All the usual healthy habits are good for your sex drive—even if your low libido is caused by a condition such as diabetes or hypertension. Remember, sexual health and general good health are profoundly interconnected.
1. Get plenty of exercise If you want to be "hot-blooded," then improve your circulation. Physical fitness can increase blood flow, which in theory can make sex more pleasurable since sexual arousal for both men and women involves increased blood flow to the genital area. And that can increase desire itself—if it feels great, you tend to want to do it more. Exercise boosts endorphins, which lift your mood, and it can increase your energy. Not to mention that being toned makes some people feel sexier.
2. Eat a healthy diet Arteries clogged with saturated fat don't bring as much blood to the genital area for arousal purposes. Hence the correlation between heart disease and erectile dysfunction.
But excess weight also messes with your hormones. "Obesity can shift the balance between estrogen and testosterone," says Michael Krych man, MD, executive director of the Southern California Center for Sexual Health and Survivor ship Medicine in Newport Beach, Calif. And low testosterone can bring down your sex drive.
More about sex drive
- The Brain Chemistry of Sex Drive
3. Manage your stress
"How about a simple vacation? How about communicating with your partner?" suggests Irwin Goldstein, MD, director of San Diego Sexual Medicine and editor in chief of The Journal of Sexual Medicine. "People are overworked and stressed, and they translate their overworked, stressed lives to a lousy sex life."
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