Boosting your sexual libido

Heather Little-White, Contributor

Many persons are concerned about their sexual drive at some time in their life, caused by probably the most influential, yet controllable factors of diet and lifestyle. Stress is one of the main causes of ill-health, including sexual failures. Today, people are stressed about crime, economic challenges, domestic arrangements and other personal situations.

To apply the adage that you are what you eat applies to boosting your libido in the context of general good health. As the body ages and adapts to environmental and lifestyle changes, this is when you are likely to lose sexual energy and lose your sexual prime. During this time, it becomes more difficult to respond to your partner - satisfying your partner and yourself.

Generally, there are thousands of men and women who are incapable of responding to sexual advances and are indifferent to their partner and sexual intercourse becomes a chore more than a pleasurable experience. While medical treatment can work in some instances, a first place to start is with nutrients that are helpful to the physical and mental well-being.

Phosphorus

Western diets often exclude several foods that are helpful to sexual health. A variety of foods provide nutrients that can improve your sex drive. One would believe that a common mineral like phosphorus is abundant in the human body and is directly involved with one's libido. Sexual genital medical tonics are used in some cultures as an aphrodisiac.

Rich sources of phosphorous include:

Seafood (hence the love for oysters)

Eggs (raw eggs mixed into concoctions)

Caviar

Lobsters and crabs

Seeds like pumpkin and sunflower

Brewer's yeast.

An outshoot of phosphorus combining with nitrogen, fatty acids and glycerol produce phospo-lipid distributed as lecithin aids in the passage of good elements to the cells and promotes the production of sex hormones.

Calcium and magnesium

Women's sexual health gain from these two powerful minerals at the time in their lives when their bodies undergo menstrual changes as they face the end of the reproductive years.

Foods rich in calcium and magnesium include:

Kelp

Brewer's yeast,

Yoghurt, greens,

Almonds, watercress,

Pumpkin and sunflower seeds,

Blackstrap molasses.

Zinc

Men are not to be outdone as the mineral zinc is needed for the synthesis of the active enzyme of the male hormone, testosterone. Zinc accumulates in the testes, in an average of 2.2 grams, in men of average weight, 20 years old. Any thing less than this amount, he is likely to experience diminished sexual desire.

As men get older and become affected by age and life stresses, zinc reserves gradually become depleted. When zinc is not sufficient, a man will not produce enough testosterone to produce sexual arousal. Zinc deficiency can also cause other sexual problems in men. These include:

Impotence

Reduced sperm count

Inflammation of the prostate gland (prostatitis, especially among older men)

Cancer of the prostate if prostatitis is untreated.

Women also need zinc to help with proper lubrication of the vagina making intercourse less painful.

Preventing zinc deficiency

To avoid zinc deficiency, resist eating white sugar, refined cereal grain, alcoholic beverages or vegetables grown in poor soil. Instead, eat lavish amounts of high-protein foods like oysters, ginger root, beef liver, steak, fish, especially sardines; split beans, mushrooms, wheat germ, oats, grape juice, sardines and shrimp.

There are a wide range of other sexual boosters. Outlook will follow with other sexual boosters in time to come.