sexually souped-up diet are antioxidants.
“They keep your plumbing clean and your cells healthy by mopping up
free radicals, molecules that wreak havoc on the body in a process
called oxidation,” Edlen-Nezin says. Her advice is to load up on
antioxidant-rich produce in all colors of the rainbow, including
tomatoes, red peppers, garlic, spinach, broccoli, beets, berries and
red grapes. Another good source is dark chocolate.
In fact, a study of 163 women in The Journal of Sexual Medicine found
that those who consumed at least one cube of chocolate daily reported
significantly greater desire and better overall sexual function than
the individuals who abstained. The reasoning: High-flavonoid chocolate
consumption has been linked to improved circulation. More chocolate
equals better sex? You don’t have to tell me twice.
I
felt encouraged by my new shopping list. It looked a lot like my old
one. Unwittingly, I’d been following the Great Food, Great Sex diet for
years. Perhaps that explained why my sex life is already satisfying.
“Unfortunately, the vast majority of Americans aren’t eating lean meat,
fruit and veggies,” Edlen-Nezin says. “They’re having a steak and baked
potato with butter for dinner tonight. They’ll fall asleep on the couch
with their belt undone.” And not in a sexy, loosen-up-my-buttons kind
of way.
“One of
the first things I tell women is to take the best care of their bodies:
to exercise and eat healthfully,” Paget says. “It’s elementary. Give
your body good fuel and it will operate better. Fill it up with garbage
fuel and it won’t run.” Adds Edlen-Nezin: “The Great Food, Great Sex
diet isn’t a fad. It’s a guide to eating basic, healthy foods, which,
as a culture, we don’t eat enough of. Load up your plate with lean,
bright, beautiful foods and you’ll have a dynamic sex life.”
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