Have things become kind of blah in the bedroom lately? Don’t worry, it happens to everyone from time to time. Busy schedules, stress and even aches and pains can sometimes stand in the way of having fun in the sack.
But if the slowdown has lasted longer than you like it might be time to take a look at your diet. Because it turns out certain foods can play a role in a sinking sex drive.
Following are three surprising foods that could be taking their toll on YOUR love life…
1. Soy:
Soy, which you’ll finding hiding in many everyday foods, is a double whammy when it comes to bedroom woes.
First of all soy is a hormone disruptor, which means it can mess with your sex hormones.1 And since soy is packed with estrogenic isoflavones eating a lot of it could affect your fertility and cause your testosterone levels to tank.
For example, in a case study published in the journal Nutrition a man who began eating large amounts of soy suddenly lost interest in sex and developed erectile dysfunction (E.D.).2 When the researchers ran some tests they found his testosterone, DHEA and DHT levels had plummeted. After swearing off of soy his hormone levels bounced back within a year and his E.D. disappeared.
In another study, this time on a group of infertile men, research revealed that guys who ate the most soy had the lowest sperm counts.3
And ladies, drooping testosterone isn’t just a problem for the men. Your body produces testosterone and low levels could impact your libido too. In a study published in the journal Fertility and Sterility when circulating testosterone levels were boosted in women with a lagging sex drive their desire for sex skyrocketed.4
But there’s a second way soy could be affecting your love life that’s often overlooked. Over 90 percent of soy is genetically modified, which means it’s being sprayed with the herbicide glyphosate (Roundup).
Glyphosate is a known endocrine disruptor that influences sex hormones.5,6,7 We don’t yet know exactly what effect this creepy chemical could be having on our libidos, but the research so far is troubling.
Dump the unfermented soy from your diet and your love life could come roaring back.
2. Diet soda:
There’s a stack of reasons to not be drinking diet soda. (You can catch up on a couple of them right here.) But it turns out you may be able to add sabotaging your sex life to the list.
Aspartame, a common artificial sweetener you’ll find in all kinds of diet foods from diet soda to frozen dinners, may be putting a major damper on your mood. You’ve heard of serotonin before, I’m sure. It’s the “feel good” neurotransmitter that’s responsible for stabilizing our mood and essentially making us happy. And no matter whether you’re a man or a woman adequate serotonin is also vital for you to maintain a healthy libido.
Well, as you may already have guessed, it turns out aspartame suppresses serotonin levels, which can lead to depression, anxiety and likely a lackluster love life too.8
If you’re a diet soda drinker, and a roll in the hay is always the last thing on your mind, try ditching your aspartame-laced drink to get your mojo back.
3. Bottled water:
Water bottles and other plastic containers (canned foods too) often contain the endocrine disrupting chemical Bisphenol A (BPA). BPA is an estrogen mimic that could wreak havoc on your sex hormones and ultimately your sex life.
Several studies out of China found that men chronically exposed to BPA have lower testosterone levels, lower sperm counts and trouble in the bedroom.
In one study, published in the journal Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology, men exposed to BPA at work had big disruptions in their sex hormone levels.9 Their “female” sex hormones prolactin and estrogen shot up, and certain “male” hormone stimulators plummeted.
In a similar study, chronic exposure to BPA suppressed testosterone levels and had a significant impact on the sex hormones of a group of men. And research in the journal Human Reproduction, found that men exposed to BPA were seven times more likely to have ejaculation problems and four times more like to suffer from E.D., than guys who didn’t come into contact with the chemical.10
Now, of course, you’re not being exposed to the same levels of BPA as folks working with the stuff in a factory. But you are coming into contact with the chemical every day through water bottles, plastic food containers and canned foods.
This exposure could be putting a damper on your bedroom activity. Drop the bottled water and swap out the plastic food containers for glass or stainless steel to help bring the romance back.
Don’t let these three libido killers take the sizzle out of your sex life. Ditch them today!
References:
1. “Soy protein isolates of varying isoflavone content exert minor effects on serum reproductive hormones in healthy young men,” J Nutr. 2005 Mar;135(3):584-91
2. “Hypogonadism and erectile dysfunction associated with soy product consumption,” Nutrition. 2011 Jul-Aug;27(7-8):859-62
3. “Soy food and isoflavone intake in relation to semen quality parameters among men from an infertility clinic,” Hum Reprod (2008) 23 (11): 2584-2590
4. “Comparative effects of oral esterified estrogens with and without methyltestosterone on endocrine profiles and dimensions of sexual function in postmenopausal women with hypoactive sexual desire,” June 2003Volume 79, Issue 6, Pages 1341–1352
5. “Effect of Endocrine Disruptor Pesticides: A Review,” Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2011 Jun; 8(6): 2265–2303
6. “Roundup and birth defects Is the public being kept in the dark?” Earth Open Source, 2011
7. “Glyphosate-based herbicides are toxic and endocrine disruptors in human cell lines,” Toxicology. 2009 Aug 21;262(3):184-91
8. “Direct and indirect cellular effects of aspartame on the brain,” European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2008) 62, 451–462
9. “Exposure to bisphenol-A and reproductive hormones among male adults,” Environ Toxicol Pharmacol. 2015 Mar;39(2):934-41
10. “Occupational exposure to bisphenol-A (BPA) and the risk of Self-Reported Male Sexual Dysfunction,” Hum Reprod. 2010 Feb;25(2):519-27
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